European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 24, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday june 24, 1990 the stars and stripes Ders dear Ann Landers if you have any clout with scientists will you please Tell them to Lay off up till now they be been fairly sensible but there a such a thing As going too far and i think they have done it. I read about some double dome experts who have discovered that when the calorie intake of rats is sharply reduced they live a great Deal longer. Translated into human terms the scientists say if people did this they might expand their life expectancy to 170 years. Sound wonderful Well think it through and you will conclude that it would be a Nightmare without end. For example for Christmas dinner you would have to include not Only your in Laws but a couple of sets of grandparents great grandparents great great grandparents and Reat great great grandparents. This would be quite a a Mancial Burden especially for a person who Hasni to been employed for 100 years. And where please Tell me would these 120-, 130-, 140-, 150-, 160 and 170-year-old people live today its not easy to find a Good nursing Home for less than $30,000 a year. And done to forget that you a have to take care of not Only your aged parents but their parents their parents parents and their parents parents parents. Sound frightening wait there a More. How would you like to pay Alimony for 100 years or More if science does no to Stop coming up with a remarkable discoveries a it just might happen. And what about social Security forget it. There  be any. No system could accommodate the financial Burden. While the Laboratory rats were in pretty Good physical condition when they reached what in rat terms was 170 years what about their mental faculties How do you give a rat an in test most people become forgetful in their late 60s. What would life be like with millions of people Loose for an added 100 years who can to read a Road map or remember their own Telephone number and the Post offices would be in for major bedlam. Can you imagine what the handwriting of these 170-year-Olds would look like How would you like to see politicians running for a 15th term with people living beyond 150 years of age you can be sure that those who Are interested in elective office would hang around As Long As they had a pulse. I am a 60-year-old woman who had a face lift 10 years ago and i still look pretty Good. Ann i done to want to think what i will look like if i should live another 100 years. I enjoy life but enough is enough. A realist in Virginia Dearva in a with you thanks for a wonderful letter. Dear readers As if i done to have enough a enemies a i have alienated yet another group the gypsies. In a recent column i used the expression a Gyp Ped As a synonym for being cheated or swindled. Although websters third unabridged dictionary says i have used the word correctly i apologize to All the gypsies in my Reading audience who were offended. Page 11letters a policy on housing soldiers explained a few years Back you printed an article in reference to the authorized amount of living area per individual. I made the drastic mistake of throwing the article away without realizing that i would one Day need it. I am currently living in a building that houses Between 85 and 100 soldiers. Each 21-by-16 room holds four people and everything they own. In a not really positive but i think that personnel ranking e-4 and Elow Are authorized at least a Little More room than this to put their belongings. The room in which i live contains one three drawer desk with a chair one Dresser with six drawers three Large and three Small four bunks four Wall lockers four three drawer locker inserts and a shelf. All of these items Are military Issue. Also contained in the room Are several personal items ranging from stereo equipment and television sets to brooms and ironing boards. The thought of rearranging this Cluster is obviously horrifying. Not Only is every Inch of floor space against All four Walls taken All of the available space in the Middle of the room is taken up by Wall lockers and desks. And yes you guessed it two of the Beds Are bunked. If the fire marshal were to take a stroll through a few of these so called four Man rooms he would probably declare the place a fire Hazard. Being a second term Soldier with a previous tour overseas i am condemned to these conditions for three years. For other soldiers two years is the required length of time. I have reported this to the inspector general and the situation did change but it has since returned to As it was. Question if there is not enough space available in the Barracks is it possible to receive some Type of off Post housing allowance How much space is authorized for each individual Soldier where can i find out More about this if i am being deprived of authorized space i would like to know because i have recently been informed that i can be forced to pack my personal items to make room for other soldiers. Can this truly be made to happen there Are Well backed rumours that another company is to be dispersed throughout the battalion for renovation of its own building. I believe that these people Are wrong but if i am the one who is wrong i have promised myself that i will a suck it up and drive  a spec. Martin Ross Mannheim West Germany editors note a maj. Patrick j. Balcazar Engineer action officer housing division Deputy chief of staff Engineer he Usa eur replies a 210-11 and three department of army messages require your Chain of command to provide 90 Square met per Soldier for personal living space in the Barracks. No More than four soldiers can be housed per room. Your Chain of command and your local Community commander Are the first sources for fixing your Barracks problem. Some solutions available to your Chain of command Are to House you in other Barracks lease Barracks for the Community repair and fix your Barracks to contemporary conditions or Issue a statement of no availability. If the Community cannot find suitable quarters for you then a statement of non availability will be issued. With a statement of non availability you will receive a Basic allowance for quarters bad. Usa eur recognizes that space is a problem and is asking for an exception to policy so that communities can Purchase non Standard a space savings furniture. Lousy Barracks Hurt unit readiness and training. To fix the Barracks it would require Over $200 million per year but Usa eur can Only spend $100 million per year due to budget constraint. Still the commander in chief Usa eur has made fixing the a Lousy Barracks his no. 1 engineering initiative a to increase Usa eur Quality of life and readiness. A writer remembers Germany in 1945 the stories about Ike and the pos seem to be Correct up to a certain Point. One cannot even begin to understand the american reaction to the death Camps. We All listened to the germans who a knew nothing about the Camps a living a mile away from the stink of dead bodies that made us gag i was a pow in the Best of All prison Camps stalag Luft i. I was an air Force officer in an All officer Camp under the supervision of the German air Force. My Normal weight was 145. When i was released i weighed 105. Those 1,500 calories a Day would have been heaven to us the death Camps that we saw had just been freed before the russian and american troops arrived. Needless to say the combat troops were not very fond of germans. For example the russian troops did no to leave any germans alive who were in their path. I will not discuss the american combat troops who saw the death Camps. Keep in mind the entire High command either saw the Camps itself or the pictures taken by combat photographers. Since we had to travel to Luneburg we would have preferred train travel. I hate to disagree with col. Dunn who was quoted in one Story As saying rail transportation was not a major problem. However if he was quoted correctly he was in a different War. The Allied air forces were not opposed during the last six months of the War and shot up All the moving Stock in Germany. The army could possibly have put a few trains together but we had to feed millions of people. Millions the railroads basically did no to exist and the roads were All jammed with refugees. There was almost nothing moving for Many months. I would say the americans were not very fond of the germans in 1945.1 am absolutely sure every Effort was made to feed the prisoners but there were lots of choices to make As to whom to feed first the victims or the criminals. To me the Choice was Clear. Even As i close this letter i can still see piles of Bones segregated into menus women a and children a tiny Bones. Those few who managed to survive were like zombies. The stink pervaded everything a but none of the germans really knew anything about it a Edward s. Bramson Aschaffenbur West Germany i am 22 years old. I would like pen pals from age 23 to 35. A Andrea Taylor Mcgrath re Ewarton . St. Catherine Jamaica West indies i am a student at King Saud University and a Togo Lese. I speak English As Well As French. A kor Odowo Sabi King Saud University Box 57431 Riyadh 11574, saudi Arabia i am 14 years old and would like pen pals. A Tan Christopher Novilla 313 Rivera St. Marisol Village Angeles City Philippines please place my name in your list of pen pals. A Linda mattock 2001 Frantz Sahabra Calif. 90631the so ipes european edition. Col. Gene e. Townsend Usan commander editor in chief it. Col. Suzanne l. Phillips Usan Deputy commander editor in chief Marie Kominicki Mert Proctor Deane b. Mcdermott production manager managing editor circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official views of or endorsed by the . Government the department of defense or the . European command. 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