European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 14, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday july 14, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 9 Riding High a like seagoing ants crewmen swarm Over the Rig Ging of the soviet frigate Mir As it sails into Helsinki Finland tuesday during the annual tall ships race. The Mir built last year is the biggest entry in the Competition. It carries a Crew of 196. House passes legislation on stateside base closures by William j. Bartma Washington Bureau Washington the House this week passed controversial legislation that could Lead to the closing of dozens of unnecessary stateside military installations. The vote sends the Issue Back to a waiting Senate which included a similar version of the Pentagon sup ported base closings initiative in its defense authorization Bill. The House vote on the politically charged Issue followed eight hours of debate covering two Sepa rate sessions. We knew there was a lot of support in the House. Once you got away from some of the leadership sen. William Roth r-del., said following the tuesday House vote. We knew it was a matter of getting it to the  Only three weeks ago Roth and rep. Dick Armey a Texas the two key proponents of the legislation severely criticized democratic House leadership for allegedly reneging on promised support for the Bill. Roth and Armey said the Bill was to have been voted on in time for inclusion in the defense authorization legislation. The pair also were concerned about tinkering with original proposals by House committees that they believed doomed the initiative to failure. But with tues Day s vote Roth said i think we have a real Chance now to end one of the biggest pork barrels  savings from the base closings have been estimated at Between $2 billion and $5 billion per year. Although the defense authorization process is now ended Roth and Armey were confident the Senate either will adopt the House Bill by unanimous consent or the two sides will Iron out in conference slight differences Between their respective versions. The key difference is that the Senate version establishes a 15 member bipartisan panel to decide which bases should be closed while the House version Calls for a nine member panel. Changes rendered by three House committees had expanded the legislation to include overseas bases and added economic and environmental requirements that critics said were intended to prevent any base closings. But after debate the House approved Armey s original Bill As a substitute to the reconfigured legislation. The Pentagon believed the overseas provision unnecessarily hampered the commission s work. I Don t think it s relevant Roth said of the plan to include overseas bases under the commission Purview. The military bases overseas have no constituency no members of Congress to fight their shut Down. The Pentagon can close them whenever it wants  the Pentagon has been unable to close a major Domestic base since 1977, when Congress passed legis lation that has complicated the base closure procedure. Since world War ii congressmen have fought to save local jobs and other economic benefits that bases in their districts represent. Under the Bill the commission will have to make recommendations by the end of the year. The Secretary of defense will then have 15 Days to accept or reject the closings list. If he rejects it the idea is dead. If he accepts it under both the House and Senate provi Sions Congress will have the Opportunity to override his decision. Roth said he would have preferred not to have had the congressional veto provision in the Bill but we Felt it was something we could live  saying he is confident a Good base closing Bill will now result Armey noted that Senate armed services committee chairman Sam Nunn d-ga., is an ardent supporter of clean base closing legislation. House armed services committee chairman Les Aspin d wis., also was a Strong supporter of the base closing provision. Of budget May Force space Ava Abe student travel by Chuck Vinc Washington Bureau Washington a Money crunch in the air Force student travel program May Force some College students to Fly space available on military aircraft for the rest of this fiscal year during paid round trip visits to sponsors overseas. We re not saying that the commands can t use commercial flights if they have the Money that s Fine a Pentagon compensation official said. But we be just told the air Force to let its com mands move these students on a space available basis if the Money is running  the move will be in effect until at least oct. 1. The other services Aren t doing this because they Aren t facing the Money crunch being experienced by the air Force the official said. The dependent student travel program pays for the overseas leg of a yearly round trip flight for military family members attending College who visit Active duty sponsors overseas. All air Force commands including Safe have a Pool of $67,500 to draw from for dependent student travel until the end of the fiscal year according to a statement released by Safe officials. Safe alone requires $149,000 to totally satisfy All remaining student travel needs said command spokesman Doug Moore. Moore said other air Force com mands in Europe need a combined $57,000 to satisfy remaining student travel quotas leaving a total shortfall of $138,500. Once the existing Money has run out Moore said space available travel will be the Only alternative other than Purchase of a commercial ticket by the dependent s  Safe officials did not estimate a Date when funds Are expected to run out. To make it easier for air Force com mands to quickly move students travel ing on their annual trip under the pro Gram Dod has granted authority to upgrade their Mac priority to category two second Only to personnel on Emer gency leave and ahead of Active duty members and their families travelling on routine leave. Technically people flying on the Stu Dent travel program always Are eligible to go space available on military aircraft but in a category three status behind emergency leave personnel and Active duty members and families on regular leave. Defense department policy has been to Fly the students on commercial air Craft which is More expensive but does not add to already lengthy space Avail Able waiting lists or use up extra space on military flights. The student travel program has had a beleaguered history. It was authorized in 1980, but Congress did t appropriate any Money for it until three years later. Initial costs were estimated by Pentagon officials to be about $2 million per year but that quickly proved to be far too Low. The Price tag reached $4.7 million for fiscal 1987, when Congress moved to Cut costs by imposing a restriction that bars reimbursement for the stateside portion of any trip made under the program. That restriction allowed funding to be Cut to $2.4 million for this fiscal year but it has prompted Pentagon officials to argue that it discriminates against families with children who Don t attend col lege near a coastal military port of entry. The defense department has appealed to Congress to remove the fund ing Cap As Well As the restriction on reimbursement for the stateside portions of travel. But i Don t know How successful we re going to be the compensation official said. A lot of people on Capitol Hill have never really been Happy with this  nutritionist finds doctor s eatery embarrassing Minneapolis a a nationally known transplant physician has sur prised some nutritionists by opening Alast food restaurant featuring Fried foods that have been linked to hear disease. Popeye famous Fried Chicken an biscuits the new fast food restaurant that or. John Najarian opened tues Day in Minneapolis offers Fried Chick in onion rings French Fries and butter milk biscuits among other fare. I think it s an embarrassment. The problem is his name brings credibility to the food. People will say i the chief of surgery is promoting this food then it must be Good for you said Bonnie Liebman director of nutrition for the Center for science in the Public interest a consumer Oriente group based in Washington . I m expecting it s going to be a real lean Chicken i mean coming from a surgeon said Mark Anderson editor of the Whittier Globe the neighbor Hood , chief of surgery at the University of Minnesota Hospital and per Sonal physician to the late Hubert Humphrey defended his  would t be like backing a cigarette company or something like that said the 60-year-old kidney and liver transplant physician. Today the important thing is to get away from beef and red meat. So what we stress a physicians is Chicken and fish it s a Heck of a lot better than Burger King or Wendy  among his friends Najarian s fast food business is seen As in keeping with his personality. He s country. He likes to go Down to the state fair and Munch on doughnuts said Jim John son a longtime Friend. Najarian As president of Yajian inc., holds the franchise rights along with his family for Popeye in the twin Cit  study of fast foods released by the Center for science in the Public inter est in 1986 said that Popeye French Fries had the second highest percentage 55 percent of saturated beef fat surpassing both Mcdonald s and Wendy s. Saturated fat according to medi Cal experts tends to raise cholesterol Levels in blood and increases the risk of heart disease. Najarian s son David said the cajun style Chicken at the family s restaurant would be Fried in vegetable Oil which is considered less harmful to the health. But a Popeye regional official in Chicago said tuesday that Najarian had misspoke. It s not vegetable Oil said Richard Karlsen regional operations manager for Popeye 153 Midwest locations including Minneapolis. He said All Popeye use the same ingredients and cooking methods but he declined to say what shortening is used. Popeye has More than 700 restau rants in 40 states and was started in new Orleans in 1972