European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 01, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 letters the stars and stripes Sale of biodegradable diapers discussed As the Mother of a Newborn child i am concerned about How disposable diapers Are affecting the environment. Lately i have read several articles on Dispo Sable biodegradable diapers. However i have not seen any sold Here in the commissaries or cafes facilities. Although these diapers Cost a Little More the fact that they Are safer for our environment would Impact on consumer purchasing As evidenced in stateside stores according to recent an to coverage on biodegradable diapers that Are edging out popular luvs and buggies on store shelves. Since cafes is Here to meet the needs of soldiers and their families allow us the right to make choices based on economical and environmental needs. I want to make my own Choice on the pollution created by my daughter s current needs. There Are probably other parents who would like to make their own Choice too. Can the commissaries and cafes Start carrying these products if not Why not Ann Landers Happee eee epee by new year. If this column sounds vaguely familiar there s a Good Rea son. I be patched together bits and pieces from previous columns. After All it s new Yeai s Day and i too am Cele Brating. How do you feel Are you Reading this through bloodshot eyes does your head feel As if you be been zonked with a bag of wet Cement do your eyeballs feel As if they be been boiled in Chicken fat docs the sound of the cat s footsteps on the carpet Send shooting pains through your temples sorry about that. So when Are you going to learn it was the same Story last new year s Day. Remember Here Are a few cheerful thoughts that will help get you through the next 12 hours. First you will live. No one Ever died from a hangover although Many people have wished they could. Everything in your closet is now last year s. Your car has just depreciated $800. Although your Dollar will buy less than it did last year at this time Don t despair. The name of the game is inflation and what goes around comes around. A new year offers fresh Hope. Starting today you will get your act together go on that diet you be been meaning to tackle lose 15 pounds and Wear some of those perfectly Good clothes that have been hanging in your closet for three years because they Are a Little today you arc going to Stop smoking. No More empty promises. No More sneaking around like a criminal. This is it. You owe it to your family. You be been masquerading As a social Drinker and toying with a few recreational drugs for quite a while. You know deep Down that this is dangerous and crazy and you be got to Cut it out. Cold Turkey. Today you re going to get All the Gar Bage out of your life and put an end to the destructive behaviour. In the Back of your mind there s a list of people you have been neglecting. Starting today you will make those phone Calls and write those Long Over due letters. Doing this will make you feel terrific. You Are going to slow Down re evaluate relationships that create stress in your life and set out to eliminate them. No More staying up to watch old movies. You re going to turn the tight off at a respectable Houi so you can Rise and Shine at the crack of Dawn do those exercises and cat a decent breakfast. You will be More patient with the kids and More communicative with your spouse. You will be nicer to your in Laws and Kinder and More considerate to the people at work. And of yes you Are Goiri to get a Complete physical checkup and reschedule the dental appointment you cancelled four months ago. Today is More than the beginning of a new year. It is the first Day of the rest of your life. Make it count. You will never get a Chance to live a single Day Over. Resolve to get 1990 off to a smashing Good Start and make it your Best. And of yes keep your Eraser Handy. You re going to write 1989 at least a dozen times before you get it right. O los angolan Tlamsa Syndicate a crease s by Jato at a minimum please publish the attached list of manufacturers of biodegradable diapers so that parents May make individual purchases by mail eco matrix inc., one step ahead the right Start and Rocky Mountain medical corp. Staff sgt. Barbara Schute Stuttgart West Germany editor s note addresses of the manufacturers May be obtained by writing the. Cars and stripes. We received three replies to this letter. The first is from col. Paul w. Phillips. . Army troop support Agency european Region we Are not currently carrying any Brand of Mcgrada ble disposable diapers in our army commissaries Pri Marily because we have not been approached by any sales representatives who represent companies that Supply these diapers. If we were we would have to examine various factors to determine whether sales Oft be product would be sufficient to warrant using our limited warehouse and shelf space to Stock it. We have attempted to find a sales representative for a company that produces degradable diapers but have been unsuccessful. We would like to add however that Many scientists and environmentalists do not believe that degradable plastic products Are truly better for the environment. Degradable plastics simply break Down into smaller pieces than do Standard plastics. No conclusions have yet been reached about the effect this plastic dust has on the environment. Further in landfills where oxygen Levels Are Low Standard and degradable Plas tics May degrade it approximately the same rate. These and other issues regarding degradable Plas tics were discussed in two stars and stripes articles that appeared nov. 4. Kimberly Clark the manufacturers of buggies Dia pers conducted experiments using a Corn starch Addi Tive in the plastic outer cover of the diaper. They found that the Corn starch weakened the plastic which required the use of More plastic in order to maintain the diaper s durability. also claims that More than 80 percent of the material used in their disposable diaper is biodegradable when conditions allow the decomposition process to certainly the Choice of plastic products or the Deci Sion to not use them at All is an individual one and every customer has the right to make that Choice. But unfortunately until we can find a National supplier of biodegradable diapers and it can be shown that de Mand is High we cannot offer this