European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 2, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The Lite decade less is More by William h. Greer new York times it use d to take so much Lime  lime1 weeks to read a classic. Moby die alone runs 7to pages. Today thanks 1o a Small publishing House cased Workman in takes a mule through abridge my re abridging and editing out rambling soliloquies Workman boasts that it has Cut Down the merry Canon to a lean pistol producing an audio cassette tape that offers listeners ten classics in ten minutes. The result is Light literature the latest demonstration that in the 1980s Light Beer is. Not the Only thing that is less filling what started out As a Way to justify drinking three Beers instead of two the creation of a Light Beer with a third ewer calories has become part of a broader phenomenon in which less is valued above More. The la the Light decade or As some would have it. Lite. Ligh is a Way of inking thai we be come to in the "80s." says Robert t. London a psychiatrist at new York University medical Center. It s an umbrella phenomenon where by hotness transforms Gilsett into the cars we drive the lightness in a room our diet As Wen 35 lightness in the relationships we  sociologists say that we which started As a marketing term used to denote dietetic products has become a metaphor for what americans Are seeking in disparate parts of their lives. In theft relationships for example they have turned away from soul searching and stress of emotional commitment at the movies they would rather watch an invincible hero like Arnbo or the karate kid who never lets the audience Down. Attempting to bring itself up to Date with today s expanded notion of Light the Federal Bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms announced that it would try to determine just what constitutes Light and we in whisky wine and Beer. The notion of the word Lite tends to Tollow what seems to be a trend in american culture said Ray b Brown chairman of the department of popular culture at Bowling Green state University in Ohio. That is for everybody to to utterly selfish about themselves lot people to want easy cures easy riches easy Obs and easy wealth " tha Light decade is a Lime when men and women can fall in love without paying the Price As a Honda civic advertisement promises. They can undergo psychoanalysis in one sitting because today s psychotherapy skips the formative years namely childhood for health care Busy executives can turn to a so called Doe in a Box a storefront medical clinic with extended hours higher prices and no appointment no referral no medical history necessary. There is Light culture books on tape Light shopping buying  by video. Light politics candidates who run on image not Issue slight responsibility the lowest voter participation Ratas of any democracy and Light music Lite pm where the heavy Baas line has been removed so that the sound does not Jar or stir listeners. And of course there is Light food with which people can Cut calories without changing their diets by using products like Jetto ugh comitos ugh Corn chips. Heinz ule Ketchup and Glace Lite which its manufacturer. Sweet Victory says gives you All the Rich delicious pleasures of 300-calorie Premium ice Cream at 100 calories a scoop. Food notably dietetic food is whore the Light decade started. H is also the clearest example of How the philosophy has caught on Lite or  foods Are now one of the fastest growing segments of the american food Industry according to a recent Federal food and drug administration report by die count of one Market research company. Marketing Ute Gerico 352 die or Light products have been added to the shelves of the nation s supermarkets and liquor stores since 1962. Seven years ago the Miller brewing co. Tried to claim tile As its own part of its trademark Lor its Low calorie Beer and went to court to keep other Brewers from using it. The courts tuned that Lite was just an alternative spelling of  americans can Wash their hair with Lite shampoo use a conditioner and style it with Ute mousse. For their skin there is "1" Light Lemon moist skin Cream from to natural cosmetics. There Are Light products for each meal of the Day. For breakfast Arrowhead Mills griddle ule pancakes lopped with log Cabin Lite syrup a gob of parkay Light spread a Tower calories in Latron Margarine and a Side of Jonea Light breakfast meals for lunch a real Lite cola trophy Lile peanuts a Ute Steak from bars Lite meats  slices of Tay Stee Lite bread and spiced with Miracle whip Light Mayonnaise wry s seasoned Lite sati and some Heinz Lite Ketchup. For dinner a stir Fry of Hormel Gold n Lite breaded vegetables Ute chef Tofu mixers and Kik Koman ule soy sauce a salad with wish Sone Lite salad dressing a Glass of Christian Brothers chateau u Salle Light wine and David s life cookies or a Whilman s Lite Coconut bar. Top this off with a Little Light Relief Lite antacid tables from rolaids a sail free lorm. Before the 16th Century the word Lite meant Little not much Tew in English and was pronounced Draffe Felry from tight according to Traugutt Lawfer. A medievalist at Yale University. But the word fell out of use. Today s die i used to indicate Lewer calories or less Salt and essentially refers to weight in the same Way thai Light is a reference to weight Lawter said. Its spelling has been simplified in the 20th Century by advertisers who use it to suggest ease and simplicity the said. It s Light  the effect of Light foods on weight toss has been Well Light. We know that the number of people who Are obese has increased in the past 10 years said Thomas a. Wadden a psychologist at the obesity research group  of Pennsylvania. And the percentage of children who Are obese to increasing although one problem is that people do not exercise enough Fie Reliance on tight foods May have contributed to the problem for Light foods Are often not whal they seem they Ere not necessarily lower in calories although they generally have Low or reduced calories according to the Fra. A Box of finn Crisp ule crackers for example proudly claims Only 20 calories per  but the regular finn crisps have Only 19 calories per slice. Labelling foods Lite can also give the impression that they Are Light in calories when they Are actually Low in Salt Low in alcohol or in the Case of some whiskies Light in color the result of storing the liquor in uncharted new Oak containers. Barnard pm but a sociologist at Boston University cafe lha Light decade a smorgasbord approach to life where people convince themselves that they can have the Best of All worlds imme Faiery by having a lightened version of everything. What happens is the tight things become a gloss to fed ourselves Inlo thinking that we Are getting whal we want he said when you go to the supermarket and buy ight Beer this is getting you away ram the notion that there am serious problems with your not being Able to lose weight. You Don t face the weight problem. You go for Tho Quick  consider marriage at a Lime when More than half of All marriages end in Olvo rce. It s come to the port where people who gel married today Don t have the deadly serious attitude o ill death do us  says London the psychiatrist. We want in to work but if it Breaks up i break  or the new Brand of psychotherapy. Many unas traditional exploration of unconscious longings toward mothers and fathers and aunts and under is  As taking a horse and buggy in the Long Island expressway London said. Basi Eagy society wants much More current needs solved . A arduous introspection of psychoanalysis " Carrlon r. Sanders a sociologist at lha University be ? or i. Says Thyl T � t 01 society  has helped to bring about a Light decade. When you have one out of Lour americans Movina every year then one s connections to people an objects become very Light he said. Job what we Are not going to have those friends next year Hen we Are not going to define them As being As Nipar Tant As we would in we were Goi to have an ongoing relationship Wilh  Page 16 the stars and stripes tuesday september 2.1988