European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 4, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a a a the stars and stripes Friday May 4, 1990 Parkinson a disease patient praises fetal cell treatment Chicago apr the first Parkinson a disease patient in the United states to be treated with transplanted brain tissue from an aborted fetus said the operation has made it easier for him to talk and move about. And a researcher who wrote a paper on the Case said wednesday the transplant could Benefit Many Parkinson s sufferers. A the Bush administration has banned use of Federal funds for medical research involving fetal tissue which abortion opponents say creates an incentive for abortion. Don Nelsons operation was paid for privately. Quot i m walking better. I done to use crutches or a Cane anymore when i m walking in the House a Nelson. 53, said in a Telephone interview from the Denver area. Quot my speech has improved. The volume of my voice is better. Nelson said he probably has 30 percent to 35 percent More ability to move than before the operation i years ago. But he still has spells of a freezing a when he is virtually unable to walk. Quot i m hoping that. I la continue to get better a he said Nelson also has regained Normal functioning of his hands said or. Curt r. Freed professor of Medicine and pharmacology at the University of Colorado health sciences Center. A the november i 988 operation was the first on a Parkinson s victim in the United states according to freed s report m the May Issue of archives of neurology. A publication of the american medical association. �?�1 think its very exciting to be Able to take a chronic disease of the nervous system. And reverse aspects of it a freed said in a Telephone interview. Parkinson a disease afflicting an estimated 500,000 americans develops when areas of the brain degenerate and Stop producing dopamine a brain chemical essential for Normal muscle movements. Experiments with rats and monkeys have shown that fetal cells transplanted into adult brains can grow and produce dopamine. About 40 operations on humans have been performed worldwide including some others in the United states since Nelsons freed said. A patient in Sweden improved markedly five months after an operation there according to the february Issue of science Magazine. In Nelson s operation tissue from the pan of the brain that produces dopamine was transplanted from a 7-week-old aborted fetus into the right Side of Nelsons brain. A Needle was used to make 10 tiny injections a with the total feta material amounting to about a sixth of a drop freed said. Eugene Redmond or. A Yale school of Medicine psychiatry professor has said that fetal cell implant therapy could become Quot the Best Hope for Manv  but he has cautioned that a study of a Quot single patient cannot yield final conclusions. Actor Rappoport apparent suicide David Rappaport los Angeles apr David Rappaport. A Dwarf who played a win at any Cost lawyer known As mighty Mouth on . Law a was found dead in a Park of an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound police said. He was 38. Police found his body wednesday evening at Laurel Canyon Park in the san Fernando Valley. Sgt. A i Iam Davidson said. Late monday his manager. Frankie Leigh had filed a missing persons report saving the actor was depressed. A police gave no motive for the apparent suicide. On March 4. The actor had attempted suicide by inhaling automobile exhaust. When police found him in a car in Hollywood his breathing stopped. They resuscitated him. The 3-foot-1 i English bom actor had appeared in several episodes of no cd a "l.a. Law since late 1988. He played a devious lawyer who kicked smooth attorney Victor Sifuentes a played by Jimmy Smits a All Over the courtroom. One episode last year dealt with Dwarf tossing. In it. Rappaport s character argued that dwarfs had the right to be tossed in a bar for Money if they wanted. Quot this show has become a perfect showcase for an actor a Rappaport said in november. In addition to "l.a,  Rappaport starred in the 1986-87 series Quot the  about a scientist who invented High tech toys and gadgets. He also appeared in a time bandits a a 1981 British comedy film featuring John Cleese and Sean Connery. In an interview in 1988, Rappaport said he had been discriminated against because of his height and wanted simply to be treated like Quot a regular Boring Normal  a i look at Boring people every Day and i say god. 1 wish i could be like that. But my lot is to be unique special so i have to put up with  he said. A a it a a hard  stateside Trump behind in payments for Atlantic City Casino new York apr Donald Trump is More than a month behind in payments to contractors who hurried to Complete his $1 billion Taj mahal Casino resort the daily news reported thursday. Trump aides