European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 7, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes sunday August 7,1988 Pacific gis Hurt by off base costs umbilical Cord near breaking Point by Chuck Vinc Washington Bureau Washington the slumping Greenback a costly ration control policy in Korea and restrictive japanese import Laws Are combining to Strain the Quality of life for military personnel and their families in the Pacific. That is the gloomy assessment of rep. Marvin Leath a Texas who recently led a congressional delegation on a 1.0-Day review of base operations and Quality of life programs for the 475,000 military and family members in the Region. Leath head of the House armed serv ices committee s morale welfare and recreation panel said in a press release that the umbilical Cord of support has been stretched to the limit for the Mili tary in the Pacific. In Many areas costs outside the Gate Are escalating he said. Meanwhile budget draw Downs Are taxing base facilities As thousands on and on base have begun to rely More heavily on military facilities for family support food cloth ing household products and  the Dollar has dipped to record Post temperatures 1 August 5  Albuquerque. C  Anchorage c  Arta is   Bator   Birmingham c  Boise c Boston. R  Burlington. Vt.,r Caribou. C  Charleston or charlotte.n.c.,c    Cincinnati  Columbus.  Columbus Ohio f Concord,n.h.,c Corpus  Dallas it Worth Dayton Daytona Beach c  Detroit  Erie Eugene f  Fairbanks  Flagstaff fort Wayne Fresno great  Green   a   Honolulu. C  Huntsville,ala.,c Indianapolis Jackson miss. A Jacksonville c  Kansas   Lake Charles c Hilo 92 74 87 65 88 65 57 54 62 66 86 72 98 76 91 70 94 75 96 72 94 72 95 60 98 67 92 75 90 75 93 76 80 69 89 61 85 78 88 71 89 71 82 61 88 58 89 71 92 73 96 73 90 71 93 69 96 74 102 76 89 73 90 73 87 65 94 69 74 55 91 69 85 53 89 73 76 58 92 64 84 53 91 72 95 63 96 61 82 64 88 69 91 73 92 73 89 77 96 80 92 73 91 71 95 72 91 74 61 50 88 60 88 69 91 76 Las vegas Lexington Lincoln. Little  los  Louisville  Memphis Miami Beach c Milwaukee mils St  Mobile r Nashville new Orleans new York   North  Omaha  , Pittsburgh  portland.ore., , r rapid  Reno Richmond Rochester,n.y.,c  Sacramento St Louis salem.ore., Salt Lake  san Diego. C san  san  St Ste Marie    South Bend Spokane Springfield to. A     Washington  Wichita Falls , Del. A  Youngstown  Hilo 91 7687 71 90 59 94 76 83 65 88 70 93 73 93 77 88 82 85 67 84 64 80 75 93 73 87 74 89 75 90 72 85 66 84 58 91 75 92 73 102 89 89 69 93 72 75 52 89 59 89 68 91 63 89 53 91 69 91 73 86 58 83 57 88 75 82 52 92 66 75 67 71 59 77 62 75 58 90 75 71 54 85 68 95 67 88 59 86 71 91 77 92 70 90 58 94 74 91 74 102 73 89 72 90 74 87 54 90 69 106 84l-Lalr a Cloudy a rain a unavailable 1 european Wea Nev forecast for sunday Northern Germany and the Benelux will be Cloudy with locally dense fog becoming fair with Haze Early in the afternoon. Other areas of Germany will be fair with Haze High temperatures 86-82 lows 60-64. Sunset sunday 8 58. Sunrise monday 6 05. Outlook for monday Northern Germany and the Benelux will be partly Cloudy with tog and Haze. Fair with Haze predicted or other areas of Germany. High temperatures 88-82 lows 62-64. Temperatures recorded saturday 4am 4pm 4am 4pm Adana f 73 95copenhagen. C 54 68 Amsterdam f 56 72 Frankfurt f 54 79 Athens. I 73 86 London f 9 77 Aviano. F 68 84madrid, i 68 90 Berlin p 59 72 Munich i 50 73 Bremerhaven. P 61 72 Paris i 8 81 Brussels f 58 77 Rome 68 86 provided by out 13,2nd weather Wing Graben Trarbach. Other worldwide temperatures Cairo f Dublin c Helsinki f Jerusalem i Lisbon c Hiah Low 99 73 Montreal c 73 55 Moscow c 48 Oslo f 68 Toronto c 68 Vancouver c 6390 84 High low91 72 72 5575 " 90 world War ii lows in Japan with its value plummeting More than so percent in the past two years. In South Korea the Dollar has fallen by 25 percent Over the same period. That has meant service members can no longer think about spending Money even for routine off base amenities. On the japanese Economy it costs $60 for a bucket of Chicken or $10 for a cheese Burger Leath said. The delegation found that currency problems Are compounded in Japan As import restrictions on some foods drive up costs despite assurances from the . Department of agriculture regard ing strict controls on health inspections. Rep. David Martin r-n.y., the rank ing Republican on the mar panel said the japanese embargo does t make sense. These products Are shipped by the United states and sold to american service members he said. I see no Rea son Why the japanese Force them to pay $2 for 50 cents Worth of  on another Issue the delegation has asked the military command in Korea to review its ration control policies de signed to prevent controlled duty free . Products sold in exchanges and commissaries from making their Way into the local Economy. Martin noted that the United states spends $12 million a year in administrative costs to track distribution of con trolled products a figure that surpasses the total financial support for military Community support programs in the Pacific. A committee staffer said the panel s request for the command to review ration control procedures in South Korea was prompted because lawmakers Are questioning whether current policies Are realistic in Light of greatly improving eco nomic conditions in that country in re cent years. If there still is a requirement for strict product controls panel members feel the South korean government should share the costs of administering those controls the staffer said. In the Philippines Leath said Perva Sive on base theft by the local Popula Tion together with political unrest Are resulting in a siege mentality in which service members and their families stay on base relying More and More on Mili tary support programs. That comes at a time