product in our commissaries. Thank you for your let tit and the Opportunity it provided us to discuss this Issue. Editor s note the second reply is from col. H Illiam Fowler commander air Force commissary Simce Europe i m very aware of the environmental problems caused by disposable diapers Pustic bags and the like. In fact a Friend in Spain who is very interested in environmental issues tells me it s much cheaper to use cloth diapers. Unfortunately we live in a society that demands convenience therefore disposable products and fast foods which Are environmental hazards or packaged in environmentally hazardous material Are gaining in popularity. As a grocer a coms caters to the preferences of its customers. We re caught in a "catch-22" situation where we Are concerned for the environment yet must please our patrons. Have you Ever tried telling a work ing Parent that she he should use cloth diapers instead of disposable ones just before leaving in a hurry to drop her his child off at a Day cart Center i la Tell you what Well do. Well write to the Compa Nies you listed and see if they re interested in Selling to a coms. If they Are Well offer their products for Sale in our stores and let the customer choose. If they sell Well we May set a trend. At least it s a Start i Hope we get a Good response. Editor s note the third reply is from Mas Ter sgt. Dayton p. Strickland customer relations Headquarters cafes Europe we like you want our customers to be Able to Pur Chase environmentally Safe products. Including biodegradable disposable diapers. The information Avail Able to us from the major diaper manufacturers is that there Aren t any truly biodegradable disposable Dia pers on the Market. These companies Are however headlong into research to develop a truly environmentally Safe diaper. They estimate this research development testing and get it to the Markel time could take As much As five you re thinking what about the companies i just listed if their diapers Are truly biodegradable and that s apparently up for debate that s great. If so it s unfortunate that their production capabilities Are too Small to meet the purchasing demands of cafes and other Large wholeheartedly support the use of biodegradable products and will closely watch the Market and convert As soon As these products become available to us. Equity of military sentencing questioned -. T i run n Nurrit Ini a i an intent a. The Sci m i read with some degree of Surprise recently that a Soldier was sentenced to 10 years in prison for forgery. In the same edition on the same Page another Soldier was sentenced to 20 months for causing an Accident that took the life of a German woman. The Soldier was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the Acci Dent. Unquestionably forgery is a serious offence. It is tantamount to theft and deserves stiff penalties. How Ever driving under the influence of alcohol and Caus ing a death is in my opinion the More serious crime. I must question a criminal Justice system that metes out penalties with those inequities. The a i of course May very Well serve Only three years of his sentence for forgery. Still compared to the e-5 serving Only 20 months this does not seem to me to be equitable. This opinion is not without foundation. 1 possess a degree in criminal Justice and have five years experience As a state police officer. 1 Welcome a response from a representative of the judge advocate general office who can offer intelligent insight into the army system of Justice. Billy d. Wilson Karlstedt West Germany editor s note maj. Crair p. Ittman Dep Uty chief. Criminal Law division office of the judge advocate Headquarters Usa eur replies arriving at an appropriate sentence is one of the most difficult issues in any criminal trial. Not Only must the sentence fit the circumstances of the crime it must also fit the individual offender. In order to arrive at a fair sentence in a particular Case the sentencing authority must hear All of the Evi Dence and then apply the Law to the facts. Because the facts and the Law of each Case arc unique comparing sentences in unrelated cases will Tell you very Little about the fairness of the individual sentences or he equity of the system As a whole. Several factors an considered by the judge or jury in arriving at a appropriate sentence. E maximum sen tence is one Factor. Maximum punishments Are set up by a legislature or in the Case of the military by the president. The severity of the maximum sentence is a measure of the criminal nature of the conduct. It places a ceiling on the possible Range of punishments that a judge or jury May consider. To determine an appropriate punishment both the act and the intent of the actor Are important factors. Several other important factors affect the determination of an appropriate sentence. They include the record of the offender the offender s rehabilitative potential any extenuating mitigating or aggravating circumstances and according to some trial strategists whether the sentencing authority is a judge or a jury. Most state court systems and the Federal courts do not use juries for sentencing. In the military the accused has a Choice of either a judge alone trial or a jury trial. The cases to which you refer demonstrate the difficulty in comparing sentences in unrelated cases. It is Possi ble to compare Only two factors the maximum punish ment and the sentencing authority. The maximum punishment in the forgery Case included 84 years of confinement. The accused was sentenced to 10 years by a jury which amounted to 12 percent of the maximum confinement. The maximum punishment in the involuntary manslaughter Case included four years and six months confinement. The judge in that Case the same judge who presided at the forgery trial sentenced the accused to 20 months which amounted to 37 percent of the maximum confinement. Without hav ing heard All of the evidence in the cases it is impossible to compare the other factors which were important in determining these sentences. It also makes compar ing these sentences a futile task. Equity is certainly a goal of any criminal Justice sys tem. To achieve equity the military Justice system at tempts to strike a balance among the effects on the victim the Protection of society punishment of the of fender rehabilitation of the offender and preservation of Good order and discipline in the military