acknowledged wednesday that the Developer of the ,250-room hotel in Atlantic City n.j., owes about 100 contractors $35 million. But the aides insisted it was routine to hold up payments amid disputes Over incomplete or inadequate work or invoice inflation. Last week Forbes Magazine reported Trumps net Worth was $500 million rather than the Oft bandied $1.5 billion. The report led contractors to speculate Trump w As in a financial squeeze which he and his aides denied. No formal complaint has been filed with the new Jersey Casino control commission though some contractors have filed informal complaints commission spokesman Tom Flynn  Boss Scarfo gets life in prison for murder Philadelphia apr crime Boss Nicodemo a Little Nicky Scarfo was sentenced to life in prison for ordering a 1985 hit of a Low level mob figure who did not show him enough respect. A a in a concerned about the people who follow your direction a common pleas court judge Eugene Clark told Scarfo at the sentencing wednesday. Quot you have made a great part of your life establishing fear in people and you have destroyed Many  Quot Scarfo 61, was convicted of first degree murder in the july 1985 slaying of Frank Quot Frankie Flowers do Alfonso on a South Philadelphia Street. Do Alfonso was a Low level mob figure killed because he did not show proper respect to Scarfo and did t give the mob a Large enough share of a gambling operation prosecution witnesses  actress to attend Benefit despite poor health Danbury Conn. Apr Sylvia Sidney recuperating at Home from double pneumonia still plans to attend a new York ceremony that will Honor her with a lifetime achievement award. Her most recent film role was As the cigarette smoking Case worker in  the 79-year-old actress who was released from Danbury Hospital on monday is scheduled to appear at radio City music Hall on saturday for no cd a Quot night of 100 stars Quot where she will be honoured along with Katharine Hepburn Helen Hayes Liv Ullmann Sidney Lumet and Joseph a Mankiewicz Quot its to Benefit the actors fund and she s determined to go a said Sidney a spokesman. John Springer. Quot she told me t May not be Able to walk but other people like Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles went in wheelchairs. I can  a Lukens apologizes for offence says hell run again it for web no la a lie ii. _ Fletcher. Ohio apr . Rep. Donald Lukens apologized wednesday for Quot a dumb mistake and announced he is actively seeking re election even though his Appeal on a conviction of having sex with a teen Ager is pending. The slate s chairman of the Republican party however repeated a Call for Lukens to resign from Congress. A we done to have much  Lukens said in making his announcement in this Western Ohio Village 30 Miles North of Dayton. The gop primary election is t tuesday. He had said since his conviction last May that he would not decide on his political future until after the outcome of his Appeal. Although he filed for re elec Tion to put his name on the ballot he had not campaigned and never announced he was running. The 59-year-old divorced congressman was convicted of a Misdemeanour charge of contributing to the Una ugliness of a minor. He was accused of paying a girl to have sex with him at his Columbus apartment in november 1988, when she was 16. A judge sentenced Lukens to 30 Days in jail and fined him $500. He has been free on Bond pending his Appeal. T a i apologize. I made a dumb mistake. In a sorry a Lukens said. A a in a paying a big Price for that  in Greenville Lukens repeated his message to about 20 people saying in spite of his a stumble a he a never stopped working for his constituents. Lukens wrapped up wednesday evening in his Hometown of Middletown where he spoke briefly to about 50 supporters outside an american legion Hall. 6 Quot the people know men and they know my record let them judge a Lukens said. A nobody knows any politician in the country better than you know  Robert Bennett chairman of the Ohio gop said Lukens displayed a a lapse of morals and had abused the Trust of his constituents. A this is not a political matter its a moral matter. Congressman Lukens has never denied having sex with a child and on that Issue alone he should not represent the people of the 8th District a Bennett said. Lukens faces opposition from three other republicans Thomas kindness who held the 8th District seat before Lukens was elected in 1986 state rep. John Boehner and Mort Meier a Bond underwriter. Three candidates Are running in the democratic primary. Lukens served two terms in Congress from 1967 to 1970, when he made an unsuccessful attempt to gain the Ohio gop gubernatorial nomination. After 15 years in the Ohio Senate he was returned to Congress in 1986, when kindness stepped Down to run against democratic . Sen. John Glenn. Lukens was re elected in 1988