European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 7, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday March 7, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 7students get news ads on Channel one Knoxville Tenn. Apr students across the county got the news monday along with a sales pitch for Candy razors and cheese snacks when the advertiser supported classroom program Channel one went on the air. A i think it is a Good idea a said Powell High school student Jim Addington 17, one of the first to see the Channel one news program beamed nationwide for the first time to 400 schools. A i done to see Why there is so much controversy Over the commercials a he added noting head seen the same commercials form amp is Gillette shavers and Chee tos on regular television at Home. The Brief program is produced by the Knoxville based Media company whittle communications which Loans participating schools expensive video equipment and satellite dishes to receive the program and Sells advertising to cover the Cost. Despite criticism from National education groups bans by Public educators in new York and California and a lawsuit in North Carolina 2,900 schools in 34 states have signed up for Channel one company chairman Christopher whittle told reporters at the High school. He predicted 8,000 would be committed by december. A i predict that within five years a system like this will be in 95 percent of All Middle and High schools in the United states. In a sense it will be a new institution in americans  but Timothy Dyer executive director of the National association of secondary school principals worried that Channel one which already has been tested in a number of schools marked the beginning of a the commercialization of the  added Peggy Charren founder of action for children a television in Cambridge mass a a it a obvious that schools signing on to whittles operation arc doing it for the free to sets. I think it is outrageous to barter pieces of the school Day in return for a mess of equipment. And to use that equipment to keep reminding children of How much they need particular  mondays broadcast by Channel ones five member team of under-30 anchors and reporters gave a capsule of breaking news. The program produced in new York and sent by satellite to participating schools had longer feature stories on a japanese High school in Tennessee and an army recruiting office in Kentucky. The program also contained the first of five daily reports on the Rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. �?o1 like the Way it combined history with news. It showed what was happening in the �?T40s,�?� said Gabe thrasher 16. Joan Fitzgerald of Gillette co. In Boston said �?o1 think it is important to stay focused on what the Point is of the program. If that a the Way that news and current events and information can be made available then it is Good and it should be viewed in that  whittle said 29 advertisers have contracted to run commercials on Channel one at $150,000 per 30-second spot. Ads for tobacco alcohol political and religious groups and contraceptives arc rejected. Whittle said commercials Are necessary in order to pay for the $ 150 million in video equipment loaned to the schools that show the program and the $90 million in operational expenses to produce it. As Long As they re taking Channel one schools can use the video equipment for other projects As  Gary Merrill Dies at his Home of cancer Falmouth Maine apr actor Gary Merrill known for his supporting roles in the movies a twelve of clock High and a fall about even and for his Stormy marriage to actress Bette Davis died monday of cancer. He was 74. Merrill who moved to Maine in 1965 and spent most of his time playing Golf and Reading poetry in schools died at his Home a Small cottage overlooking the Ocean in the wealthy Portland suburb of Falmouth foreside. The colourful spirited actor whose penchant for wearing skirts on hot Days was known in the Portland area appeared in 42 films. His career spanned More than 40 years. His last stage appearance with Maureen of Sullivan was on Broadway in 1980 in a revival of the play a mornings at  Merrill began his acting career on stage in 1937. His first movie role was in a winged Victory in 1944. He went on to a twelve of clock High in 1949 and a fall about eve a which starred Davis and won the Academy award As Best picture in 1950. Merrill a other movie roles included parts in a phone Call from a stranger a 1953 a blueprint for murder a 1953 a Bermuda affair a 1956 and a around the world under the sea a 1966. On television he played the Gruff but understanding or. Gillespie in the a Young or. Kildare series and As narrator in a the valiant years series about Winston Churchill. Merrill met Davis in a fall about even a he played her Lover a and married her in july of that year the same Day his divorce from his first wife became final. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1960. It Wasny to until 1985 that she ended a 15-year silence by writing him. Davis sent a note to Merrill after he had planted himself outside a Bookstore to urge people not to buy a my mothers keeper a a critical biography of Davis written by her daughter. Merrill said he did no to want the actress to be ridiculed by a daughter he called  the two met by Chance on an air plane in 1986 when Merrill Davis flew to Maine to film a the whales of  at the Airport she sounded excited at having seen him and said they had been cordial to each other. Davis died several months ago. A native of Hartford. Conn., Merrill spent Many childhood Summers in Maine. He and Davis spent much of their 10-Ycar marriage in Cape Elizabeth just outside Portland. His nationwide tour in a the world of Carl Sandburg premiered in Portland in 1959, and in 1967 he flew to Portland from the West coast to help the greater Portland association for retarded children prepare for its annual fund drive. Merrill said he and Davis had an adopted daughter who was retarded. He prided himself on an inactive lifestyle in Maine telling an interviewer in 1981, a a in be spent my life doing As Little As possible. And i intend to keep doing exactly the same  he insisted he had been Only an a adequate actor because he a never worked at it. I had no drive really. I just like to get by and have  asked one summer Day Why he was wearing a skirt in downtown Portland he said Quot i believe in wearing no clothes at All. And this is the closest you can get to it in public.credibility of a fourth of july author questioned Santa Ana Calif. Apr rep. Robert Dornan is challenging the accuracy of the hit movie a born on the fourth of july a which chronicles the political transformation of a Vietnam War Veteran saying that it could mislead viewers about the record of author Ron Kovic a who May become his election opponent. The Republican congressman said he was attacking the movie because it could leave people in his District with the impression that All of the events actually happened to Kovic whose wounds in Vietnam left him paralysed from the Waist Down. The movie recounts Kovics transformation from patriotic Marine to War opponent. A the movie is in effect his political resume and Kovic has engaged in resume padding a Dornan said. Sid Galanty Kovics Media represent Al give dismissed Dornans remarks. A a it san entertainment vehicle not a documentary a said Galanty who did not dispute the discrepancies brought out by Dornan. A people who want a strictly factual account should read the  Kovic 43, whose autobiography was Diane into a film directed by Oliver starr�?~n8 Tom cruise has been wooed by the democratic congressional Campaign committee. Kovic has not said if he will run Ron Kovic on the set of a born on the fourth of july a based on his autobiography. Against Dornan but said his a time of fund raising letters that called Kovic the dedicated service to my country has favorite of the a Ultra Liberal Hollywood come  left.in february Dornan sent out 20,000 among the inaccuracies cited by Dor Nan and backed by others were a Kovic is shown accidentally killing a fellow Marine during combat then later going to the dead Marine s parents to Tell them of the incident. But Marine it. Col. Fred Peck responding to Media inquiries said Kovics commanding officer concluded that Kovic did not shoot the Marine. Kovic told Knic to that the scene of the visit to the Many a family did not actually happen but was a recurring Nightmare that he had. A Kovic is shown being attacked with other students by Nightstick wielding riot police in 1970 at Syracuse University after a speech by the late activist Abbic Hoffman. However new York state sen. Nancy Hoffman and Washington lawyer David Ifshin who both participated in that protest say Abbic Hoffman was never on the Campus. A the movie is totally inconsistent with the facts a said Hoffman adding that police a displayed remarkable  a Kovic also is shown being spat on and roughed up by Security guards at the 1972 gop National convention in Miami. But former lbs correspondent Roger Mudd who was near the scene of the alleged action said he docs not remember it that Way. Mudd also denies Kovics account in his autobiography that Mudd interviewed the activist during the incident