European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 15, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 stars and stripes saturday february 15, 1986 o Neill wants Model to rehire Iacocca Washington a House speaker Thomas p. O Neill said Friday that the firing or Lee Iacocca As chairman of a National advisory commission on restoring the statue of Liberty had brought unintended ridicule on our government and he urged Iacocca be reappointed. In a Telegram to Interior Secretary Don Ald p. Model who fired Iacocca on Mon Day o Neill said that Tor the Good of the planned Centennial Celebration of a renovated statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in new York Harbor i urge that you rescind your  o Neill added i am sure that president Reagan agrees with me that Lee Iacocca is exactly the kind of private sector hero we should be honouring in the years  Hodel dismissed Iacocca on the ground there was a potential conflict of interest in having the Chrysler corp. Chairman serving As chairman of both the Federal statue of Liberty Ellis Island Centennial commis Sion and the private statue of Liberty Ellis Island foundation inc., which is raising Money for the restoration. Iacocca denied any conflict of interest he said he will remain As head of the fund raising foundation and will continue to fight a proposal to commercialize Ellis Island with a hotel and convention Center he Taid was backed by the Reagan administration. Rep. Mario Biaggi. D-n.y., also criticized Iacocca s firing after serving for nearly four Yean As dual chairman of the restoration Effort. In a Telephone interview from his Bronx Home Biaggi said he will introduce a Bill tuesday when Congress returns from a re Cess that would prohibit the Interior department from spending any Money appropriated by Congress toward the commercialization of Ellis  Biaggi said Iacocca s firing was of Sara  one Tough Hombre on this Cefulu and that the whole undertaking has been profaned by  he said that in four years Iacocca had raised More than $230 million from corporate executives and schoolchildren to help restore the historic landmarks and on the eve of the unveiling he was  Biaggi said it would be terribly Offen Sive and breaking Faith with private contributors Tor the administration to allow commercial development of Ellis Island. He said it was hallowed ground to Mil Lions of american immigrants who landed there including Iacocca s italian parents and should be preserved As a National Park. O Neill told Hodel that firing Iacocca had Hurt this important Effort to Honor our pulp to Donald Hodd. Not subject to debate nation s history and had brought Unin tended ridicule on our government that ridicule must be stopped o Neill said or. Iacocca is a recognized hero in his country. He represents the can do spirit that made a land of immigrants the great est country in the world if the United states government had been As negative to or. Iacocca s ancestors they would never have been allowed to come to America in the first  in an statement thursday at a news con Ference at the company s Highland Park Headquarters Iacocca said he was adamantly against the plan to commercialize the site when it was proposed by both Hodel and the National Park service. I be been one Tough bomber on this he  on Hodel s statement that his decision to fire Iacocca was not subject to debate the Chrysler chief said that Borders on being in american. A lot of people have worked hard for four years on behalf of this project. So have i and i Don appreciate being disenfranchised on some body s whim. But i will not denigrate the epic work of the foundation to Date or the incredible generosity of people who have Given so much by commenting on it further. Hodel appointed Aronen Avedisyan Chicago banker and a member of the com Mission to replace Iacocca As chairman of the statue of Liberty Ellis Island Centenni Al commission. White House spokesman Larry Speake denied a report in thursday s Washington Post that there is extremely bad blood Between Iacocca and White House chief of staff Donald Regan Over the Chrysler bail out legislation. Regan had nothing to do with this Speakes said adding the president was aware of Hodel s decision but had no role Init. There was no White House involvement in the firing he said. Speakes said the matter had been Dis cussed inside the administration since Jan. 29. The fact that Iacocca is a potential democratic presidential candidate does t hold water As a reason for his firing Speakes said. The Post Story quoted a former unidentified administration official As plying Don Regan Bates his Iacocca s guts. The offi Cial said the animosity is so deep that Regan asked for a staff car other than Chrysler when he joined the White House staff. Poll suggests technology confusing to Many americans Washington a forty percent or More of americans believe flying saucers Are real that rockets change the weather and certain numbers bring Good Luck says a new poll whose author suggests the results show a technologically confused society. Those Survey results and others indicate that while some of the american Public is somewhat informed on technological issues a substantial portion is not Well informed in these areas Jon d. Miller director of the Public opinion Laboratory at Northern Illinois univer sity said thursday. For