when funding for such programs in the Philippines is among the lowest in the armed forces. The delegation highlighted several positive developments for military Quality of life programs in the Pacific. Leath praised the japanese govern ment for supporting . Military personnel programs with $90 million Over the past decade Money used to build commissaries child care centers and ath Letic facilities. He said Japan has pledged an additional $329 million per year by 1990. Innovative use of non appropriated funds which come directly from the service members pockets also is helping to ease the Burden Leath said. In another major project the military is poised to begin development of fort Derussy in Hawaii As the primary recreation area for forces in the Pacific Leath said. That initiative should begin in 1990, he said. Dukakis meets top demos in Denver declares intention to win All the west9 Denver a Democrat Michael Dukakis met with Western governors and other democratic officials saturday de Claring he loves the West and leads in the Region Over Republican George Bush. Dukakis the Massachusetts governor and democratic presidential nominee met in private for nearly three hours with the democratic group and emerged saying they were in Broad agreement on Western concerns and the chances for a democratic Victory in the Region that has been dominated by the gop in presiden tial elections since 1964. We re ahead now. There s no reason Why we should t stay ahead and build on that Lead and i think it s because the people of the West Are ready for change said Dukakis who later donned a Cowboy hat and was presented with a pair of Cowboy boots. I think we have an Opportunity to win the West and i mean All the West he said. Dukakis revealed no specific policy agreements reached with the nearly 50 elected democrats including governors from 10 states members of Congress and former governors. On questions of water and Oil big issues in much of the West Dukakis said Only that he wanted a National Energy policy and a National water policy while voicing caution about diverting water be tween regions. Among those present for the meeting were former presidential candidates Bruce Babbitt the former governor of Arizona and Gary Hart the former Colorado sen Ator. Dukakis running mate sen. Lloyd Bent sen of Texas was campaigning in his Home state saturday where he told a group of his panic veterans that the republicans were playing politics with National defense. Bush meanwhile was spending the week end at his summer Home at Kennebunkport Maine where no Public events were scheduled. Dukakis was concluding a three Day Campaign swing that took him from Mississippi to California and Washington state before stopping in Colorado. Dukakis began his Day in Denver with a brisk 2.6-mile walking workout at Dawn in a Park along with Colorado gov. Roy Romer California sen. Alan Cranston and some of the reporters and photographers who travel with him. Dukakis invited them along at the end of a week in which he faced questions about his health. He later said of the press they re in bad physical condition and i m worried about  he spoke to about 2,000 people at an outdoor rally in the same Park standing in the hot Sun before a spectacular View of spouting water the Denver Skyline and the Rocky mountains. 1 killed dozens Hurt in Paris train crash Paris a a passenger train slammed into a Barrier at the Gare de 1 est station saturday killing one per son and injuring More than 40, including seven who were trapped in the wreckage fire department officials said. A witness said no passengers on the station s platform were injured. The train which was arriving at Gare de 1 est from chateau Thierry 60 Miles Northeast of Paris hit a retaining Post at the end of the track where trains nor Mally Stop to discharge and pick up Pas sengers officials said. The cause of the Accident was not immediately known said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. On june 27, a train lost its brakes and crashed into a stationary train at another railway station in Paris Gare de Lyon and 56 people were killed. Saturday s crash occurred at 1 10 . When the first car of the four car train crashed into the Barrier and Rode up Over it a witness said. Most casualties occurred in the badly damaged first car the officials said. The other three cars apparently suffered Little damage. Ferry tips hundreds feared drowned so76 61supplied by the associated press a Cloudy a Lair p partly Cloudy a rain. New Delhi India a a ferry boat carrying More than 500 people Cap sized in the Ganges River in Eastern Bihar state saturday and most were still unaccounted for several hours later local officials and reporters said. Thirty eight bodies were recovered and about 100 people were rescued according to reports from the Remote area. Indian news agencies and local report ers said As Many As 400 people were feared drowned. Most of the passengers on the steam powered ferry were hindu pilgrims who were crossing the sacred River to catch a  launch is still under water. We Are told by local officials that at least 400people Are feared dead Many of the Vic Tims Are still trapped an Indian reporter said when contacted by Telephone in Patna capital of Bihar state More than six hours after the Accident. The reporter who spoke on condition of anonymity said he bad seen the boat s passenger list and he said there were 535passengers. Only about 100 people have been res cued and 38 bodies located. There is a slim Chance of survivors he  River is High and there is very Strong current so chances of finding survivors Are less he said. The Acci Dent occurred during the Monsoon sea son when the River reaches a Width of a  launch was terribly Over crowded the reporter  Accident occurred near Kaihar 185 Miles East of Patna and about 650miles East of new Delhi