European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 29, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday. March 29, 1966 the stars and stripes Page 5 Battle lines drawn on minimum wage Congress Likely to raise it Reagan veto looms Washington not if the advocates arc Correct railing inc minimum wage now $3.35 an hour would have few noticeable Adverse effects on Busi Ness or employment and could stimulate the Economy by increasing Lite Purchas ing Power of the 4.7 million americans who Cam it. Bui Many economists including advisers to president Reagan Tay raising the Federal minimum wage May do More harm than Good. They argue thai employers would try 10 offset the  of the wage increase by hiring fewer pc Cpl in particular youths and members of minority groups would suffer. The debate is More than academic. Congress appears poised to approve a Bill raising the minimum wage for the first Lime in seven years setting up a possible Veio Battle Willt Reagan. The Bill that s ready to go to inc floor would prompt a very Strong veto recommendation said Michael e. Baroody assistant Secretary of labor for policy. A Bill to raise the minimum wage to 15.05 in several Steps Over tour Yean was passed by the House education and labor committee a Atiim this month and the full House is expected to take it up after the Spring recess. A companion measure for a wage floor . Minimum wage j3.so 45 so 3b -61-63  Chart foam Jahntz sow a Deparle Rattix labor of $4.65 an hour Over several years is before the Senate labor committee. Robert Mcglotlin chief lobbyist for the american federation of labor and Congress of Industrial organizations is optimistic that a Bill raising the mini mum wage will be passed especially in an election year. The majority of the members of Congress obviously feel that there should be some increase in the minimum wage he said and we Hope they will act upon that  the minimum wage debate has also been coloured by a historical coincidence it was 50 years ago that Congress first set a minimum wage 25 cents an hour when it passed the fair labor standards act. Since then the minimum wage has risen steadily and never before in the 50 Yean has it remained inc same for so Long. The debate also symbolizes perhaps More than any other legislation this year the conflict Between conservatives and More moderate politicians Over How the Federal government can Best help poor americans find Jot and break the Cycle of dependency on government assistance. That legislation has made it Unis far reflect an important Shin in that conflict in the waning months of the Reagan administration. In the is a Virs of Republican control of he Senate democrats were unable to bring a minimum wage increase out of commit Lee. The result was the same even in inc democratic controlled House. The administration countered proposals to raise the wage with a Call for a sub minimum wage for teen age workers saying that would1 help item enter the Job Market. Now with firm control Otbo h Senate and House democrats have placed Bills raising the minimum wage High on the nation s legislative Agenda. Some con Gressional aides say it is conceivable but not Likely that Congress might accept some form of a sub minimum wage in an Effort to Avert a Reagan veto is trivia cultural that s an academic question new Orleans not More than 3,000 people have gathered Here to Ponder soap operas Nursery rhymes hair styles and other attributes of american popular culture. The occasion is the annual meeting of the popular culture association and the american culture association two groups of professors students and enthusiasts who attend trivia workshops such As the Tup per War party and the american dream you too can have it All or at least a Nice salad  educators Are debating whether the subject merits scholarship let alone classroom space. The Reagan administration is doubtful. You go to College to. Learn about economic theory and the French revolution not soap operas William Krystol. Assistant Secretary of education said in a Telephone interview. But the members of the associations who scrutinize Best Sellers movies television shows and newspaper gossip columns in search of cultural trends take their work seriously. I s fun but not frivolous said Ray d. Browne chairman of the department of Papular culture at Bowling Green state University in Bowling Oren Ohio. Mimi Frenier 0 professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota in Morris minn., said at a workshop on soap operas when i asked my students for example to describe Ideal relationships a Surpris ing number pointed to the relationship Between Adrienne and Justin two of the leading characters on Days of our lives " and Robert my cake a professor of English at North cast Missouri slate University in Kirkville mo., said he would be laughed out of the faculty lounge if he tried to begin a serious discussion on the significance of Chuck Norris the movie actor. Here his Oral thesis on the Star of martial arts and action movies was greeted with appreciative applause. The popular culture movement in America. Rather we Are advocating that there ii room for  study puts vehicle thefts at 12.3 million in 1973-85 Washington a More than 12.3 million cars trucks vans and motorcycles valued at $52 billion were Sto Len Over a 13-year period the Federal government estimated sunday. After recovery at about 65 percent of them losses were estimated at j29 Bil lion in 1983 dollars. Insurance payments reduced actual losses to vehicle owners to an estimated j16.1 billion according to an analysis of the Bureau of Justice statistics National crime surveys for the years 1973 through 191 3. The number of thefts per 1,000 registered vehicles fell 33 percent Over the surveyed period from nine to just six the Bureau concluded in an analysis of its biennial surveys of More than 40,000 households nationwide. Over the period the number of Esti mated vehicle thefts per 1,000 House holds also declined by 21 percent from 13.3 in 1973 to 10.3 in 1985. In addition to the vehicle thefts during inc period there were in estimated 7 proof fuse to re create poses she says Swaggart paid for million attempted thefts said bus director Steven scale Singer about 64 percent of those were not reported to police he said and 13 Percini of the actual vehicle thefts also went unreported. Half of the thefts involved a loss of $2,433 or More before recoveries and insurance payments. About 10 percent involved losses of j10,000 or More. The vehicle stolen in 76 percent of the cases surveyed was a car. In 7 percent of the completed thefts the vehicle was in a garage at Home. Thefts most often took place at night and Sands of time in parking lot on the Street or near the victim s Home. The most Likely