European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 25, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes monday. September 25, 1989 global military spending May decrease report says Washington a improved  re lations along with other factors offer the rare Prospect of a decline in worldwide military spending according to a new study released on saturday. In Many respects the decade of the 1980s is ending on a More hopeful note than it had at the Start said the report titled. World military and social expenditures i1x9." the report was written by Ruth Sivard. A former official of the . Arms control and disarmament Agency. Each year she publishes an updated version of global military spending and How it compares with spending on human resources. Her principle thesis is that defense spending absorbs funds desperately needed for social programs. Sivard writes that the positive trends at the end of the decade have not As yet had a measurable Impact on government budgets and that world military spending is still at record Levels. Nonetheless Sivard cites As causes for optimism the superpower rapprochement the winding Down of wars in Afghanistan Central America Southern Africa an Southeast Asia and the revival of the United nations role As a peacemaker. The report also notes that China the soviet Union and Vietnam countries that have Large military establishments have undertaken personnel cutbacks. Beyond that she says no new wars were started Over the past year for the first time in 31 years. Still in real terms military expenditures have continued to Rise with the expansion of the global econ omy and May have reached the $1 trillion Mark world wide Cor the first time last year the report said. In 19x6. The last year for which Complete figures Are available the United slates spent about $281 billion on defense and the soviet Union $271 billion accounting for about 62 percent of global military spend ing the report said. It adds that global obsession with military Force since world War ii has produced hundreds of millions of casualties not Only from War inn from neglect of urgent human  an example the study cites the appalling num Ber of lives lost to hunger and to other killer diseases that Are preventable at the Cost of a few dollars for an individual  the study also stated that six times More research Money goes for weapons than for research on health Protection. Every minute. 15 children in the world die for want of essential food and inexpensive vaccines and the world s military machine takes $1.9 million from the Public Treasury. The chances of dying from social neglect arc 33 times greater than the chances of dying in War. In the developing world there is one Soldier for every 240 inhabitants and one physician for 1.950 inhabitants. The United slates and the soviet Union the top ranking military Powers rank 17th and 45th respectively in the world s infant mortality rates. Since i960, developing countries have increased military expenditures More than twice As fast As living standards As measured by per capita income. Wittsr i few i. A Al whirring away the wet a helicopter hovers Over rows of cabernet Sauvignon grapes in California s Napa Valley but the Pilot is not just taking in the vim. The chopper s downdrafts is used o dry he grapes hich were threatened by an Early rain. Stateside a. Principal convicted for paddling 7-year-old Harrisburg. A. A a fundamentalist school principal was convicted of assault for paddling a 7-year-old student until the child was bruised. A jury meeting said David l. Douglass. 37, Prin Cipal of Mountain View Christian school used excessive Force when he paddled the hyperactive boy for talking in class last year. Douglass faces up to two years in prison and a $5.00 1 Fine for the simple assault conviction. The trial focused on the degree of pain caused by the paddling. Under the Law a teacher or Parent can be convicted of assaulting a child if extreme pain mental distress or bodily injury was inflicted. A doctor who attended the boy shortly after the spanking said the momentary pain of each whack against the bruised skin was equivalent to the pain of a lighted cigarette. 10 youths get prison terms for roles in robberies Dallas a a judge has sentenced 10 current and former High school athletes to prison terms of up to 25 years for their roles in a string of armed robberies in the Dallas urea Over the past year. The defendants. In six months time committed More armed robberies than Bonnie and Clyde did in a lifetime said the state District judge Joe Kendall. If stupidity were a crime you would All deserve life without  Kendall ordered an ii in youth sent to a prison Boot Camp for Young offenders and another received deferred adjudication for their parts in 21 robberies i Dallas and suburban Duncanville. Some of the youths testified Over the past Mont that they committed at least one aggravated robbery each so they could have extra Cash for prom night. Others said they spent the Money on trips to an amuse ment Park fast food and athletic shoes. Minor . Quake follows one to the East by 2 hours los  a a slight temblor jolted downtown los Angeles on saturday about two hours after another minor quake Shook an area cast of the City but no injuries or damages were reported. The ceiling Shook a Little bit and the desks Shook a few seconds said los Angeles county sheriffs spokesman Deputy Van mostly. The afternoon earthquake measured 2.4 on the Richter scale said Hall daily of the California Institute of technology in Pasadena. Its epicentre was about three Miles North of downtown and six Miles South Southwest of Pasadena he said. About two hours earlier a quake measuring 2.9 on the Richer scale Shook an area about 55 Miles cast of los Angeles near Rialto in san Bernardino county daily said. Fra finds top sleeping Pill Safe decides against ban Washington up the world s most pre scribed sleeping Pill can cause temporary memory loss but should not be banned because there is no evidence that it endangers Public health a Federal advisory panel said. The food and drug administration s advisory com Mittee unanimously recommended the Agency change the Label on Upjohn co s sleeping Pill Halcyon to advise doctors that the drug May be More Likely to cause amnesia than similar medications. Bush signs Bill to free woman in child custody dispute Boston not president Bush on saturday signed a Bill designed to free or. Elizabeth Morgan a Mother who has been in jail More than two years because of a child custody dispute. The Bill which passed the House on wednesday and the Senate on thursday limits to 12 months the time that a per son can be jailed on civil contempt charges in the District of Columbia. Although the Bill docs not specifically mention Morgan its sponsors say it was tailored to free her from the Washington jail where she has been held for defying a court order to let her former husband spend time with their Young daughter. After receiving news that Bush had signed the Bill. Morgan s lawyers set out for the jail to begin the Legal process to win her release. Bush signed the Bill at Boston s Park Pla a hotel where he was speaking to the annual Catholic lawyers Guild luncheon. Congress unanimously passed the Bill because of their compassion for her plight said Marlin Fiu water the presi Dent s  president immediately signed that Bill because he shared that  Morgan a plastic surgeon has said her former husband. Or. Eric Fortich. Repeated sexually abused their daughter Hilary now 7. Fortich an Oral surgeon from Virginia has denied the charges and argues that his wife is mentally ill. Asked if the president was indicating through his action that he believed mor Gan s account. Fitzwater said he takes no position on that a White House spokesman roman Popadiuk said the president s decision was not a result of particular political pressures. Twas a matter of compas Sion Popadiuk said. Morgan s lawyers have argued that her continued jailing violates her constitutional rights. Both Fortich and his parents also accused of abusing Hilary in a civil suit by Morgan that was later dismissed main Tain that Morgan is mentally ill and that she had abused Hilary Morgan s parents disappeared at the same time Hilary did leading most of those involved in the Case to believe thai the child is with her grandparents. Fortich and Morgan first met in Fairfax Hospital where both were on the staff