European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 11, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday january 11, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 3 president proposes 1 year freeze in Gola for military civilian retirees by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington the Reagan administration s latest spending plan contains a proposal that would freeze Cost of Hving adjustments for military and civilian retirees in fiscal 1990. Under the Reagan plan Cost of living adjustments for retirees would resume in fiscal 1991, which be gins oct. 1, 1990. The proposal contained in the biennial budget sent to Capitol Hill on monday also would reduce the annual adjustments for most retired Federal civil ians an official at the office of management and budget said tuesday. For the majority of Federal civilians under the old civil service retirement system cola increases now match the annual rate of inflation. The cola formula for military retirees As Well As civilians hired since 1983, Calls for increases at a rate 1 percentage Point below the annual inflation rate. The Reagan proposal Calls for All Federal pensions to be calculated at that lower rate beginning in fiscal 1991, a move that would save almost $1.5 billion in fiscal 1990, the official said. The official would not comment on the origins of the proposal other than to say the administration looked at All programs to see where dollars could reasonably be saved in formulating the new Federal budget. A House staff aide said the plan to freeze Cost of Hving adjustments for one year might make it through Congress but the proposal to permanently lower Colas for most Federal retirees will face a lot of  the administration also wants to eliminate a pro vision of the retirement system that lets workers withdraw their personal contributions to the system in one Lump sum when they retire. That would save about $2 billion a year the official said. In another blow to Federal civilians president Reagan has asked for a 3.6 percent raise for military personnel but a raise of just 2 percent for Federal civilians in fiscal 1990. A Pentagon official said service members can thank defense Secretary Frank Carlucci for their higher proposed raise. Carlucci fought very very hard with the White House for As High a raise As he could get for military personnel the official said. The defense department originally proposed a military raise of 4.6 percent but during budget deliberations it was discovered that raise was based on an old projection of private sector wage growth that was no longer valid. There was some Lively debate Back and Forth Between the Pentagon and the White House with the raise ultimately being reduced to 3.6 percent. We appealed that hoping to push for a Little bit More but we lost the Battle he said. The 3.6 percent raise was thought to be enough to match the rate of private sector wage increases in 1990, the official said putting the Gap Between aver age military and private sector pay at 10.1 percent. But the latest projections show that private sector wages May Rise by As much As 4.2 percent through March and an average of 3.9 percent Over the year widening the Gap Between military and private sector pay the official said. Genera evokes memories of rights Leader Martin Luther King s vision called inspiration for . By Janet Howells Tierney staff writer Frankfurt West Germany were Martin Luther King or. Alive today his Agenda would include the homeless unemployment and schools graduating illiterates says the army s top engineering Europe. Brig. Gen. Ernest j. Harrell chief of the army s corps of engineers in Europe was the keynote speaker monday for a Frankfurt military Community luncheon honouring King whose birthday is celebrated Jan. 16. One can Only wonder if Martin Luther King had lived what would his Agenda look like today Harrell told More than 400 people. Would he be satisfied with schools that Don t teach that graduate functional illiterates could he be silent in the face of the horrendous unemployment rates among Black people and the thousands who have never held a Job and probably never will and seeing the incipient encroach ment of drugs and violent crimes where minorities in particular Blacks Are both the principal victims and perpetrators would he not hoist his Banner once More in the cause of Justice with a powerful voice Harrell an swered those questions saying he Felt King would be compelled to act. As Long As there persists discrimination in the work place in housing in education. The work or. King began remains for us to finish he said. But the question of How that work can be accomplished is difficult to answer Harrell said. Would t it be Nice if the National leadership would Deal with America s social problems Harrell told the stars and stripes on thursday. But the history is that no National Leader has. In the past it has taken riots and burnings to cause folks to Wake  Harrell said the Best possible solution is people committed to making social programs work. Existing groups lose Many Good peo ple who become disenchanted with How slowly the system works he said. Stay ing together working together and push ing for reforms is the Best Way to make changes come  splinter groups actually weaken the cause Harrell said. For example he said there Are thou Sands of groups working against drug abuse but they end up providing less service and spending More Money be cause efforts Are duplicated. They should t be competing with themselves trying to help folks Harrell said in the interview. During his luncheon speech the 52 year old general recalled the Day Kings a l. Emmett Lewis or. Brig. Gen. Ernest j. Harrell spoke to his graduating class of 500 at Tuskegee Institute ala., in 1960. Harrell acknowledged that he remembers Little of what King said probably because he was too Busy thinking about becoming a Sec Ond lieutenant in the . Army. It was around Mother s Day and he spoke about the sacrifices made by mothers he said. It was a super  Harrell also recalled his distress when he Learned that his sister and an aunt were among the marchers from Selma his Hometown to Montgomery ala., in 1965. At the time of the Selma con Martin Luther King fron tation Harrell was in route to Oki Nawa Japan before being sent to Viet Nam. I was in uniform. In the service of my country and about to defend american interests in a foreign War he told the audience of soldiers and civilians. Yet in my own land in my own Hometown my loved ones were not being afforded common human dignities we were fight ing to retain for others. Perhaps then i could see that there Are More paths to Freedom than the one travelled by armies like our own. At that very personal moment in my life i truly knew who Martin Luther King  country music Park planned for san Antonio by Cox news service san Antonio Texas a verbal agreement to build a 100-acre country music theme Park touted As a major tourist attraction was announced monday by officials of the Oryland Usa inc. Entertainment conglomerate and usaa a san Antonio financial services and insurance company. Mayor Henry Cisneros said that with the opening of sea world last year and other City attractions he can envision san Antonio becoming a major tourist Desti nation like Orlando fla., which has the Epcot Center and Walt Disney world. The san Antonio Park could attract More than 2 million visitors annually said . Bud Wendell president and chief executive officer of Nashville based Oryland Usa. He said no contracts sealing the Deal with usaa have been signed and the Park has not yet Bee named. We re working on handshakes Only at this Point but we like what we see he said. Wendell said he expects an agreement to be signed in about three months. Oryland Usa will act As the operator and usaa the Developer. We Don t see any Deal Breakers usaa chairman Robert Mcdermott said adding that the Park will probably open in 1992. Usaa provides insurance Mutual funds real estate partnerships and other services to military personnel and their dependents. The firm with assets of $12.7 billion is the country s sixth largest insurer of Auto mobiles and Homes. Oryland Usa owns Oryland a country music theme Park in Nashville the Nashville network on Cable the grand Ole opry the Oryland hotel in Nashville and the Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs As Well As radio stations a music publishing company a record company and other businesses. We re the largest employers of musicians in the United states Wendell said