example he said his poll sponsored by the National science foundation found 95 percent of Ameri cans agreeing with the statement that smoking causes serious health problems a Contention the medical profession strongly supports. However 75 percent also agreed with a statement that there Are Good ways of treating sickness that med ical science decs not  of the second finding. Miller said in a Telephone inter View it is not Clear whether this result is an endorsement of Folk Medicine. Or a vote of no Confidence in the medical profession. Whatever its origins it appears inconsistent with the idea of technological literacy.". Such literacy or perhaps illiteracy in some cases was the focus of a weekend conference beginning Friday in Baltimore. The poll also was released in Washington. An announcement of the conference said evidence abounds that we Are graduating students who Are unprepared and unable to grasp even Day to Day issues the technical Content of issues ranging from the safety of con the recent explosion of die space shuttle Chall other findings in Miller s poll conducted among 2,000 randomly selected adults late lost year indicated forty three percent agreed with the statement it is Likely that some of the unidentified flying objects that have been reported Are really space vehicles from other civilizations. Forty one percent agreed that rocket launching and other space activities have caused changes in our  1 1 percent and 12 percent respectively saying they weren t sure about the two statements that left less than 50 percent disagreeing in both cases. Miller said that suggests a substantial level of confusion Between real or Likely technologies and fictional  on another statement 40 percent agreed that some numbers Are especially Lucky for some  however on another Only 20 percent agreed with the statement it is not Wise to plan ahead because Many things turn out to be a matter of Good Oread Luck anyway. While it is somewhat comforting to find that a majority of the american people reject Luck As the driving Force of their lives and of society it is important to remember that each percentage Point in a National sur vey represents 1.7 million people Miller said in a accompanying text. In real numbers these results indicate that approximately 37 million americans eschew planning for the future and that almost 75 million believe in Lucky num Bers he said. While these numbers May be Good news for the people who run lotteries they Are not a positive reflection on the technological literacy of our  in another Section of the Survey people were asked to rate their own understanding of what Miller called some of the Basic terms needed to communicate about technological  eighty two percent said they bad a dear or general understanding of radiation 67 percent believed they had such understanding of How a Telephone works 57 per cent of computer software and 49 percent of economic Gross National product. The rest said they had Little understanding of the terms. Shuttle children s fund totals $350,000 so far Washington up from Cheryl Majcher 5, who broke open her Piggy Bank for its 44 cents to a Tokyo firm that collected $10,000, donations have been pour ing in for the space shuttle children s fund a spokesman says. Roger Connor a spokesman for Ameri can Security Bank said the Bank has received thousands of individual contributions to the fund for the 11 children of the seven astronauts killed in the Jan. 28 challenger  fund which now totals $350,000, was set up within 24 hours of the explosion by Washington attorney Del Smith and the Bank Connor said. The smallest donation so far Connor said was Cheryl s 44 cents. Her Mother fran said in a Telephone interview from her Farmingdale n.y., Home that Cheryl took the Money from her Piggy Bank for her donation. I wanted her to understand what has happened and when she gets older she will have something that will make an impression on her Majcher said. She s Only 5, so like a typical 5-year-old, she has no concept of what death is Majcher said. She wanted to know if the teacher was going to go to heaven and if she d Wear her flight suit in  Connor said the largest contribution so far came from workers and executives at the Toyama musical instrument co. In Tokyo who took up a collection and raised$10,000. A letter accompanying the donation said this is an International expression of sym Pathy in the face of this worldwide trag Edy Connor said. First lady Nancy Reagan is the honorary chairwoman of the fund. Connor said the Bank now has the resources to Send responses later to contributors Connor said the internal Revenue serv ice has granted the fund tax exempt status so contributions will be tax deductible. No Bank fees will be assessed to the fund so All Money will go to the astronauts Chil Dren who Range in age from i year old to 25. Connor also said that because the first lady is honorary chairwoman the White House is getting bags and bags of mall with donations. He said those wishing to contribute should Send donations to theban. For those wishing information on the space shuttle children s fund american Security Bank has set up a toll free num Ber 1-800-462-7878. Donations to the fund should be sent to american Security Bank . Box 0150, Washington . 20055. Checks should be made out to the space shuttle Chil Dren s fund