European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 04, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday february 4. 1990 the stars and stripes Page 9 i my my my Mhz him hmm Mmith Miex terminal girl tries to change space a Over Here b Ron Jensen suit writer Rhein main a. West Germany Sandra Pihana s first head knocking with authority has been going on for More than a year now. By her own reckoning Progress has been negligible. But she has no plans to Back away from her efforts to secure space Avail Able scats on military Airlift come flights for family members travelling i Europe without their sponsors. It s been Tough. I Don t know if i can win it. But fighting for it makes me feel  Pihana says. The Battle began in fall 1988 when Pihana was a Volunteer a terminal girl greeting new arrivals at the Rhein Mam Mac terminal. The inter com frequently blared with notices of empty seats on aircraft headed to Greece. Turkey. Berlin and other Points out of reach of Many military family budgets. Pihana knew these empty scats could be bought for $10 apiece. The Only would t it be Nice if they could jump on a plane and go to Berlin and see that Wall coming Down would t it be Nice if they could go to London and stay in a bed and breakfast Sandra Pihana problem was that they were unavailable to family members not travelling wit their sponsors. She attacked the problem just like she attacks the Jigsaw puzzles she i fond of piecing together starting on the outside. A petition drive netted More than 3.000 signatures. Letter were sent to members of Congress and air Force officials and brought discouraging replies of regulations an policy. Only recently she says has she received some Hope. But her strategy has changed. She is now fighting from the inside which is How her children like to Challenge those Jigsaw puzzles. She is hoping to Lake advantage of the military installation program. Sim ply put it works like this if there is belter Way of doing something that s How it should be done. For Pihana that meant proving there is a Hole in the space available system. She armed herself with the Mil itary s favorite weapon statistics. From oct. 15 to nov. 14 1989. There were a total of 1,280 empty scats on aircraft leaving Rhein main she says. Some planes were filled she acknowledges but others left with 40 per cent of their scats empty. Then she tackled the military s Sec Ond favorite subject Money. Multi ply those 1.280 empty seats by $10 each she says and the total is $ 12,800. This is just at Rhein main she adds. She has yet to gather figures from other Mac bases around Europe. She has seen those empty scats first hand. When she and her husband capt. Patrick Pihana. Travelled to tur key on a Mac flight she saw ump teen unused scats. When they left tur key they had their Choice of three air planes All with space available scats. People were lying across scats sleep ing she says. She Hopes that such stories along with additional statistics will reach the car of someone in authority. And she Hopes that person will be persuaded to help change the system. But Pihana has been at it Lon enough to expect disappointment. Her efforts so far. Have come up As Emp Yas those scats that trouble her so. An there is no change in the official stance. We have no plans to give up space available seats to family members travelling on their own says Robert Moore director of transportation policy under the Deputy assistant Secretary of defense for logistics. We do not Sec that the system can accommodate vast numbers of family members travelling on their  he says. From what we be been Able to determine we could not handle the number of potential  the scats Are there for official travel ers he says. He wants to fill those empty seats but with the bodies of those who already qualify. Sas l emm Btl Llwis of Sandra Pihana and her children Adam 7, and Katy 4, slum some of the letters and petitions she s received supporting her request for space a travel for tamil members without their sponsors. Pihana wants to make family Mem Bers qualified travellers. Would t it be Nice if they could jump on a plane and go to Berlin and Sec that Wall coming Down she says. Would t it be Nice if they could go to London and stay in a bed and break fast Pihana does t kid herself. Fighting City Hall on any level is considered a losing proposition. So she accepts Small victories with Good humor and a . I Haven t made any enemies. I be gotten to Mecl a lot of people. I regained a lot of  but she says she s still hoping to fit All the pieces into this ongoing Puzzle. East visitors Fork Over Little Green at Berlin fest by Ron Jensen staff writer Berlin the East germans who streamed through the Wall last week poured into the International Congress Center for the 55th Green week festival. More than 175.000 of the nearly 300,000 visitors during the first six Days of the 10-Day festival came from East Germany according to numbers provided by the festival office. But despite their numbers the East germans were not buying. Berlin press reports noted the frustration of concessionaires who came to do business but saw Little profit. The same reports discussed the absence of West bar liners. Who stayed away rather than Battle the crowds. The show should attract a half million by the time doors close on sunday. The festival which began in 1926, is a treat for the eyes As Well As the palate. Nearly 1,000 exhibitors Dis play everything from dutch Flower bulbs to Tea from Nepal. In All. 57 countries from five continents Are represented. Vegetables arc from Jordan and Israel. Delicacies from Thailand and Paraguay can be tasted and bought. American exhibitors arc Selling chocolate Chip Cook ies hamburgers and Corn on the cob. Wild Tea from leaves handpicked in Alaska is also available. But politics is As much on display As the food. In speeches at the festival opening the changing political flavor of Europe was discussed time and time again. Peter find is. Deputy minister for East Germany s agriculture forests and food Industry acknowledged that Many changes must take place in his country s food production. The problem facing agriculture in the Cdr is also one of improving the effectiveness of the entire production process from the Field to the shops while observing certain ecological requirements  he said. Obviously this is not possible Given the existing administrative system with its centralized management and  plans arc under Way. He said for individual and local administration of cooperatives and processing plants. A Market Economy for farm products is a goal of the new East Germany he said. Camba Hutter minister for agriculture and food in Hungary wants his country to be a part of the euro Pean Community. Our primary objective is to gain Access to the mar Ket for our special products which arc of outstanding Quality and would Lead to a significant broadening of the Range of available products in the dec mutter said with this in mind i should like to ask the Lead ing figures from the dec and its member states who Archere today to assist in granting Hungary Access to the dec Market for its agricultural produce with As Little discrimination As  Sis Ron a win plump vegetables from Jordan tempt shoppers Al the Green week International festival in West Berlin