European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 29, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday August 29, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 3 slow going to reach slow pitch records a Vince Clit toy the quest for glory can be net at times and exhaust ing but the Bamburg West Germany military Community is in there pitching to get into the guinness Book of world records for the longest continuous slow pitch game. At left softball fans Tina Walker left and Gianna cell dvrs Natch the action As they weather a rain Squall sunday the first Day of the Marathon. At rights it. Alton j. Greene playing for the 1st amid div s 7th in 6th inf regt against Vii corps 82nd engr in sprawls in the dugout during the 20th inning three hours into the game sunday. The players planned to continue the non Slop game until Friday evening after 123 hours or Therea bouts. The record to beat is Iii hours and two min utes set in 1986 by marines at Kan Chc Bay Marine corps air station in Hawaii. Under guinness rules each team s original 10 players cannot be substituted but five minutes per hour Are allowed for Breaks experts certain minivan safety rules to be tightened Washington a Auto safety advocates say it s no longer a question of whether minivans and tight trucks will have to pass the same safety regulations As passenger cars but when. You look at Auto safety in Genera land the Issue of minivans stands out like a sore thumb said Clarence Ditlow director of the Center for Auto safety the non profit Agency founded by consumer advocate Ralph Nader. Ditlow says there has been enough Public outcry and statistical information that the government can no longer ignore the regulation discrepancy Between Pas Senger cars and minivans. Jeffrey Miller acting administrator of the National Highway traffic safety administration agrees that regulations willbe implemented within the next few years. But he Sas the reason is mostly to reassure the Public not because mini vans Are less Safe it s very important for motorists to understand that most safety standards already apply said Miller. We arc try ing to build on what already is a pretty Good safety record. It helps to reassure the Public. Statistics from the insurance Institute for Highway safety show that the Acci Dent death rate per 10,000 vans last Yea was 1,4, an increase Over the year before but Only slightly higher than the 1.3 rat of Large cars and much lower than the 3.0 rate of Small cars. Minivans along with i he trucks Andoff Road vehicles arc classified As Multi purpose passenger vehicles a category that does t have the same restrictions As passenger cars. Minivans arc manufactured by Chrysler general motors Ford Toyota Volkswagen Nissan Mitsubishi and Mazda. Minivans arc fast usurping the Market for station wagons among Large families and those people worry about the Lack of government regulation for Side and roof strength shoulder Lap scat Bells and head restraints. But Albert Slechter Federal govern ment affairs director for Chrysler corp., which has 56 percent of the . Mini Van Market says some of the safely Mea sures required of cars Don t make Sens for vans. For years the Center for Auto safety and others have tried unsuccessfully to extend government Auto safety rules to minivans and Light trucks. Last session the Senate passed a Bill requiring such rules but the legislation died after 18 months with no action inthe House committee chaired by rep. John Dingell d-mich., whose District includes Detroit and whose wife works for general motors corp. A similar Bill passed by the Senate before the current recess May be headed Back to the Sam committee. Ditlow said the Bill May face trouble again in the House but added. There is such a growing consensus that  Safe. The Bottom line is not whether the safely rules will be strength ened but  in a june 29 letter to members of the Senate transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner said the department was moving to improve safety of Light trucks and vans and did t think congressional action was  said some regulations like Hose concerning front seat head restraints will be finalized this year to apply to the 1991 Model  chief concern is rollover which is related to the higher Center of Gravity on vans and Utility vehicles. Miller said the vehicle s roof and scat belts protect occupants when a car Rolls and minivan manufacturers have voluntarily mad those features As sturdy As on passenger  to statistics the greatest rollover problem is not vans but Light trucks and off Road vehicles partly be cause of the Type of Driver attracted to those vehicles. Miller said. There Are specific passenger car regu lations to protect against crashes into the Side but none exist for vans. This in t problem Van makers say because the Van is higher and the Point of Impact by another vehicle is into the Sill which is a sturdy beam across the Side. Waiters in italian restaurants reap Tiptop tips Washington a waiters in italian restau rants in the United states get the biggest tips while those in mexican eateries fare the worst the internal Revenue service has found. The average tip in italian restaurants in 1986 was15.8 percent compared with 15 percent in chinese restaurants and 14.8 percent in mexican restaurants an irs study said. On the other hand patrons in chinese restaurant were More Likely to leave a tip 90 of every 100 did than in italian restaurants where Only 88 per 100saw fit to leave something. In mexican restaurants 86 of every 100 customer left tips. The study gave no reason for the differences and did not include figures for restaurants that serve other eth Nic  least one waiter at a Small italian restaurant in Georgetown a popular dining out area in Washington said that he got better tips there than in other places he had  s the european atmosphere said Moquez Zemani who comes from not Italy but Tunisia on the other Side of the Mediterranean. There s the european flair. People like the Atmo sphere and it relaxes them. It does t even matter about the food. 1 Don t like italian food much myself 1 think French food is much  at a bigger and pricier italian place the maitre d was not so sure about High tips. Some people come in Here with a couple of kid Sand leave a Dollar Julio Estrada said. About 20 to 25 percent Don t leave  a waiter at a mexican restaurant did not agree that his tips were inferior. It s a matter of food and service he insisted. If customer gets Good food and Good service he tips Well the irs investigation was started because waiters Are required by Law to include tips in their earnings and pay income tax on them. Under reporting of tip income has Long been a con Cern Thomas a. Thompson an irs researcher said in the report. So the service hired the Survey research Laboratory of the University of Illinois to query nearly 13,000 households both families and individuals. They kept records of their tips Over two week periods Between 1983 and 1986. Data obtained from tip recipients Thompson  narrowing the Survey Down to ethnic restau rants the study tried other classifications with Label that included family Type restaurants and Atmo sphere specially  that turned out to Betook vague. People tipped More in restaurants that accepted credit cards and those that served alcohol. Patronage at what the report called tip Type restaurants declined Between 1983 and 1986, but tipping stayed level. There was a shift to establishments where peopled not normally leave lips. Total cat in and carryout occasions at hamburger pizza and Chicken places increased from 4.06 million in 1983 to 4.77 million in 1986, an increase of More than 17 percent the study said