European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes wednesday december 21,198b news updates Mao s widow Beijing up authorities refused comment tuesday on a published report that Mao tse Tung s widow Jiang qing the Leader of the gang of four radicals who terrorized China for a decade has been freed from prison to be treated for cancer. The report in a chinese mag Azine was the first in an official publication after a year of unconfirmed reports that Jiang 74, had been intermittently released from prison because of ill health. Jiang s treatment is an especially sensitive subject in China where she remains reviled by Many people who suffered in the chaotic 1966-1976 cultural Revo Lution during which she wielded dictatorial Power. Launch restrictions Washington a China has agreed to a series of restrictions concerning the terms under which chinese produced rocket boosters will launch three Ameri can made communications satellites the state department said. The restrictions will restrict undercutting private american launch companies through chinese government subsidies. The agreement was initiated by . And chinese representatives according to the slate department announcement. No omits wednesday dec Emo 11, Isoo hijackers gun May have come aboard in fish witness says co a of Eti Idt a Aoi a Vin / a a int Man e Tran Trimn aft for Nacco Nonic of Kcf a in of re Flop Fotr flt it Frankfurt West Germany a the trial of confessed air pirate Mohammed a Hamad took a bizarre turn on tuesday when a witness Testi fied that a pistol used in the 1985 hijacking of a Twa jetliner May have been smuggled aboard in a fish. Witness Petra Posi Ege 31, a West German Federal police investigator also told the court that information gathered by greek police indicated hand grenades May have been taken onto the plane hidden among fruits. Posi Ege was tuesday s Only witness at Hamadi s trial. Hamadi is charged with air piracy and murder in the hijacking of Twa flight 847. Thirty nine americans were held hostage 17 Days during the ordeal. . Navy diver Robert Lethem was shot and killed aboard the plan after the Athens to Rome flight was hijacked on june 14,1985. Hamadi a lebanese shiite moslem has admitted taking part in the Hijack ing but denies killing so chem. He has testified that his accomplice identified in court records As Hassan Ezziddine shot Stethem. Posi Ege said she travelled to Athens Greece Afler the hijacking to ask greek police about their arrest of another Man who officials have said had planned to join the two other hijackers but who had failed to get on the flight. Scouts Hahn West Germany a former student at Hahn High school has advanced to Eagle scout the highest rank in boy scouting. Jason Delhoyo 18, has been in scout ing for six years. For his Eagle scout award he organized a project to Assem ble 10 first Aid kits for the Hahn military Community. Along with 10 other scouts Delhoyo prepared kits for use in orderly room kitchens the base teen club another mar facilities. Delhoyo who graduated in 1988, is a midshipman 4th class at the naval acad Emy in Annapolis my. He is the son of it. Col. Sergio a. And Vicki Delhoyo. To earn the Eagle scout award a boy scout must fulfil requirements in the areas of leadership service and outdoor skills. This includes at least 21 Merit badges and an average 100 hours spent on a Community project. We Brocken West Germany a Junior at  High school has received the Gold award the highest achievement in girl scouting. Catherine Burke 16, has been in scouting for 10 years. She earned her Gold award by writing a set of Standard operating procedures for the Rhein Neckar Caddie and senior girl scout planning Board. These operating instructions arc now being used by other plan Ning boards within the North Atlantic girl scouts Region. Burke also is one of the two girl scout representatives to the North Atlantic girl scouts Board of directors and has served As an Aid at a girl scout Camp Carcic Ssan. She is the daughter of James and Susan Burke. To attain the Gold award a girl scout must Complete a least four interest projects and fulfil requirements in the areas of leadership career exploration and self awareness. She then must plan and carry out a Gold award service project that usually involves at least four months Effort. Posi Ege s trip came after passengers released in Beirut Lebanon informed officials that one of the hijackers aboard the plane spoke German she said. Hamadi had lived in West Germany and spoke some German. Posi Ege said greek police identified the arrested Man As All Atwa who was taken into custody because he was acting  they would t give any other de tails on Why he was arrested she told the court. Under questioning a Atwa told them greek investigators the pistol was smuggled aboard the hijacked plane in a fish and the grenades were Between some fruit said Posi Ege. However she said greek police told her they did not believe Alwa s Story. They were convinced that their air port Security measures were adequate and that the weapons were placed inboard the Airliner in Cairo Egypt from where it had arrived earlier Posi Ege said. During the hijacking ordeal the plane was forced to land three times in Beirut and twice in Algiers Algeria. Stethem was killed when the plane landed the second time in Beirut. After Stethem was shot the Hijack ers forced the Airliner