European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a a the stars and stripes wednesday september 19,1990souter�?Ts confirmation Likely despite pro rights opposition Washington apr supporters of abortion rights asked the Senate judiciary committee on tuesday to reject David Souter a nomination to the supreme court. A the health and lives of millions of american women Quot Are at stake they said. A leading conservative meanwhile said Souter should not be confirmed because he Hasni to done enough to Stop abortion. In three Days of testimony that ended monday night Souter declined to disclose his views on abortion. The nominee said he had not made up his mind on whether to overturn the 1973 court ruling legalizing abortion. A we consider placing judge Souter on the supreme court to be too great a risk a said Kate Michelman executive director of the National abortion rights action league. Quot the health and lives of million of american women for generations to come May depend on where David Souter stands Quot said Faye Wattleton president of planned parenthood of America. Their testimony was criticized by committee members including sen. Alan k. Simpson r-wyo., himself a Backer of abortion rights. T Quot you re making a big mistake a Simpson said. Quot there Are going to be other supreme court cases where you re really going to have to be in the trenches a he said. Simpson added that As a Federal judge Souter could not answer the abortion question because of judicial ethics. A Strong anti abortion conservative Howard Phillips said in prepared testimony that Souter should be rejected As too pro abortion rights. Phillips chairman of the conservative caucus cited the fact that Souter served on the boards of two hospitals where abortions were performed and had gone along with the practice. A the lacked the moral courage or discernment to help prevent the destruction of so Many innocent human lives when he had the authority a indeed the responsibility a to do so a Phillips said. Committee members said Souter appeared assured of confirmation when his testimony ended monday night. Committee chairman Joseph Biden d-del., told Souter that his appearance had been Quot a tour de  Biden said some senators including himself were still undecided on the nomination. But he told Souter who marked his 51st birthday on monday that cause to celebrate could come a in two or three weeks a the presumed schedule for committee approval and Senate confirmation. Sen. Edward Kennedy d-mass., who repeatedly probed Souter a suitability with questions on rights issues including abortion appeared to concede at the end that Souter would be confirmed. As questioning of the new Hampshire judge Drew to a close monday night Kennedy told Souter that he would tip the balance in discrimination cases before the court. A a you re going to be really the swing vote on this Issue As Well As Many others a he said. Sen. Paul Simon d-ill., asked Souter to a err on the Side of Freedom a once on the court. Simpson reflecting the apparent unanimous support of the six republicans on the 14-member panel told Souter he had impressed the nation during the televised testimony. A out in the land there is a Good feeling a Simpson said. A a lot of people have the feeling that your confirmation process is Over a sen. Arlen Specter r-pa., told Souter. In his testimony Souter answered questions without the help of notes and displayed a vast knowledge of constitutional disputes. But he avoided giving the committee even a clue of How he would vote on the hottest issues before the court. All three Days Souter repeatedly pushed aside attempts by senators on both sides of the Issue to extract his views on abortion. He maintained his mind was still open. On monday he expressed his appreciation for the Gravity of the Case saying that overturning the 1973 Roe is. Wade abortion decision would affect thousands of lives could result in widely different Laws from state to state and could throw into question other rulings on privacy issues. Pilots Over 60 much less Safe than those in 50s, report finds Washington apr pilots older than 60 have twice As Many accidents As those in their 50s, but they re still safer than pilots in their 20s or 30s, according to a congressional report. The office of technology assessment reached no conclusion on whether the Federal aviation administration should revise its regulation forcing retirement at age 60 for pilots on major airlines a those which operate planes with More than 30 seats. There is no such requirement for corporate private or commuter airline pilots. Critics have argued that the age-60 Rule for airlines arbitrarily grounds Many healthy experienced pilots and denies the travelling Public the Benefit of their skill. They have called for More flexible rules tied to stringent medical examinations but the Ota questioned whether current testing techniques could adequately detect the Subtle mental deterioration that it deems the principal Hazard posed by aging pilots on avera8e accidents per 100,000 flight hours for All pilots with More than 1,000 hours of flight experience found that a pilots Between Ages 60 to 69 have an Accident rate that is 2.1 times higher than the Accident rate for 50 to 59-year-olds.