European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 14, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday november 14, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 7 victims can sue gun makers court reaffirms Annapolis my. A Maryland s highest court has rejected appeals from gun manufacturers to reverse its ruling that makers and Sellers of saturday night specials can be sued for civil damages by crime victims. The court of appeals without explanation said tuesday it would not reconsider the oct. 3 decision that was hailed by gun control advocates As a major Victory in their Battle to restrict the availability of handguns. In the first decision of its kind in the nation the court ruled unanimously that gun manufacturers and Sellers can be sued because they knov., or should know that the Small cheap weapons arc primarily used by criminals. Gun control advocates and representatives of the National Rifle association said it was the first time a weapons seller or maker had been held liable for dam Ages simply because a weapon eventually was used in committing a crime. The liability question reached the court of appeals in a Case hied by Olin j. Killcy of Silver Spring my. Killcy was shot during a i981 Holdup of a supermarket in the suburbs of Washington. Kellcy who recovered from wounds in the Chest and shoulders sued room Gesellschaft a West German firm that designed and marketed the weapon that was used to shoot him. A . District court request for a state Law interpretation led to the court of appeals unanimous decision last month. Stephen Charles lawyer for room. Could not be reached for comment on what the manufacturer will do next. David Warner a spokesman for the National Rifle association said the next step probably will be to con test the state court ruling when the Case comes up again in . District court. Charles scores on Field Diana makes hit with Polo fans Palm Beach Fla. A Prince Charles shrugged off a shot that hit him in the shoulder to score a goal and help the Palm Beach Polo team defeat an All Star team 11-10 tuesday while the crowd of 12,000 spectators chanted for Princess Diana. Early in the game a plane flew overhead trailing a Banner saying Charles and Diana please help to free  the plane was chartered by the Irish american Unity conference a group based in san Antonio Texas that supports unification of British ruled Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic. Later the Royal couple on a 21vi-hour visit to the upper crust enclave of Palm Beach attended a  dinner at the Breakers hotel at which Bob Hope and Victor Borg headed the entertain ment. Among those attending the dinner were actor Cary Grant actress Joan Collins Media and sports magnate Ted Turner and talk show Host Merv Griffin and several members of Congress. Couples who contributed $50,000 were allowed to meet the Prince and Princess and were seated in a separate room with the Royal couple at dinner. A total of 32 $50,000 benefactors were listed on the offi Cial dinner program. However Collins and her husband who paid $10,000, were admitted into the a i Hoto Princess Diqiu print Charles Greet guests in Palm Beach dinner at left Frances Hammer wife of Armand Hammer at right actress Joan Collins $50,000 room where the Royal couple was dining. They were allowed in As the guess of or. And mrs. William Ylvisaker head of the Palm Beach Polo and country club said a spokesman who declined to elaborate. Publicists for industrialist Armand Ham Mer said the dinner would raise about $4 million for the United world College in Montezuma n.m., one of six schools around the world that bring together gifted students from different countries for studies that emphasize the need for world peace and Public service. Upon arrival at West Palm Beach inter National Airport after a flight from Washington the Royal couple walked Over to about 300 schoolchildren invited to the air port for their work in helping replace Library books lost in a fire last year at a school in Diana s Hometown of Boothville England. Kelly Waring an ii year old from Green acres a Lac Mcnary school said Charles complimented her on her Lacy White gloves. Hammer s dominant role in the Benefit dinner rankled some leaders of the Palm Beach inner Circle. Mary Sanford Queen of Palm Beach and a chief arbiter of local society for years was said by friends to be skipping the Ball. Hammer had named her chairwoman of the event but she apparently was annoyed be cause he had named Patricia Kluge of new York City and Chariot Lesville. Va., As Gen eral  Kluge and her husband John former owner of metro Media television decided to be out of the country this week after British newspapers uncovered her past nude appearance in a Magazine. Nutrasweet is linked to epileptic seizures Boston a three people suffered their first epileptic seizures after drinking Large quantities of beverages sweetened with Nutrasweet according to a researcher who concedes that the link to