European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 20, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes Friday May so 198b researchers taking a new interest in Young military family members by Deedee Arrington Doke staff writer Willi Noen West Germany children in Mili tary families generally adjust belter to new situation than those in civilian families and have fewer prob lems in getting along with people the chief of the army family Liaison office said thursday. Shauna Whitworth of inc Washington based office said that military children consider frequent moves Normal and tend to think Marc in Concrete or realistic terms than do their civilian counterparts whose thoughts lean More toward the abstract. Whitw onh who is writing i textbook on military families spoke wednesday and thursday at the Amer ican women s activities Germany conference until recently much of inc research done on Mili tary families had produced negative results. The num Ber of studies of military family life is increasing. Whitworth said because we re looking Al retention and readiness  the research that produced negative finding on the effects of military life on children probably Colon the civilian population s perception of military life she said. She cited a court Case in Oregon in which a judge granted a father custody of two children when their to incr married a . The Mother had had a Slody. But the father successfully argued that a Mili tary lifestyle was t appropriate for the children. Four factors identified by Whitworth. That May affect a military child s happiness Are inc Mother s Atti tude toward the lifestyle the father involvement with the family despite frequent absences the family s Abili news updates to to Cope Tad the parents general marital satisfaction. The effect on children of the military Parent s fre quent absences is being heavily studied. To Dale re search has shown that some military jobs can have a More detrimental effect than others on the family and that absences can be offset if the absent Parent set consistent standards for children. We re teaching dads some interesting things now  As encouraging them to write ichters or Call Home regularly to stay connected with the family . One age group in which Wilworth said a potential glitch exists Between a child s development and Mili tary life is in the primary grades. At an age when children attempt to meet standards set by adults a move for instance May cause a change in standards if the new teacher s Way of teaching subject differs from that of the previous teacher s. A boy in a military family who is told by his parents that he must be the Man of the House in his rather absence also faces unrealistic expectation what if White his father s gone inc car Breaks Down Whitworth said. If things Don t go right he Llave missed the Mark. All of us have same level of inferiority she said. It s when they have missed a lot of these standards that there May be problems. They might All hit at onetime in a Little Guy s  the unique qualities of a military lifestyle include mobility a Parent s absence income and Job Security High risk and High stress jobs an extended family often Uncertain spouse employment military and fam ily interdependence and living in a company town where everyone Speaks the same language Whitworth said. While civilians May encounter one or More of these experiences in their work lives Whitworth said they never have a scenario where they have three four or five of them. I can guarantee you without a Shadow of a double that sometime in a military career you will experience All of  in addition military families lend to have More traditional values than civilian families and children icam rank Structure at an Early age and generally have a better geographic understanding than do children from civilian Homes Whitworth said. A separate characteristic unique to the military tithe so called compressed family pattern meaning that comparatively Tow ranking  typically gel married and have children at i than civilians. L a younger age one reason for that trend Whitworth said May be military medical benefits that a service member might want to use before leaving the service to embark on another career. Because 77 percent of the military s children Are Between infancy and 11 years of age securing funding from Congress for programs for those age groups 5 comparatively easy Whitworth said. Out in the upper age groups  As High school 8.5 percent and col lege 1.5 percent financing for benefits specifically aimed Al those children is More difficult she said. Tibetan prisoners new Delhi India Dpi about 1,000 tibetan students thursday staged an incident free oily to demand that China release four of their compatriots scheduled to be executed for allegedly killing a chinese policeman during March riots in Lhasa Tibet. The group marched to a Grassy expanse near parliament where they torched a chinese Flag and heard speeches by members of the comm Llee of tibetan student in exile a youth group that organized inc demonstration. Speakers claimed the four accused youths currently being held in an army Garrison in Lhasa did not kill the chinese policeman during Ami chinese riots that rocked the Tibet an capital on March 5. They said radio Lhasa on april19 announced the four would be executed Elan unspecific a Date and called for the immediate release of me condemned men. Nicaraguan talks Managua Nicaragua a the leftist sandinista govern ment and the rebels have tentatively agreed to hold a. Third round of talks in Hopes of securing a last ing peace the government announced. A