European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 29, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday March 29, 1990 the stars  stripes a a a Page 9 chief Petty officer Marvin a a Mac Mcneace left stands next to his creation a Punk Garfield which adorns a Wall of the paediatric clinic at san Paolo Hospital in Naples Italy. Seaman Dewey Oliva right looks through children a books with Vittorio Valentino  Elena do Anto to find other characters for the clinics  Uso keeps sailors Busy helping others by Gary Miller Mediterranean Bureau Naples Italy a four year old Vittorio Valentino stood with his hands folded behind his Back. Like a Little Napoleon in a Bathrobe  pyjamas he watched intently As the Pink Panther shrank grew bounced  bobbed before him. But he Wasny to watching a saturday morning cartoon. As he looked on sailors from the Navy destroyer Thorn adjusted the size  position of an image of the Panther they were projecting onto a Glass Wall. The projection was an Early step in the process they used to make larger than life paintings of comic Book characters on the playroom Walls of the paediatric clinic at the san Paolo Hospital in Naples. They had already completed four paintings. The full color images were of Garfield the cat with a punish Mohawk Hairdo pinocchio  two other characters. A the kids really enjoyed seeing 3-Inch-High comic Book characters made into 4-foot tall paintings a chief Petty officer Marvin a a Mac Mcneace said. It was the second saturday that the Thorn sailors had spent at the clinic working on the Uso organized project during the ships two week visit. Thanks to their process people with no artistic background could produce professional looking results. But completing one of the characters was an All Day project. First they traced a character onto a piece of Clear plastic. Next they used an overhead projector to enlarge  position the images on Large pieces of tracing paper taped to the Glass where they intended to put a painting. Then they traced the projected image onto the Glass  added color with enamel paint. A this Way everyone is an artist a Mcneace said. A this is just what the Hospital wanted a said Uso a the kids really enjoyed seeing 3-Inch-High comic Book characters made into 4-foot tall  a a a Mac Mcneace Volunteer Anna Welcome who made the arrangements for the Thom sailors to do the project. She had done the same for the Crew members of two previous Navy ships who had helped to decorate the san Paolo paediatric Ward. Naples Uso staff members  volunteers brought the ships  the Hospital together just As they have helped Fleet sailors find hundreds of other area Community projects said Joann Riccio director of the Naples Uso. A this is one of Many projects the ships always do when they come in whether its painting an orphanage or visiting old Peoples Homes or delivering clothes to the needy or any of a number of other things a Riccio said. Naples plays Host to nearly 90 Navy ships each year. Those port Calls bring As Many As 70,000 sailors to the Southern italian City Riccio said. The Uso finds a Community project or two for most of those ships. A most usos try to organize Community relations activities a Riccio said. A they encourage interaction with local  Thorn sailors helped in a second Community project. Between the two saturday trips to the Hospital Mcneace  Petty officer 2nd class Paul Murdough helped deliver clothes the Uso had collected to the Church of san Pietro in downtown Naples. Franciscans residing there planned to Send the clothes to Ethiopia said brother Luigi Capursi a member of the order. Capursi gave the sailors  Uso representatives a tour of the Church where according to tradition St. Peter celebrated the first mass in Naples. The group followed Capursi through a Maze of Chambers where the oldest Graves Date Back to . 66, Capursi said. A that was definitely Worth the trip a Mcneace said As the group left the Church. A sailors Are kind of hesitant about getting involved in projects like this a Mcneace said. A but once they get started they really like  Are big help students agree adult mentors Washington apr High school students say their grades improve  they have a More positive Outlook for the future with some adult coaching. The students a about 400 who attended Large Urban Public High schools in 16 cities a participated u St extensive Survey of mentoring commissioned by the Commonwealth fund a National philanthropy based in new York. Mentors Are defined by Thomas Moloney senior ice president of the fund As adults outside students immediate families a who provide support  guid nce to enhance the daily lives immediate plans  future aspirations of Young  the Louis Harris  associates inc. Found nil ,.pitcent said that mentors helped them to im-imnr6 a r grades 53 percent credited mentors with s3 a Vlna air at Mility to stay away from drugs  of trouble1 a a ult advisers helped them stay out Jav be percent said their Mentor relationships in ring a ave More respect for  be More com Sain Elj people of other races while 39 percent air understanding of other races improved. Derry name tors inspired three of four students a 75 Agni in i i la try harder. Seventy three percent said the helped raise student goals  expectations  develop the self Confidence that they could succeed. Without a Mentor 25 percent of the students said they would not have chosen the same career path 12 percent would not have gone to College 30 percent would not have gone to their chosen College  24 percent would not have taken their current Job. A the results Are Clear mentoring really does hold vast potential for improving the lives of millions of Young people a said Moloney. A productive one to one relationships can be created arranged   a what encourages me most is to verify that mentoring programs can flourish under the guidance of mainstream Public education systems a said Jerome Grossman head of the new England medical Center in Boston. A schools already responsible for Young people can expand their Mission to encompass  Moloney who was to present the Survey findings wednesday at the National mentoring conference in the nations capital explained the traditional thought is that mentoring is a a happenstance or based on the chemistry of the two involved. The Survey focused on mentors  students who participated in the career beginnings mentoring program during the 1987-88 school year. The students were interviewed Between last july  november while 400 mentors were interviewed Between september  december 1989. Of those interviewed 172 linked pairs of mentors  students. The respondents lived in Bakersfield  Santa Ana Calif. Boston Brooklyn  Rochester . Memphis  Chattanooga Tenn. Cleveland  Youngstown Ohio Des Moines Iowa Gary ind. Hartford Conn. Indianapolis Jacksonville Fla. Miami  Paterson . Grossman is chairman of the advisory committee of the career beginnings program the largest National mentoring program in the country with More than 10,000 students  their mentors participating in the past four years. Mentors also benefited the study said noting that 45 percent said mentoring enhanced fulfilling other responsibilities 22 percent said the relationship with their own children improved  16 percent had improved relationships with their spouses. Ninety seven percent of the mentors Are employed 64 percent Are parents  92 percent said they were very Busy. Eighty one percent hold responsible full time professional or managerial jobs. Half earned $50,000 a year or More. A total of 86 percent of the mentors already had become a Mentor again or plan to become one soon