European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 17, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday May 17, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 7 Apple growers repeat claim that alar is not harmful but agree to Stop using it Washington not the Apple Industry citing a Sharp drop in sales that has already Cost growers $50 million said monday that the growers while not con ceding it is harmful would voluntarily Stop using the chemical alar by this fall. The government has said that alar a growth regulator that makes apples Ripe uniformly and slay Crisp in storage poses a risk of cancer. At a news conference spokesmen for the Apple Industry said that consumer reaction to news reports about the risks of alar had Cost the Industry $50 million so far this year and that growers and processors would probably lose another $50 million by year s end. Deri i. Dorr president of the International Apple Institute an Industry Trad association said Apple sales to Date were 20 percent below that of a year ago. Spokesmen representing the Institute reiterated their Contention that the use of alar poses no imminent Hazard to human health based on findings by the environmental Protection Agency. But because consumer fear had caused a Sharp drop in sales of apples and Apple products the Industry is directing its member growers not to use Damino Zide which is made by the uniroyal chemical co. Inc., under the Trade name alar. By september of this year the already Low Levels of alar will be reduced to virtually Zero Derr said. Derr said the Institute was telling its members not to Purchase alar for this season s spraying which normally takes place in june or Early july. Dropping the use of the chemical would be voluntary. But if it is adopted by All of the Institute s members almost All of the nation s Apple crop would be free of alar when it matures this fall. About 90 percent of the nation s Apple growers belong to the Institute Derr said. Earlier this year the Institute and the Epa said that Only about 5 percent of the crop was treated with alar. Last week the environmental Agency revised its Esti mate saying 15 percent of the crop had been sprayed with the chemical. Janet Hathaway a lawyer who is an expert on pesticides for the natural re sources defense Council an Environ mental group said monday that other surveys had found that alar was used on As much of 38 percent of the crop. In March. Consumers Union tested 50 samples of Apple juice taken from store shelves in new York state and found that three quarters of them contained alar residues. Alar is also used on Small portions of the nation s grape Cherry and Peanut crop and As a growth regulator. Public concern about the safety of apples was heightened in february when the Epa announced that it planned to cancel permission to use alar on apples because it had found that the chemical and its byproduct posed a risk of cancer. Soon after that a report by the Natu ral resources defense Council which stated that chemicals on foods pose particularly High risk for children was Given wide publicity on the lbs news television program "60  consumer reaction to the program was explosive prompting Many retailers to proclaim they would no longer sell alar treated apples or Apple products. On sunday evening "60 minutes saying it had been criticized for its Origi Nal program broadcast another segment on the alar Issue giving Apple growers More air time to respond and to argue that the chemical was not As dangerous As the original program made it appear. But the program also gave further exposure to the higher figures promulgated by Consumers Union and the Environ mentalists. Monday Hathaway praised the grow ers action in calling for an end to the use of alar but said voluntary action would not be adequate because some growers would continue to use the chemical. At a news conference called by the natural resources defense Council she urged the environmental Agency to impose an immediate and total ban on alar saying the risks of cancer were unacceptably High. She said that the Epa had found that alar posed a health risk 45 times higher than its own acceptable risk level of one Chance in a million of causing cancer Over a lifetime of exposure. Her group she said had calculated the risk to children As being 240 times that acceptable level. Or. John a. Moore the acting Deputy administrator of the environmental Agency said that under proceedings now started by the Agency alar would probably be barred from the Market by Early 1991. Winfrey show draws Strong criticism apology by the new York times daytime talk show Host Oprah Winfrey and her pro Ducer and lawyer met last week with representatives from jewish and civil liberties organizations and is sued a joint statement on recent segment of her show in which a guest identified As mentally disturbed and under psychiatric care said she had witnessed the ritual murder of a jewish child and that such practices took place in other jewish families. The program provoked hundreds of protests from viewers most of whom said they Felt the guest should not have been permitted to appear or that at the very least her assertions should have been challenged by Winfrey. Although the meeting took place last week the statement did not become Public until monday. In the  said we recognize that the Oprah Winfrey show on May i could Nave contributed to the perpetuation and historical