the artificial sweetener May be a  apparent association Between Nutrasweet and seizures was reported by or. Richard j. Wurtman of Massachusetts Institute of technology in a let Ter to the British journal lancet. Wurtman advances the theory that Nutrasweet generically known As As Partam and widely used in diet drinks chewing gum puddings and other products Lowers Levels of chemicals in inc brain that protect against seizures. The three cases can Only suggest an association Between aspartame and Sei zures he wrote. They Are compatible with evidence that High aspartame doses May produce Neur chemical changes that in Laboratory animals Are associated with depressed seizure thresh  he  acknowledged that the apparent association he reported May be coincidental. But he said doctors should question patients with unexplained Sei zures about their use of aspartame. It May turn out that when enough doctors ask enough questions there la be no correlation he . John Heyback director of medi Cal and scientific affairs for . Searlch & co makers of Nutrasweet said the association is probably coincidental. I imagine it s possible that there May be individuals who arc sensitive to aspartame although there is no documented evidence of even a single individual having a Clear Cul Adverse re action associated with aspartame to Date despite the fact that hundreds of millions of people use the product on a regular basis worldwide Heyback said tuesday. We have every Confidence in its safety and our Confidence is based on the research he said. It s inc most Exten sively researched food additive prior to its approval in  one of the main ingredients of aspartame is the amino acid Phenyl alanine. Wurtman suggests that consuming a lot of aspartame can raise Levels of Phenyl a la inc in the brain where it interferes with the body s production of of her protective chemicals known As . I think but i can t prove in Hal this will Only happen in people who have a propensity toward having seizures Kurlman said. Some of those people will know about thai propensity because they be already had a seizure. The prob Lem is people who never had them be  bankruptcy judge urged to approve Sale of up Washington up the chair Man of United press International its employees Union and a committee of its key creditors arc urging a bankruptcy judge to approve the Sale of up to mexican news paper publisher Mario Vazquez Rana joined by rival bidder Joe Russo As a minority partner it was announced tuesday. The agreement achieved during intensive negotiations that began last week appeared to Clear the Way for a turnaround for the nation s second largest news service which has struggled against financial Odds since requesting chapter 11 bankruptcy Protection april 28. Up chairman Luis Nogales said the $41 million Sale proposal guarantees up s future As a full service and financially secure International news  the proposal includes a pledge of $20 million in working capital but Vazquez Rana has vowed to invest whatever it takes to make up profitable. The Alliance Between Vazquez Rana and Russo a highly successful Houston real estate Developer broke an impasse that saw up executives seeking to choose among three competing bids. The third group a seven member institutional consortium headed by financial news network inc., a Cable television con Cern sought to woo the creditors committee even after Vazquez Rana and Russo revealed that they had joined forces. Sources said monetary proposals of $40 million from both Russo and the fun group were weakened by uncertainty about their commitments of Cash. Company sources said Vazquez Rana 53, one of Mexico s richest individuals appeared to be winning the bidding War tues Day but up executives had expressed reservations about foreign ownership of the 78 year old news service. Vazquez Rana who owns the Al sol group of 70 mexican newspapers with a combined circulation of 2.1 million cased those concerns by accepting Russo As a i percent partner the sources said. Vazquez Rana also pledged to place up operations under an Independent Board to preserve editorial Independence. He told up s senior editors last week news must not be manipulated. Up will achieve prof its by providing Quality news reports. Independence is  his representatives have said he has sought for More than three years to acquire up and has plans to build it into a world dominant news organization. Under the final settlement. Vazquez Rana and Russo will pay $21 million in Cash to free up from bankruptcy proceedings j9.5 Mil lion or 40 cents on the Dollar to the unsecured creditors owed about $22.8 million $3.4 Mil lion to the internal Revenue service and stale lax author tics for employee withholding taxes and other taxes up failed to pay in 1984 and Early 1985 approximately $4 million to cover All bankruptcy claims filed by current and former employees Complete payment to All Small creditors owed $3,000 or less and All administrative costs of the bankruptcy proceedings