European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 19, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ann Landers the stars and stripes Page 11 looters dear Ann Landers i am writing in reference to the woman who wanted to have an other baby but whose husband said three is  you suggested that her husband get counselling. You gotta be kidding. Twelve years ago my wife wanted another baby and i said six is  it s a Good thing i was Adamant. A few months later she decided that being a wife and Mother was too Confin  she wanted to be a free Spir it. The woman simply took off and left me to raise the six children Ages 6 to 16.1 did a pretty Good Job of it with the help of the older ones but i am baffled by your answer Ann. I Don t believe it was one of your better responses. A different View in Long Island dear View you weren t the Only one. Read on from Tulsa okla Are you there i mean All there you told that cuckoo lady who wanted a fourth child women like you make wonderful  wrong obviously she is compulsive about motherhood. Such women Don t Mother they smother. You need a vacation old girl. From Dubuque Iowa the woman with three children who signed herself empty Nursery aching heart sounds As if she has an empty head and no heart. I d give anything to have a child. My husband and i would be wonderful parents but after eight years of trying i guess it was not meant to be. When i read that letter i was furious. I Felt like a person who was starving to death watching someone consume a seven course dinner and then complain because she was still hungry. From Modesto Calif a fourth baby is she nuts overpopulation has be come a critical global problem. We Are running out of Ozone clean air and drinking water. We Are depleting our forests and our National resources. People Are dying of starvation. Nobody needs a fourth child in Light of these facts. From new Haven Conn what a Dippy answer Don t you know that most women with Large families Are trying to compensate for their unsatisfactory marriages my Wise old Grandfather had an expression for women like that All Mother not enough  from new Orleans in my 15 years of practising psychiatry i have never seen a situation where everything was perfect except the one area that the patient focused on. It s like the battered wife who says our marriage would be wonderful if my husband did t beat me every  your correspondent claims that her life would be Ideal if she had a fourth child. Can it be that the woman s self Worth depends on having someone Young and Hel Pless who is totally dependent on her from Omaha neb your correspondent was mistaken when she wrote All he has to do is get me pregnant. I m the one who must carry and give birth to the  there s More to being a father than impregnation. For the next 18 years he must feed clothe educate and nourish the spirit and soul of his children or he cannot consider himself a father. That female needs to take a second Reading. From Rochester . Is it possible that she wants babies rather than Chil Dren does she yearn to be an incubator or a Mother if mothering is her primary desire she already has plenty of Opportunity with three children. Soo of dear readers that was a Sample of this week s Ann bashing. Just pass the Humble pie and i la eat it. Switch to merchants Bank discussed whether or not the change to merchants Community Bank from american express will be a Benefit to the customers is yet to be determined. There has been much wailing gnashing of Teeth and beating of breasts Over the recently announced service charge increases. It seems Only logical that if merchants is to improve services somebody has to pay for it. There is no free lunch. Personally i d be glad to pay a Little extra for my banking services if the result shortens the lines i have to stand in. The Bank tellers currently do not have computer equipment that has been Standard for . Bank tellers for years. Changing Banks May or May not have been a Good idea. Here at Ramstein where there arc two banking facilities it might have been a much better idea to give one to merchants and leave american express in the other. Nothing improves service like Competition. Name withheld Ramstein a West Germany editor s note Yvonne Wise manager pub Lic affairs merchants National Bank and Trust co., Community Bank replies we too have heard the gnashing of Teeth and know All too Well that customer service must be improved. The Long awaited improvements do have a Price both for automated equipment and human Effort. Experience stateside has made us fully aware of the benefits of healthy Competition. Interestingly there is More Competition in Community banking than you May realize. The contract is open to any Bank on a competitively bid basis and Community Bank contractors operating around the world provide the department of defense Dod an excellent Opportunity to evaluate the performance of each institution against that of the others. Since merchants operates in a highly competitive environment in its Home base the Bank is forced to remain current with new technology. Our proposal to the Dod dictates that we bring much of our stateside technology to Europe including on line Teller Termi nals. During August Green machines will begin to pro vide on line service to be followed shortly by Access to Afan and Cirrus Teller machine networks in the states. The entire merchants Green machine network is scheduled to be on line by the end of the year. The on line Teller project will be launched next fiscal year. Shorter lines is one of our top priorities. No one project will result in a cure All but the sum of several projects will significantly reduce manual efforts which require so much of our employees time. It will not happen tomorrow but it is on the horizon. Yes the change to merchants Community Bank will be a Benefit to the customers Reader advises teachers on drug tests i recently read an article in the stars and stripes about the formal protest from the overseas teachers association of the proposed mandatory drug testing program. They cited infringements on constitutional rights and arguments of that nature. This position emphasized either the Lack of morals by our teachers Over seas or their detachment from the realities of present Day american society. I was recently on leave in the United states and witnessed the incredible sacrifices being made by americans to fight this War on drugs. Some were voluntary like extra hours after work on anti drug campaigns and projects gospel groups from All Over the country congregating to collect funds for this cause. Hundreds of people on a daily basis financially sup port these events time and Effort Are spent on neigh boyhood watches and so on. I also witnessed the involuntary sacrifices living in apartment buildings with drug users dealers watch ing this disease afflicting friends family and their Chil Dren or ultimately the loss of a loved one or someone you know to a drug related incident. This War is real not a Day of my leave went by when i did t see its effects. With All these sacrifices going on today you the teacher Are being asked Only one thing submit to a urinalysis test. Being in the military i am frequently required to participate in a urinalysis. When i do i do it proudly. You ought to request a urinalysis and request your name along with the negative results be posted on a Board in the hallway of your school. Utilize this test to make a statement to your kids i do not take accept or believe in drugs nor will i tolerate them in my  Cpl. Rick Sabbagh Mannheim West Germany Reader thankful american dream lives this is an open letter to the recent teen writer from Pitburg and the members of his generation who were not alive when sen. Robert f. Kennedy was alive. First of All my compliments to him on an extremely Well written letter regarding his insights into the life and times of sen. Kennedy and his expression of Hope for the future. Although it seems that the ideals of Many of our past leaders have been forgotten it is not the Case. I was 8 years old when president Kennedy was assassinated 13 when sen. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King or. Were shot not to mention the riots due to racial unrest and Vietnam. Never have i lost sight of what those men and women stood for and even died for. At the time i really thought our country would not survive. Quite an impression on a rather impressionable 13-year-old. Then came watergate and the Resig nation of president Nixon. I was convinced at age 18 that the United states had definitely seen its better Days. Finally i found Hope in getting deeply involved in our american system of government and met men and women who shared my concerns for a better society. This led me to a new understanding of our terrific form of government where one person can make a difference. Don t Ever lose Hope or take ridicule for dreaming. Dreaming is the beginning of Many Good ideas. Thank you for giving me the Opportunity to express my thoughts and for giving me Hope that Young peo ple such As yourself have not and will not forget great leaders such As Robert Kennedy. Dennis l. Maughan Friedburg West Germany All letters to the editor must contain the full printed name and address of the writer and must be signed. We do not read unsigned letters but we will withhold your name on request and protect your privacy. All letters Are subject to editing. European edition col Jeffrey m. Cook Usa commander editor in chief it col Suzanne l. Phillips Usan Deputy commander editor in chief Marie Kominicki Mert Proctor Deane b. Mcdermott production manager managing editor circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official views of or endorsed by the . Government the department of defense or the . European command. The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements does not constitute endorsement by the department of de sense or the stars and stripes of the products or services advertised. 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