mis Concep smugglers get Wise to switch of Sand for cocaine new Orleans a customs agents replaced $500 million Worth of cocaine they uncovered in a barbed wire shipment with Sand but the smugglers got Wise to the switch and never picked up the shipment from a warehouse officials said monday. The 5,175 pounds of cocaine in two 40-foot boxes represented the largest Sei Zure Ever in the five state South Central Region and one of the two or three larg est in the country said j. Robert Grimes customs regional commissioner. Agents discovered the cocaine in a shipment from Ecuador in january re placed it with Sand and watched it at a warehouse until april 26, when they realized the smugglers had broken into the warehouse under their noses and discovered the switch said Fri agent Ruben Monzon. Whoever it was Cut a Hole in the Cement roof and broke into the Container. There was no Way our agents could have seen them Monzon said. We think that we will through our investigation be Able to identify the peo ple behind this he said. It was the third major drug seizure in the new Orleans area in nine months. What thai says is that there is a lot coming in Here Grimes said. Lions and canards about jews and we Reg Rel that any harm May have been done. We arc especially aware of group and Community sensitivities and will make every1 Effort to ensure that our program reflects that  speaking on behalf of the groups. Barry Morri son the Midwest regional director of the anti Defa mation league of b Nai b Rith said. We were satisfied that Oprah Winfrey Winfrey and her stall did not intend to offend anyone and that Oprah was genuinely sorry for any offence or  Morrison said that Winfrey s producers have agreed to reach out to organizations such As b Nai b Rith which fights anti semitism and racism when the show focuses on i Csc subjects. The groups also recommended he said that the producers exercise belter judgment in selecting guests. Not everyone was satisfied with the outcome however. It s an inadequate response to the harm that May have been done on that broadcast said Phil Baum. Associate executive director of the american jewish Congress. It s not our sensitivities she ought to be concerned Aboul it s a question of the integrity of her show he said adding thai a representative of his group had attended the meeting. It s a shockingly passive response to the slanders expressed. This apology cannot possibly reach anything like the people who were exposed to these  Winfrey refused to Commini on the program or on the joint statement. The statement stands on its own spokeswoman Chrisline Tardio said. We want to gel this behind us and move  relatives of dead celebrities seek exclusive right to use of their names Albany . A Michael Wayne did t like the Way his dad was depicted on a greeting card. The cow boy hat was Fine but the lips were big. Bright and red and the message inside was about being homosexual. We find it repugnant the oldest of John Wayne s seven children told a new York state legislative hearing. He was one of a Host of relatives of dead celebrities who want new York to give them exclusive rights to the names and images of i hair famous family members. A proposal before the legislature would require commercial Media artists and others who want to use the dead celebrity s Persona to get Permis Sion. It would be up to the relative to decide How much the user would have to pay. The exclusive rights would last 50 years after the celebrity s death. Nine other Stales including califor Nia have such Laws. But the Nalion s publishing and Media Center has free rein when it comes to using dead celebrities for pitches. The Public that admired him has a right to have his Public image protected and who Betler to pro decl in than his family Wayne Lesli fied. It s not fair thai just anybody can walk up and Lake your relative s name and twist it around and do any kind of thing icy want to do said Isis Nic Ole Holiday Sisler of jazz Singer Billic Holiday. Holiday objected to what she considered a false portrayal of her sister in the Diana Ross movie lady sings the  also at the hearing were Robyn As Laire Fred Astaire s widow Julia Rulh Stevens daughter of babe Ruth and Everett Fields grandson of . Fields. They brought books posters and trinkets that contained their rela Tives images. Opponents of the proposal argued in would impinge on first amendment rights to free expression. One charged that celebrity relatives were out to do some exploitation of their own. The wrong Hal these Bills appear to redress is Hal inc heirs of celebrities evidently do nol feel Hal icy arc gel Ling enough Money for inc use of inc Persona of their famous ancestors said Jerome Wilson a lawyer for time inc. And inc Magazine publishers of America. It is not enough that they inherit the celebrity s mansion the Bank account and whatever copyright and trademark benefits that May have been  although none of his relatives was there James Dean was a popular subject. An Indianapolis management group Hal represents his Cliate Dis played a can of Macho Spray with Dean s picture on the Label. The Spray claimed to Alt acl women. Also on display were a knife Cata Logue Hal had a drawing of a to shirted Dean wielding a Blade and a birthday card thai had him holding a Mug of Beer. The card said revel without a pause a Pun on Dean s film rebel without a  there also was a Denim jacket with a picture of Marilyn Monroe on the Back