�?� however the same data show that the Accident rate for the 60-to 69-year-old pilots is less than that for pilots m the 30-39-year-old and 20-29-year-old age groups a the report said. It found that experience clearly counts saying pilots older than 60 with More than 5,000 flight hours have a cretan a ent rate than pilots of any age with 1,000 to 5,000 flight hours. But in All experience groups the Accident rate goes up after 60, the Ota said. The congressional Agency said the safety Issue for major airlines has Little to do with the vulnerability of aging pilots to sudden impairment a a heart attack say a since a co Pilot and sometimes a third flight officer Are on the flight deck and could take the controls in such cases. Rather accidents from Pilot error Are almost always based on mental error rather than the pilots incapacity a a be d013 lowing higher Accident rates for the Over-60 bracket a suggest that the increase. May be due to Subtle age related deterioration in cognitive  More stringent or frequent medical exams would Likely have Little effect on Accident rates unless they involved More accurate Neur psychological measurements than currently available the Ota said. The airline Industry and the air line pilots association both support the age-60 mandatory retirement Rule. Carter scores higher than Reagan in poll evaluating sex presidents Washington apr Jimmy Carter out polled Ronald Reagan m a Survey of opinions on former presidents. A times Mirror Survey released tuesday found that Carter gets higher favo ability ratings than Reagan. Sixty seven percent of the people surveyed said they had a very favourable or mostly favourable opinion of Carter while 62 percent had comparable views of Reagan the Man who Defeated Carter in 1980. Despite recent favourable attention connected to the opening of his presidential Library Richard m. Nixon continues to be held in Low esteem. Thirty eight percent had favourable opinions of Nixon while 58 percent viewed him unfavourably. The results were based on interviews with 3 004 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage Points. A this 40-mile-Long set of valleys or troughs on Venus has been nicknamed gumby after the animated Clay  photos have scientists seeing gumby Pasadena Calif. Apr a set of valleys said to resemble the animated character gumby and a meteorite Impact Crater unlike any other seen in the solar system Are visible in the Magellan spacecrafts newest pictures of Venus. The computer assembled pictures released by Nasa on monday were made from data Magellan collected saturday As it started its 243-Day Mission to peer through the planets thick Clouds and map its rugged landscape. A a it a just excitement time. The scientists Are in there like bees to Honey a said de Sherry a Magellan technical assistant at the . Space Agency a Jet propulsion Laboratory. One picture shows a 40-mile-Long set of valleys or troughs. A a it a a feature we nicknamed gumby a said Steve Saunders Magellan a chief scientist referring to the animated Clay figure from a . Children a to show of the 1950s. I i valleys each about three Miles wide look like gumby a legs. The North end of the two valleys converges into a single trough resembling gumby supper body. And the trough ends in a Box Canyon that looks a bit like gumby a head. 1 the Gumb like feature probably formed when underground molten Rock flowed out of the area causing the ground above to collapse along fault lines and create the valleys Saunders said. Similar features have been seen on Mars he said. Another picture released monday shows a meteorite Impact Crater that is about five Miles wide and seven Miles Long. Large lobes of material ejected by the Impact Are visible North South and East of the Crater. That Means the Crater was formed when a meteorite slammed into Venus at a Low Angle rather than from directly above Saunders said. Shaped like a kidney it is unlike any other Impact Crater seen in the solar system Nasa said. A possible explanation for the strange shape is that the meteorite broke into several Large chunks just before it hit Saunders said. Magellan which was launched from the shut the at tis m May 1989, was to have formally Bun its $744 million mapping Mission on aug. 29, almost three weeks after it went into orbit around Venus. But engineers temporarily lost radio contort with the spacecraft aug. 16 and 21