European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 9, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Homo dual cafe. But Otlyn do not agree that quart Tang Lite win i a be a so tool in an Effort to Darby whal Lias become an angry debate Joseph announced at the Montef we conference ital he would invite an outside panel of experts to review new York s data and procedures. Stass Lic on the extent of aids virus infection among new York heterosexuals remain rage nary. Data frown blood donors came As something of n Relief to health officials. Blood donations Are accepted Only from people who deny past homosexual ads and intravenous drug use. Among 331,000 people who gave blood to the greater new York blood program from april through december 1985,257, or 0.08 percent had antibodies to the aids virus a sign of infection. Further investigation revealed that to percent of these fit people had prior homosexual or drug experience or had a sex partner who did. In Only 11 cases could the source of infection no be identified. Blood donors Are nol of course a random Sample of the Community. More worrisome is the much higher incidence of infection shown in the military s tests of new York City applicants for service from october last year through july 1986,84. Or 1.06 percent of 7,938 men and 13, or 0.83 percent of 1,560 women were found infected. The older the applicant the More Likely the infection Rales did not differ greatly by race. Miary recruits Loo Are unrepresentative of the general population. Data were not gathered on the background of the infected applicants who wore rejected for military service but about a fourth of them sought counselling from the new York health department. Among ills subgroup of military applicants most infections could be raced to homosexual Contact or drug use and the proportion attributed to heterosexual relations was minor and nol different from Normal reported Mary Ann Chiasson an epidemiologist at the health department. A new Survey is planned she said for aids infection Rales among people who visit a clinic Lor sexually transmitted disease and who agree to blood testing some expert wonder whether trends in Haiti Are an ominous Harbinger of events in the United Stales. The spread of aids in Haiti has shifted dramatically reports or. Warren d. Johnson jr., of the Cornell Medica College. Homosexual con act and drug abuse accounted for a majority of cases a Lew years ago but now heterosexual Intercourse is blamed for More than 80 percent of cases. So far however no evidence indicates thai the United Stales is experiencing a similar transition. It s probably too simplistic to look at trends in Haiti or Africa and conclude Well have the same problem in a Lew years Jaffs said. A lot of things in those countries Are different he said including patterns of sexual promiscuity and the extent to which the aids virus is recirculated among the population by contaminated transfusions. Ii also appears Many scientists think that the virus has spread More easily Intercourse among africans and perhaps haitians than among North americans. Venereal diseases Are More common among heterosexuals in Africa and studies in Alrica produce a Strong suspicion Jaffe said that concurrent infection with another sexually transmitted disease renders a person More capable of infecting others or More susceptible to invasion by the aids virus. The conjecture is that a Parson with a disease such As syphilis or gonorrhoea has More while blood Calls the kind the aids virus inhabits in the genitals and hence May Emit More of the virus in Intercourse. Also sores caused by genital herpes would provide a pathway into the bloodstream for the virus. In any Case he nation s health officials realize that to halt the heterosexual spread of aids they must. Strike a delicate balance. They Are urging Pelerose Suais to make prudent changes in sexual behaviour but they Hope to do so without causing unwarranted anxiety or panic. For anyone who has sex Wilh multiple partners the danger is rising and ii is already great for those whose intimate lives intersect with drug addicts or bisexual men. For now however most of the country s heterosexuals apparently face Only a slight risk of exposure to aids. This contrasts with the plight of homosexual men among whom the infection to so prevalent that a Blanket proscription of unprotected Intercourse is entirely credible. Officials fed they must urge All heterosexuals to be More careful however because they know that the accumulation of Low individual risks can under the wrong circumstances add up to a runaway epidemic. New tax policy will bring a change in the american lifestyle Bojoh Cunniff associated press he noise of the debate has faded replaced by the murmur of a Public now dwelling on the consequences of a new taxing policy and asking what Congress has wrought. What has been wrought on reflection is a vast change in the Way Ordinary americans live their lives make ends meet earn their living plan for their retirement shield their income pay Lor the things they buy. The Impact is pervasive and fundamental and nothing underscores thai reality More than the scramble among homeowners to raise Money via second mortgages or equity Loans in order to finance their old style of living. Home ownership has been held sacred throughout the nation s history and in recent years easy credit has risen to a level of Sanctity Only slightly below ii. The new tax Law in going to make changes in both. It May make the House the primary toot of consumer finance and in so doing introduce a greater level of vulnerability id homeowners. Simultaneously it might discourage plastic credit which Many Consumers have preferred to Cash. The retort familiar to most people is that with certain limitations the new tax Law permits interest on mortgage debt to be deducted. Interest on credit card debt however will be reduced and eliminated As a deduction. Now some of the ramifications homeowners accustomed to credit card debt will be encouraged now to mortgage the House instead. Most of the new Loans offered to homeowners have adjustable rates and unlike primary mortgages Many have no Caps. The absence of Caps or limitations on upward movement of interest Rales in not a major consideration in today s . Economy. But ii history a a teacher there will come a Day when rates will Rise perhaps swiftly. What happens then the Homeowner could incur negative equity or a reduction in the amount of savings in the House. This could reduce the ability to borrow and in fact even Force the Homeowner to come up Wilh additional equity the Homeowner also could be faced with Sharp increases in monthly payments. And the timing could t be worse interest rate increases come during limes of instability. So does inflation. So does unemployment. The ramification do not end there. Since renters do not have Home equity they will be denied the credit Cost deductions available to homeowners. For them there is no sharing of credit costs with Uncle Sam. Moreover because the new Law reduces the lax of rental housing by lessening for example the desirability of depreciation deductions the number of rental units available could be reduced. While nobody can say for certain the combination of fewer rental units and higher operating costs for those thai exist could Lead to higher rents. The renter therefore might pay More rent while losing a deduction. While the housing and credit impacts provide the sharpest illustrations of How lifestyles can be changed inhabitants of other areas of economic life Are musing about the Impact on Thorn. It will be tougher for charities to raise Money because of reduced lax benefits for givers entrepreneurs might Lind it More difficult to find Money because the investment tax credit is eliminated. Other Conil Dentont Are also getting More realistic attention now Small business people for example Are wondering whatever happened to the goal of less paperwork. Some believe their paperwork won t be reduced very much. Bigger businesses Are wondering if the new Law will Tower productivity which everyone agrees needed a boost to make America More competitive. For Many years up to 1966, in fact lax Reform was a Wispy Hope a forlorn dream a dreaded Prospect. It was something that might occur someday but it never got the close scrutiny that is Given to realities. Now reality is Here and it must be dealt with. Sunday. Novembers 1986 the stars and stripes Page 17
