European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 31, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes May economic indicators Down percent 1st drop this year Washington a the govern ments main economic forecasting gauge decreased percent in marking the first decline this year and signalling that the lagging Economy has yet to feel the effect of lower interest the Commerce department report is sued thursday was generally in line with the expectation of Market Al though they had been split Over whether the Index of leading indicators would move up slightly or Down interest rates have been driven lower in recent first by reduced demand for credit As business executives scaled Back their activity and then by the Federal re serves lowering of its discount the fed was trying to stimulate an Economy that grew at an annual rate of Only percent in the first government and private analysts have emphasized that it will take at least a couple of months for lower interest rates to Start showing up in even the most interest sensitive sectors of the building for were among the six indicators Down in thurs Days in order of their the negative factors in the april Index were contracts and orders for plants and equip Money Vendor average building permits and net business a decline in vender performance Means companies were receiving slower deliveries from their the four indicators making positive con again in order of their Impact on the composite were new orders for consumer goods and change in sensitive materials Stock prices and average weekly initial claims for state unemployment thursdays report included upward Revi Sions for the last two primarily be cause of a change in inventories on hand and on order both the february figure was revised from a percent gain to a percent and the March figure was changed from a percent decline to a percent the april change left the Index at percent of its 1967 Reagan administration officials have started to hedge their forecast of 4 percent economic growth this year in the face of a series of lacklustre economic the consensus of economists in and out of the government is that the econ omy will pick up enough in the second half of the year to realize annual growth on the order of 3 give or take a few tenths either the Index of leading indicators is de signed to give insight into the Likely shape of the Economy six to nine months into the it is a notoriously volatile report that often moves up or Down within a Small especially in times of unclear economic it has not risen for three consecutive months since last May and has shown a decline in five of the past 12 von Bulow in court a photo clans von Bulow sits in Superior court As his retrial on charges that he twice attempted to murder his defense witnesses sup ported von blows claim that his wife permanent coma was caused not by insulin injected by a husband greedy for her but by her abuse of drugs and i a motion for a mistrial was denied by judge Corinne Gao begins inquiry info procedures Best used by Fra in approving sweetener Washington up the general accounting office is examining How the food and drug administration approved the popular artificial sweetener aspartame in 1981 Over the objections of several Agency Federal officials the inquiry was begun at the request of Howard who said in a letter last week to comptroller general Charles Bowsher that there were serious deficiencies in tests More than a decade ago on the product marketed As Nutrasweet by Searle very serious questions have been raised regarding this approval questions which must be resolved if Consumers Are to have Complete Confidence in the safety of Metzenbaum officials of a firm that last year sold More than million in said wednesday they Are convinced that the widely used in diet soft is they acknowledged that they have commissioned eight new studies on the effects of the sweetener on including whether it May be linked to intense seizures and hyperactivity in children All subjects of hundreds of consumer complaints filed with the Federal centers for disease con four of those studies should be completed Early next Gerald vice president for nutrition and medical affairs of Searles Nutrasweet said the Fra had concluded that the company earlier studies were if there is a real wed better be the first ones to know because were going to need some Lead time to Correct take the product off the Market or Gaull James a Washington consumer lawyer who has challenged the fads approval Searles undertaking of these new tests is an admission that this product has not been shown to be Safe for internal government memoranda obtained by United press International show that Fra commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes overruled several Agency scientists in approving Searles application to mar Ket aspartame in three of six scientists on the commissioners team on aspartame said in May 1981 that tests they had reviewed did not prove the products safety with reasonable certainty of no As required by Fra according to Agency memos obtained by Metzenbaum last week asked the Fra to require labels showing the amount of aspartame in a to ensure that focused clinical tests take place and to commission a qualified Independent lab to repeat the animal tests questioned by the Fra re Gao officials confirmed that Congress investigative Arm is following up on Metzenbaum request for an inquiry into the Validity of Searles tests on brain tutors in challenged in 1975 for being Sloppy and unscientific by an Fra task Force and criticized again by the three scientists on the panel advising Why Hayes overruled the of Damp pointed Public Board of which opposed the approval of aspartame in 1980 on grounds the brain tumor studies were ind worst enemy both bite new York a mans Best the headed the list of animals that bit humans in new York City last but mans worst enemy was second on the the City said dog bites decreased 9 percent from while the num Ber of human bites increased for the sixth consecutive from to cats were responsible for 875 and 254 biting incidents involving rats were in the Urban there were eight Snake five Monkey four Raccoon two bites each by scorpion fish and one by an opossum and one by the Swan at the Flushing Park there were 99 Squirrel 46 Hamster 14 mouse bites and 10 Gerbil there were 32 Bunny five Parrot three spider bites and five horse 3 of 5 escaped convicts free couple Oklahoma City up three of five extremely dangerous inmates who fled from a maximum Security prison abducted a couple in an Eastern Oklahoma town and forced them to drive to Oklahoma City before releasing them unharmed Early police police spokesman Berry said the escapees forced the Young whose names were not into their car outside a Muskogee restaurant late tuesday night and then drove 130 Miles to Oklahoma Muskogee is 65 Miles North of the okla homa state Penitentiary in where the escape occurred tuesday Berry said the Man and woman were re leased about 2 thursday in the Eastern part of Oklahoma the one of them believed to be Louis awaiting trial on murder then took another car and drove the couple drove to a nearby store and called Berry there is no word on the whereabouts of the other two who were believed to be driving a lat Model Blue authorities nearly 100 Law officers took part in the manhunt searching the rugged Hill country North of Mcalester on horse Back and using tracking dogs and All five Are considered extremely Dan in a Case like we will go to All lengths to get them said state department of corrections spokesman Ard