European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 7, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes wednesday december 7,1988 110. Worst toys of year listed by watchdog Boston up a consumer advocate tuesday released his 7lh annual Holiday list of "10 worst toys of he year and renewed miscall for strict safely standards for children s toys. Safety standards that provide More stringent Protection than those in the United states can be found throughout the world said Edward m. Swartz a Boston attorney who specializes in Liti gation involving defective products. Our government officials continue to permit the manufacture and distribution of hazardous toys he said. Toys that maim and kill continue to flood the marketplace and invade our Chil Dren s  the consumer advocate railed for regulations to protect children from choking on toys with Small parts to protect children from electrocution and to prevent children from blinding themselves with toy weapons and projectiles. Swartz did not rate his 10 nominees in degree of danger. They arc. Burger King cheeseburger set manufactured by Mulli toys corp. Children could be tempted to Swallow parts of these plastic versions of popular fast food entrees Swartz said. Toy can and motorized vehicles for Chil Dren specifically the sweetheart Battery oper ated Riding toys made by Power wheels. The risks associated with these motorized cars and Riding toys not Only involve risks associated with their Speed Swartz said noting that some of the Battery operated versions such As sweetheart use 6-Volt rechargeable batteries that arc housed in unsecured areas of the play vehicles easily accessible to  Johnny jump up baby exerciser Evenol juvenile furniture co the toy for infants is a swing like seat suspended by straps that can be Hung from most doorways. It is possible for infants using this toy to sustain severe head or other injury by Hilling the Side of the doorway or becoming entangled in the exerciser Slong straps Swartz said. My ladybird first pull along Puzzle by Burchet. This infant s toy has a string which is too Long for a crib or a Playpen toy said Swartz who added that the instructions offered conflict ing advice As to which Ages should play with the toy. .22-Calibcr Pellet firing target pistols guarantee distributors. These arc mail order realistic toy guns available to anyone who sends their Money  manufacturer brags in the advertisement that each ,22-Calibcr target pistol looks and feels like the real thing. No permit is required Swartz said calling for strict regulations on the mail order Sale of Loy weapons. My train Montgomery schoolhouse Swartz said the wooden train is accompanied by removable wooden figurines that Are Loo Small to be considered Safe for  challenger rubber band target shooter by Artic corp. The toy Jun shoots six rubber bands without reloading Swartz contended the Label staling the j toy should not be used without adult supervision proves it is unsafe lbs youngsters. Battle beasts Warrior sword Imperial toy. Corp. \. This is a two pointed rigid plastic sword that contrary to the toy s packaging representations of safety is rigid and unforgiving enough to cause injury swarm said. Eyes would particularly vulnerable to this toy  padding on s Idith anniversary Bear Eden toys inc a tag which comes with this Bear says please look after this Bear my advice to parents of children playing with this Bear is to please look after your children said Swartz noting that Small parts could be swallowed and. That the manufacturer fails to provide an age recommendation for the stuffed Bear. Attack Force Esquire Nichols. Swartz said the toy a realistic looking machine gun which Finis Caps comes with warnings that it should not be fired closer than one fool from the ear and should Only be used outdoor Sand Only with adult supervision. Thousands of miners barred from getting Black lung Aid Washington a the supreme court on tuesday saved the Coal mining Industry from paying potentially billions of dollars in additional benefits to miners with Hack lung disease. But at the same Lime the justices ruled that More than  miners with pending Black lung claims Way be Eligi ble to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits. By a 5-4 vote the court said miners with fewer than id years of work in the mines Are eligible to claim supreme court Roundup benefits if there is other evidence they Are disabled. The government estimates there Are 8,000 o 10,000miners in this group. But the court also overturned a lower court ruling that could have opened the Way for claims by possibly More than 100,000 miners seeking As much As $13.6 billion in benefits. The larger group is barred from receiving benefits because miners in that class failed to pursue administrative remedies or to Appeal to the courts within the prescribed time the justices ruled. Justice Antonin Scalia writing for the court said Congress never intended to exclude from Benefit eligibility miners who worked fewer than 10 Yean. We do not sit to determine what Congress ought to have done Given the evidence before in but to apply what Congress enacted and. The exclusion of Short term miners from the benefits. Finds no sup port in the statute Scalia said. On the other hand he continued nothing in Federal Law requires the government to reopen settled claims. There is not even a Colo Rable basis Tor the Conten Tion that Congress has imposed a duty to reconsider finally determined claims he said. He was joined by justices William j. Brennan Thurgood Marshall Harry a. Blackmun and Anthony m. Kennedy. The four dissenters agreed that settled cases should not be reopened. But they also snid Miner with fewer than 10 years of work Are not in i i led to the Benefit. