European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 30, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes saturday september 30, 1978 consumer group cites dangers ban on skateboards urged Washington up citing at least25 deaths and thousands of injuries the con Sumer affairs committee of americans for democratic action called Friday for a nationwide ban on skateboards. The group said it would petition the con Sumer product safety commission for a least a temporary ban on the boards which have already been banned in Norway and if it cannot get that it will urge the passage of local Laws restricting the sport to specially designed Parks. The danger is in the very nature of the sport said Ann Brown head of the com Mittee. Although there Are an estimated 20million skateboards in the country she told a news conference there is really Little you can do to make them safer the cps has been investigating skate boards for some time and is conducting an education Campaign to try to warn the pub Lic of the dangers of the sport. It has Esti mated however that perhaps 98 percent of the injuries to skateboarders Are caused by human factors which no amount of Regula Tion can reverse. There needs to be no More testing of the product in this Case the Ada group said. Our children have already been our injured or dead Guinea  the group admitted that injuries can be reduced if the sport is restricted to skate Board Parks a 35 percent reduction by cps estimates but said that approach has drawbacks too because the owners of such Parks cannot get liability insurance. Protective equipment such As helmets knee pads and Elbow protectors Are also valuable it added but Are out of the Finan Cial reach of Many Young skateboarders who would rather put their Money into the Price of Board instead of gear. Silhouetted by a turbulent afternoon sky a horse drawn Wagon awaits Load ing of Corn stalks in a silo Bee event farming the old fashioned Way sponsored by the Eastern regional draft horse association at a farm in Cherry Valley . Farmers and their horses Cut and gather the Corn for filling a silo like they did before Power harvesters came along. A photo a Educ.  approved i by Senate i Washington up the Senate voted overwhelmingly thursday to create a department of education the second new Cabinet department requested by president Carter. The Bill would consolidate More than 300separate Federal education programs administered by 40 agencies into one uni equal to the other 12 Cabinet departments. Proponents said the $12 billion now Spenton education within the Gigantic depart ment of health education and welfare would not Rise much and might even go Down if creating the new department re sults in More efficiency. Hew created in 1953, now spends $180billion a year and education interests claim their concerns Are often ignored atthe expense of health and welfare. Under the Senate Bill the rest of the department would be called the department of health and human services. The House has not yet acted on the proposal which has been considered at Vari Ous times and Levels of interest for 125years. The chief Senate sponsor of the idea sen. Abraham Ribicoff d-conn., is a for Mer hew Secretary and has introduce such a Bill since 1965. It gained Impact after Carter endorsed a separate depart ment in his 1976 presidential Campaign which also was noted for his pledge to Cuttle size of government. Energy department last year Congress gave president car Ter a new department of Energy. Hew was and has become a Bureau cratic monster Ribicoff told the Senate. It can t handle All those  while there was Little opposition to the concept of a new department the Legisla live history of the Bill was marked by turf fights among agencies with education programs they wanted to keep. Before passage the Senate voted to keep Indian education programs in the Bureau of Indian affairs but to Transfer scientific efforts now under the National science foundation to the new department. It refused to prohibit the Transfer of 135,-000 overseas military dependents to the new department. Baltimore grand jury indicts 18 in Gas scandal Baltimore my. Up a Federal former managers and Artirp manage of to a a my. Up grand jury Friday indicted 18 persons on charges stemming from the government s investigation into the scandal wracked general services administration. . Attorney for Maryland Russell  or. Said the special grand jury in returning the first major indictments inthe Case charged the 18 with defrauding the Gas the government s building and of fice Supply Agency that carries on a $5-Bil lion a year business. The indictments named 12 present and British scandal figure arrested in Florida bar fort Lauderdale Fla. Up less than 12 hours after being sentenced to 18 months in prison for violating . Immigration Laws former Call girl Norma Levy who touched off a sex scandal that nearly toppled the British government in 1974 was Back in jail on a disorderly intoxication charge. Levy 31, who has 19 other aliases was arrested at a local bar. She was freed on $50 Bond. She was arrested at the riptide bar after a police officer responded to complaint. Forme s acting managers othe Gas s self service Supply stores including the former acting manager for the store at the Justice department. Also named in the indictments were the president and former vice president of Miles associates inc., a Maryland fir that sold supplies and goods to the Gas. Four employees of various Federal Agen cies including a Justice department employee were also indicted. The indictments resulted from a 16 month investigation conducted in Balti More by the Fri and Gas investigators. Federal grand juries were also known Tobe meeting in Boston Washington and new York City As the Gas investigation spread to More than 20 cities across the country. Gas investigators estimate there i fraud and waste of More than $100 million within the Agency making it in terms of Money alone the single biggest scandal . History. The Gas has already referred at Leas six major fraud cases to a Justice depart ment task Force formed earlier to conduct a government wide probe into the growing scandal. The grand jury indictments handed Down Friday focused on fraud within Gas s Region 3 including Washington,d.c., Maryland and Delaware. Business Index up 0.8% in August Washington a. The govern ment s barometer of economic trends Rose moderately in August after dropping sharply the month before the Commerce department said Friday. The 0.8 percent increase in the Index of leading indicators appeared to indicate continued moderate economic growth. The Carter administration has been predicting a moderate growth rate just enough to keep unemployment from get Ting worse. The August increase followed a drop of1.3 percent in july the biggest decline since a 3 percent decline in january 1975. The leading indicators Are intended to predict changes in economic activity in and Vance but it often takes several months to develop a trend. Despite the August gain the Index i about where it was three months ago. It would have been worrisome had the Index declined for the second month in a Row. Contributing most to the August in crease were rising Stock prices and slower deliveries. The slow deliveries mean that businesses have so Many orders they Are having trouble filling them rapidly enough. Also rising were the Money Supply fac tory orders and contracts for Plant and equipment a Good sign of business Confidence. Negative contributors were a Shorter work week a higher Layoff rate fewer liquid assets fewer building permits and a slight decline in sensitive prices. The department had originally said the july decline was 0.7 percent but revised it to 1.3 percent because of a Sharp drop i inventories. However economists said it would note healthy for businesses to build up Large inventories now because sales have Bee falling off. The Index now stands at 137.1, meaning that the indicators Are 37.1 percent stronger than they were during the base period in 1967. A year ago the Index was at 131.4