to return to Al Giers. Atwa was flown there and re leased Exchange for All greek passengers and the remaining women and children on Board the plane court records indicate. Posi Ege Idelli cd the greek officials she talked with Only As the Heads of the anti terror Security and Interpol offices in Athens. Also tuesday a written deposition from an american passenger aboard the hijacked plane was read into the court record. Joseph Cucchi s description of the ordeal including beatings of Passen Gers and the shooting of Stethem echoed those of dozens of other wit Nesses who have testified earlier at the trial which began on july 5 in a High Security courtroom in Frankfurt. In closing tuesday s session. Chief judge a cinch  said the court would Honor a defense request to try to obtain More detailed reports on the hijacking from International aviation organizations who May have monitored radio transmissions with the Twa Airliner. Among those to be contacted were the .-based Federal aviation Agency and the International civil aviation organization in Canada. West Ger Many is closely connected with both Hamadi s defense lawyer Gabriele Steck Bromme said. Users of tuition Aid Ore More Likely to remain in service study reports by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington contrary to popu Lar belief service members who use the military s tuition assistance program Are More Likely to stay in the service than leave for higher paying private sector jobs a study has found. There is a Strong and consistent Posi Tive association Between participation in the tuition assistance program and retention in the military said the study by the defense manpower data Center. The study also concluded that enlisted members who use the program which provides funds beyond Normal i Bill benefits for approved courses tend to be promoted faster. Defense education officials Hope the study which is the first qualitative re View of tuition assistance can help re verse or at least Stem a budget cutting trend Over the past few years by showing a relationship Between the program an military readiness and retention. Tuition assistance was one of Many programs scaled Back in the Wake of a budget agreement Between Congress and the Reagan administration in late 1987. The services previously covered 90 per cent of education costs for approved courses under the program but that was Cut Back to 75 percent of costs by Early 1988. The defense department has budgeted about $105 million for the pro Gram this fiscal year. Analysts used a 1985 sampling of More than 132,000 enlisted personnel and officers together with follow up sur Veys in 1988 of about 15,000 service members to obtain their data. The results showed that 35.8 percent of service members who did not use Tui Tion assistance left the military com pared with 18.6 percent of those who used the program at least once. In addition 53,. 1 percent of those who used tuition assistance were promoted Over the period of the study compared with 39.1 percent of those who did not. The fact that education leads to pro motion is another indication of the importance of tuition assistance the study said since promotions May increase one s commitment to a career in the  despite the seemingly conclusive numbers obtained from the surveys the study stops Short of citing a direct link Between tuition assistance and retention. The association Between to participation and retention does t necessarily mean that participation in the program causes higher retention  it said. " but it is very Clear that tuition assist Ance users Are less Likely than non users to leave the military in a Given period of  the study found that enlisted person Nel Are far More Likely than officers to use the program since officers almost always have degrees before entering Active duty. Most participants Are in pay grades e-5 or e-6. The air Force has the highest participation rate with about 24.1 percent of us current Force having used tuition assistance. The army rate is 9.5 percent while the Navy figure is Between 5.2 per cent and 10.9 percent. Women in All three services Are Muchmore Likely than men to participate in the program. The difference is greatest inthe Navy where women Are More Nan twice As Likely to use tuition assistance As thanks to army s santas More mail to reach patrons in Germany dec. 24 rheingau West Germany . Army postal patrons in Germany will get a second Chance to receive last minute mail on Christmas eve thanks to operation Santa Claus an army postal group Europe official said. Additional truck runs to deliver mail have been scheduled for dec. 24, allow ing unit mail clerks the Chance to hold a second mail Call that Day according to col. Arthur t. Dean the group com Mander. Patrons in West Germany should Check with local postal officials to con firm their service on Christmas eve. Postal officials also noted that dec. 22 is the last Day to mail express packages to the United states before the holidays. The express program available for mail sent to selected zip codes in the United states guarantees that packages will arrive in two Days or the Cost of postage will be refunded to the sender. The Cost which includes $500 in insurance is $8.75 for up to 8 ounces $12 for 8 ounces to 2 pounds and $15.25 for 2 to 5 pounds. A 70-Pound package the maximum accepted for express mail costs $89.05 to Send