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the dissenting Opin Ion joined by chief Justice William h. Rehnquist and justices Byron r. White and Sandra Day o Connor. The ruling is important for the Reagan administration As Well As the Coal mining Industry the administration challenged a ruling by the . Circuit court of appeals that Justice department lawyers said could Force tremendous additional Cost on the overburdened fund that pays Black lung benefits. The 8th circuit court in the ruling overturned tuesday said the department of labor must Lake a fresh look at claims denied in the late 1970s and Early 1980s. The appeals court had directed the department to use liberalized standards adopted by Congress in 1977 to determine Eli ability for benefits. Congress had previously created a special fund to pay of claims by miners with Black lung disease. Coal mine operators already owe the government about $3 billion that has been Lent to the fund from the Federal  other action he court dismissed the Appeal of an unwed California far Thor seeking to restore a parental relationship with his 7-year-old daughter. Eight Days alter hearing arguments in Edward mom Anure s Case the court dismissed the Appeal for want of a properly presented Federal question. There was no recorded  justices had been expected to use his Cate to decide whether unwed fathers who seek custody of their children May be stripped of All parental rights if adoption is deemed in the children s Best interest. Ruled unanimously that Federal employees hold ing sensitive spy Agency robs Are not entitled to administrative hearings when they arc fired As Security risks. The justices reversed a lower court ruling that would have required such a hearing for a National Security Agency employee who says he was fired be cause or his homosexuality. Television May no be that bad for kids after a research finds Washington a there is Little scientific evidence to support the common belief thai television has a negative influence on children s education two psychologists say. In a government funded review of research Litera Ture the psychologists even concluded that Homework done while watching television is no worse than that done with the Box turned off. The surprising findings arc contained in the paper the Impact on children s education influence on cognitive development distributed by the , department of education s office of educational re search and improvement. The authors University of Massachusetts psychology professor Daniel k. Anderson and graduate student Patricia a. Collins did not conduct original research or studies with children. The research literature behind Many common assertions about television s Impact of children is sparse they said but their Reading of the available studies led them to these conclusions � to a is no evidence that television has a mesmerizing effect on children s attention caused by color movement and visual changes contrary to popular assertions children Are cognitively Active during television viewing and attempt to form a coherent connected understanding of television  there is no evidence that children generally get overstimulated by  television viewing generally displaces not general Reading but movie attendance radio listening comic Book Reading and participation in organized  there is no evidence that Homework done during television viewing is of lower Quality than Homework done in  -. -.-. There is Little evidence to show that television. Viewing reduces children s attention Span and some indicates in May actually increase their ability to focus their attention. ?. A there is no evidence that television makes Chil Dren cognitively passive " there is some weak evidence that television availability reduces Reading achievement but if so this appears to occur during the Early elementary household fax Ortw concur a Etc Tronci in pm Antol Hou hold curvy a 1. Rank audio set Toms -. Pc ref Tea Fol to tuft in we by Tim Waw y /2_. Aja Titi Airai fits Aldass cd school years and is probably  in sum the author said the research literature provides Little support for most of the common beliefs about inc influence of television american children watch television for an average of 12 to 25 hours a week. Parents who despair of Ever wean ing their offspring from the tube can Point to tests that show those who spent the most hours each Day in front of the television generally performed Well below average. According to a National assessment of educational Progress Reading test Given in 1984, 9-year-Olds who watched six hours or More of television Day cored sharply lower than those who watched less. But there was in file difference Between those who watched Les than two hours of television per Day and those who watched three to five hours among 13 and 17-year-Olds tested Reading scores went up As television watching went Down. Those who watched two hours or less scored higher than  watched three to five hours and the tatter out scored those who watched six hours or More