European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 15, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Inside stripes army saving Money on 1990 Maneu vers Page 3 Congress dazed by commemorative Page 4 Denver beats Cleveland for acc title Page 21 germans protest at . Depot Back Page the stars and stripes Good morning vol. 48. No. 273 monday. January 15. 1990 d., is 8693 a fumes from disco fire kill 43 Zaragoza Spain a Poison Ous fumes turned a basement lounge into a Gas chamber for 43 people when fire broke Oul Al a discotheque in inc North Ern City of Zarago a Early sunday officials said. Central government representative Carlos Perc Anadon said preliminary autopsy investigations had led to a working hypothesis that the fire at the flying discotheque had produced Hydro cynic acid a chemical used o make acrylics. Many of the victims died a Nuisl m Stanlly As they sat in the basement lounge listening to a local band play dance music he told reporters at a news conference i Erpf Anadon said the official causes of the deaths would not he determined until autopsies were completed. Deputy mayor l. Ciarcia Niet said firefighters arrived eight minutes after they received news of the fire at 2 40 . And put it out in 15 minutes hut he added Rescue workers were Able to  Little in help those still inside. Officials said one woman remained in serious condition in the intensive care unit of Miguel Send Hospital where she was being treated for injuries suffered in the Hla a a firefighter and one person were released alter treatment for slight injuries they said. The autonomous regional government of Aragon declared three Days of mourn ing for the victims All of whom were identified As local residents. The Independent an Luna 3 radio net work said the discotheque s manage said he saw the basement ceiling glow red alter he tried to switch on Power tothe hand s instruments after an overload triggered circuit Breakers. Garcia Nieto said the discotheque had been licensed oct. 3, 1984. A Vear after authorities toughened lire regulations following a fire that killed 79 people in Madrid s ale Ala 20 disco. Me said the discotheque was in full compliance of the Laws according to Reg ular inspections carried out by the City but added the fire Laws prohibited Trie use of materials containing Hydro Yanic arid. It was the second catastrophic fire in Zarago a in a decade. More than 70 peo ple died in a july 12. 1979. Fire at the Corona  Aragon hotel. At the news conference officials said City fire regulations were among the strictest in the countr. E. German party presses for Unity to rout mod Row Berlin up a leading last German opposition party sunday called on All non on sums parties to work together to topple prime minister Hans mod Row and his government in the country s first free elec Tion in May. The newly founded East German social democratic party said Al the end of a two Day delegates conference in East Berlin that its goal is the defeat of the ruling communists in the May 6 election. The delegates Soled to work Wanh other opposition groups to break the Power of the of Tumsis. To have ruled since Easl Germany was established in 1949. The party said in no Case would it Campaign against other opposition groups the communist party in the last three months has lost 800.000 of its 2.3 million members there were further demonstrations against the communists in various cities. The official East German news sen ice adn reported about 3.000 people attended a rally sunday in Karl Man stall at which Strong applause greeted shouts of Down with the communists and Calls for inc reunification of Germany. In Magdeburg. 10.000 attended a rally at the Dom plat called to demand All political Means be used to Block a return of the communists to Power in Mav. Daddy s Home Thomas Cunningham. 3. Could t wait for his father s Squadron to be dismissed Friday from the Beaufort Marine corps air station in South Carolina. Cut. Benjamin Cunningham is a member of the Silier Kack s so and had been on deployment in the Western Pacific Ocean for the last six months. Powell Calls military top Equality employer Washington a Gen. Colin l. Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of Start. Said sunday thai the armed forces offer Black americans equal Opportunity More so than any other form of Endeavor in our  Powell the first Black to be named the nation s highest ranking uniformed offi cer also said he did not believe the All Volunteer . Military had become Dis proportionately Black. I Don t think it s out of proper  he said adding that anybody who is willing to serve qualified to serve proud to serve should be Al Lowed to  Blacks currently make up about 21 percent of the armed forces compared with about 12 percent of the Overall . Population. Powell was interviewed on Abc to s this week with David a Brinkley on the eve of the Holiday marking the birth Day of the late Martin Luther King or. He was asked whether he considered the i a. Military a Rue equal Opportunity employ Powell replied Moa other form of Endeavor i be very proud of what the military Over the year and our society have done in and 1 think. For the most part it is a meritocracy. You Are not limited by anything but your own  in another development a report to be released monday said that because of in creased selectivity and benefits within the armed forces the Mhilary was be coming More competitive with colleges in recruiting High ability College eligible Blacks. The report was issued by the Washington based american Council on education. It cited a congressional budget a fico study finding that in i9�7, Black and White recruits tended to come from Dif Ferent socioeconomic strata within their respective populations with Black re Cruls coming disproportionately from areas with above average Black incomes and better educated Black  Only 44 percent of Black male Active duty recruits in 1987 came from areas in the Bottom half of the income distribution for Black families compared with almost 55 percent of White re  the report said. This recruitment pattern of african americans represented a marked change from 19x0, when Black recruits were drawn much More heavily from lower in come  the Council said in a report on minorities in higher education