European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 05, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday december 5, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 7 Gao Pentagon at Odds Over a bomb tests per som let Nap the j pm i. T esd to Ercal radiation thin previously thought when they took part in a pair of 1 946 test of . Atomic weapons a congressional study says the study released wednesday by sen. Alan Cranston. D calif., disputes a 1984 Pentagon report which said the Mili tary personnel were not exposed to High Levels of radiation. I be veterans administration citing the Pentagon study has a closed to pay claims to test participants who have claimed that their health problems arc a result of the exposure. Cranston in releasing the results of the 16-month-Long investigation by the general accounting office asked resident Reagan to order the defense department to conduct a new review to try to determine How much Radia Tion the participants actually received. Release of the report was the latest round in a dispute Over the radiation exposure suffered by former military personnel known As atomic  from the Lime of the first . Bomb test in new mexi co in july 1945 until open air tests were banned by a 1963 treaty the United states set off 235 nuclear tests in Nevada and the Southern Pacific Ocean. About 220,000 military personnel took pan in those tests including 42,000 at two july 1946 blasts in the Lagoon at Bikini atoll. Those two tests were known As operation Cross roads. Of he 42,000, about 41 percent or 17,000 people probably were hit with heavier doses of radiation than previously thought the Gao study said. The study said film badge readings at operation Cross roads showed radiation Levels ranging from .10 rms to 2.0 rems. There were no Federal standards for radiation expo sure in 1946, but today the federally acceptable dosage for individuals is .5 rms per year. However the Gao study said that because the entire Field of nuclear radiation and its effects was so new in 1946, the film badges worn by participants probably were inaccurate. The Gao also noted that Only about 15 per cent of the service personnel who participated in the tests wore such badges. Many of the participants wore no protective gear Cranston noted. Though the defense department has thousands of pictures taken during operation Crossroads not one shows decontamination Crews wearing protective clothing he said. The study found that the most serious risk was run by those who tried to decontaminate some of the 80 target ships that were put inside the atoll during the blast to Sec what would happen to them. According to the Gao report Cranston noted a column of water a mile High and nearly half a mile wide two ice coated automobiles arc stranded in a parking lot near traverse waiting for the thaw City mich., where 40-Mph winds drove huge nates onto the Shore of Lake Michigan. The Spray and bitter temperatures put the cars in cold storage. Threw Large masses of highly radioactive water Onlo the decks and into the holds of the target ships making them highly  water in the Lagoon was still radioactive Down to eight feet deep fur up to two weeks after the blasts but it was used by nearly 2,000 Navy personnel daily to scrape scrub and Wash the ships in an Effort to get them Down to acceptable radiological Levels Cranston said. Kven nine Days after the decontamination efforts began there was some evidence found of plutonium one of the elements that go into producing atomic bombs remaining on some of the target ships Cranston noted. He added that if deposited in the body even a microscopic amount of plutonium could prove  in a response that was part of the Gao study. A administrator Harry Walters said it docs appear that service personnel were exposed to More radiation during the course of operation Crossroads and the subsequent can up than they would have been after safety precautions were better developed and used As in later  about 500 veterans who were part of operation Crossroads have claimed injury citing radiation exposure. But none of their claims has been approved by the  Pentagon in another letter that was part of the Gao study said the aver age exposure during Crossroads was .39 rems. Trio charged with Selling refund Check Houston a a punt who was named october s Bachelor of the month by cosmopolitan Maga inc has been accused with two other men of Selling a $16,439 income lax refund Check. David Wayne Therrill 28, of Houston who was India cd by a Federal grand jury last week was arrested monday and re leased on his own Rico Gnu acc. Also indicted in the Case Are Charles Joseph Reimer 46, of Channel View and Jim Mie Morris Henry 43. Of Cameron. The indictment charges that thurrell received a 516,439 income tax refund Check addressed to a former tenant of his apart ment and contacted Henry a co worker about the possibility of Selling the Check. Henry called Reimer who then arranged the Sale of the Check loan undercover Fri agent for $8,200, the indictment says. Henry also was released on his own re cognizance and Reimer was freed after posting $10,000 Bond. The Roll is chief Pilot for a Houston truck ing and equipment firm. Singer arrested on plane for refusing of douse cigarette Atlanta a Singer Connie Francis booked on trespass and Battery charges after she refused to put out a cigarette aboard a Delta jetliner was released from custody wednesday police said. The Nassau to los Angeles flight was being refuelled in Atlanta tuesday and passengers were asked to extinguish cigarettes Delta spokesman Bill Berry said. The i incr refused to put out her Cigar tic despite a personal request from the Captain and refused to leave the plane Berry said and police were called. They escorted her off the aircraft and Francis kicked one of the officers As they walked toward the terminal Atlanta police spokesman Kevin Forir said. She was taken to the Clayton county jail charged with criminal trespass and simple Battery on a police officer Forier said. After processing she was released Early wednesday. Of boy this is one for the books Francis said after she was released. Now i am told by a  she said who is a gentleman with a very Small g that i am to leave the plane immediately at the Behest of the two pilots who were ticked off because 1 called them big jerks because they Don t say hello to people or answer questions by Passen Gers. Of Francis 48, recorded such hits a where the boys Are and who s sorry  re quasi us is hopi " studies show nicotine gives some smokers a boost Lexington by. A studies of nicotine and its effects on the brain show hat some people perform better while smoking ant others feel mentally Stimus Ted researchers said at a  a censor cd by a tobacco research group. The functional relations Between Nic Otine and behaviour arc like those of dependent producing drugs Jack e. Henning Field of the National Institute of drug abuse in Baltimore said monday the first Day of the three Day meeting. Attended the Confer cancer and heart  symposium featured 30 speakers and was sponsored by the University of Ken Tucky tobacco and health research Institute. Tobacco is a major crop in Kentucky and elsewhere in the South. In 40 studies Over the past 12 years at the University of Reading in England 70 per cent of More than 1,000 smokers performed better on mental tests when they were Able to smoke according to Keith we secs and David Warburton of the school s psychology department. There is a marked improvement in performance and in Speed of response in experimental situations said Wisnes. People s perceptions that they perform better while smoking could be a major motive for continuing to smoke Wesnes said. It does t necessarily mean people smoke for improved  the study produced More evidence that people Are using nicotine to regulate their psychological stale said Warburton. Tobacco serves them some Benefit in that it stimulates and relaxes it speeds up the thought process and controls stress Warburton added. Smokers use cigarettes for different  whatever the reason the serious health problems associated with smoking remain he said and the product needs to be made safer for the  in another study tests on nicotine s effect showed that it reduces appetite and aggression while producing a pleasurable effect for users said Henningfield who is also the author of nicotine an old fashioned addict  physical ailments associated with smok ing have been More common research subjects but the addiction Issue has been raised in liability lawsuits hied against major cigarette manufacturers. Plaintiffs arc seeking to prove that the companies arc responsible for the deaths of smokers arguing that tobacco products Are addictive. The manufacturers contend that smokers take up the habit by Choice and that smoking has not been proven addictive. The first in a recent spate of liability suits is being tried in California