communique said the  ported rebels known As Contr have agreed to it government proposal to hold the talks May 25-28 at Anas yet undetermined location. The agreement was reached at meetings held in Miami where the contras Are based on tuesday and wednesday Between Deputy for eign minister Victor Hugo Tinoco and Azucena Furrey one of the five directors of the Nicaragua resistance. According to the communique the sandinista proposed that the third meeting be held in Managua As the previous two had been but the contras appeared Ciuc Tyml and delayed the decision on a site. Auto on number i offer election info by Joseph Owen Stuttgart Bort Stuttgart voters unfamiliar with candidate Tor statewide office inthe nov. S election now can Call a special Auto on Telephone number for Campaign information aug. Is. Henry Valentino director of the de sense department s Federal voting assistance program us each comical party placing candidates on the ballot in All 50 slates can Supply five or six min Ute tape recordings for the special Tele phone Hookup to Tell voter something about their candidates. The democratic and Republican Par tin Are expected to Field candidates in each stale Valentino said. He declined to Rule out the nationwide ballot appear Ance of other panics As Well. Valentino said the parties would pro Duce a separate recording for each state providing information about their Candi dates for president Vicen resident 133. Senator and governor. The parties Aba May include information about congressional candidates in slates which be cause of their Small population have Only one . Representative. Voters affiliated with the . Forces overseas should Contact heir voting assistance office in August to get the Tele phone number. Valentino addressing voting assist Ance officers at an orientation meeting wednesday in Stuttgart told Ihm they should nol try to advise voters about candidate or to assemble candidate in formation for distribution id voters. Be cause More than 90 candidates Are run Ning for president in Unis election he said a voting assistance officer could not hop to achieve impartiality by collect ing information on them All Valentino also said his organization i lobbying stale governments to gel them to provide Blank write in ballots for slate and local office. Some overseas voters who seek Absentee ballots through i email Don t gel them in time id vote and the write in ballots would give them Alast Chance to do so he said. In july voting assistance officers will receive Blank write in Ballon for the presidential and vice presidential elec Tion to be used under the same Circum stances. But Valentino stressed the importance of voting by regular Absentee ballot even if in arrive Isle. Sometimes state officials Art to blame for the delay so the state can be forced to count Absen tee ballots Hal are1 resumed late. Federal voting assistance program officials have taken Stum to court on Many occasions to get Idem to include Laic arriving Absentee Ryols in their vat tallies. In 1984 we sued eight Stales and we Haven t lost a court Case yet Valentino said the program s most recent Victory occurred three weeks ago when a judge ordered Pennsylvania to accept Absentee ballots for two weeks after inc sule i april 26 presidential primary election because the stale had mailed them out to voters Lute. The program now is suing Idaho for the same reason Valentin said. Voters who wish to Autv by Absentee ballot should Contact a voting assistance officer to gel Federal Post card registration forms and should Send for ballots about 60 Days before the election. Voters using the forms also should ask their Vot ing officer for help in filling them out he said adding that 23 percent of forms used in recent elections were rejected be cause they were filled out improperly. Navy releases name of apparent suicide Rota Spain is the Navy has released die name of the Petty officer who died monday in an apparent suicide. Petty officer 2.c Mark a. Sookikian of Columbia s.c., was found by his room male in the locked bathroom of their apart ment a Navy spokeswoman said thurs Day. Sookikian was 28. A bottle of propane Cypega Wilh a Hose disconnected from its fittings which Al Lowed shegas to escape was found in the room it Donna . The Roommate and ambulance attendants attempted to revive Sookikian without Success she said. He was pronounced dead Al the bait Hospital at 1 36a.m. Sookikian was assigned to the maintenance department of Fleet air recon so Laroia. He is survived by his parents Charlesant Marguerite Soukikian also of co Lumbia. Pope Back in Rome after s. American four Rome a _ Pope John Paul ii re Lumen if Rome thursday after a 12-Day South american tour in which he condemned drugs in Bolivia preached reconciliation in Peru and Paraguay and re minded Uruguay of its roman Catholic roots the pontiffs plane arrived Al Rome .Irripino Airport shortly after 4 . And he headed directly for the Vatican. He ended his tour in the paraguayan capital of Asuncion on wednesday with a plea for listeners to seals their differences and build a better nation. The Day also marked his 6 blah birthday the key to Unity reconciliation an brotherhood is in the scriptures the Pon Tiff said of an Airport Farewell ceremony attended by authoritarian president Gen Alfredo Stroessner 75, the Western Hunu sphere s longest ruling head of slate. By building a Christian nation and being faithful to your genuine roots you can build a Paraguay of tomorrow mid John Paul who Early in the visit preached respect for human rights and civil liberties to Suessner in Power since 1954coup