European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 6, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday october 6, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 5 70-Pound beam left Loose in shuttle / Atlantis set for nov. Launch Cape canaveral Fla. Up the shuttle Atlantis May have been damaged when a 70-Pound Metal beam was mistakenly left in the ships engine room and fell As the orbiter was being hoisted into the launch position sources said thursday. With the shuttle discovery on track for Blastoff saturday Atlantis is scheduled for launch around nov. 7 to Feny a military satellite into orbit a a classified Mission that was grounded in july by a Hydrogen fuel leak. The $2 billion shuttle was moved from its hangar to the vehicle Assembly building earlier this week. A massive yellow Sling was attached to Atlantis on wednesday and two powerful overhead cranes picked the shuttle up and then rotated it into a vertical position so it could be bolted to its tank and boosters. But As the nose of the shuttle Rose engineers heard at least three distinct thumps inside Atlantis engine compartment according to sources who requested anonymity. When engineers were Able to enter the shuttles engine room they were dismayed to find a yellow 9-foot, 70-Pound a Access bar resting near the floor of the cramped compartment. The Metal beam apparently left inside the engine room by mistake fell through the compartment As Atlantis was rotated into a vertical position. A a it a a 9-foot i beam a said Nasa spokeswoman Lisa Malone. A a it a bolted to part of the Structure in the orbiter and they mount platforms on  the Accident was the latest in a series of mishaps at the Kennedy space Center in recent months that Nave caused repeated delays and setbacks above and beyond the fuel leaks that have disrupted the shuttle schedule. Whether the incident with Atlantis will have any Impact on the ships planned launch remains to be seen. Before the shuttle is rolled to the vehicle Assembly building Access platforms Are removed and the engine room is closed. For some reason technicians missed the 9-foot beam. Engineers worked thursday to find out what damage if any the beam caused As it fell. A they want to determine the course it travelled and any damage to any of the systems a Malone said. A right now they re taking pictures and making measurements and that kind of  one source said the incident happened As Atlantis nose was rotated Between 30 degrees and 50 degrees past horizontal. Asked what the Odds were the shuttle could have escaped damage he said simply  the shuttle Atlantis just after the thud. Christmas food package drive organized for . Troops in Gulf by the Cox news service Washington a National drive to raise More than $3 million to Send 250,000 Christmas food packages to . Troops in the persian Gulf is being organized of a san Diego Man who two decades ago organized the dispatch of similar packages to gis in Vietnam. A this will be the Ideal Way for grassroots americans to show our troops their care and their appreciation that we re United behind them a Roger Chapin said thursday. Chapin said that he Hopes to use pub Lic service television radio and print ads talk shows Telephone Calls and mail appeals to encourage a every american to Send a Christmas gift pack to a i to show them that the folks Back Home Are with them All the  he founded a Vietnam gift pics a which raised $3 million and was widely praised by gis for the 600,000 Holiday packages that it sent to troops during the Vietnam War. Chapin 58, is also the founder and president of help hospitalized veterans Hhd non profit group that since 1971 has raised $75 million to buy and distribute More than 11 million free arts and Craft kits to patients in More than 250 veterans adm stration and military hospitals. Hhd is sponsoring and providing seed Money for the new project called a Ugi Christmas gift  supporters of Hhd include such celebrities As Bob Hope Pat Boone Julius Erv ing Gen. William Westmoreland Jack Lemmon Dionne Warwick Lee Trevino and Helen Hayes. Chapin said Hhd expects to Send gis in the persian Gulf some 250,000 individual packs containing nuts cookies dates raisins and hard candies. Donors Are being asked to Send in $15 per package or $25 for two packages. Contributions Are tax deductible. A we will guarantee that there will be a minimum of $15 of retail value in each pack a he said. A included in the gift pack will be a Christmas card from each donor along with a return card addressed to the donor or donors for the  a the important thing is that when people give they know the Guys will be getting at least As much and probably More women s views on abortion found changed by pregnancy new York up a a surprising number of women who visited an alter native to abortion clinic in a fundamentalist stronghold of Appalachia said they would use abortion a researcher reported thursday. A a this is a Jerry Falwell stronghold a Charles Baffi an associate professor at Virginia polytechnic Institute which is based in Blacksburg va., not far from the fundamentalist evangelists Headquarters in Lynchburg a. Baffin a Survey of 588 women who went to the crisis pregnancy Center of new rower Valley in Blacksburg Between 1986 and 1989 found that initially half opposed abortion one third were undecided and 17 percent supported abortion. Than they would from something people bought in the stores themselves Chapin explained. He added that if the military transports the merchandise the Money saved in shipping will in turn be used to a put More goodies in the gift  in the fiscal year that ended july 31, Hhd a a audited financial statements show that it raised $10 million. It spent about 35 percent buying and shipping Craft kits to hospitals 24 percent on direct mail fund raising 19 percent on direct mail education 6.5 percent on direct mail overhead and 5.5 percent on management and general expenses including $206,000 in staff salaries. Hhd has also donated 10 percent of its contributions in the last two years to citizens for a drug free America and project drug free two new non profit groups formed by Chapin. The philanthropic advisory service of the Council of better business bureaus reports that Hhd has met All 22 of the bbb a voluntary standards for Public charities including limits on fund raising and overhead  freezes . Hiring promotions new York a mayor David Dinkins ordered a freeze on City hiring and promotions thursday and said that he is considering 15,000 layoffs. He said the freeze would save $115 million during the next two years. Dinkins who on tuesday announced a $1.8 billion crime fighting plan that included putting nearly 8,000 police officers on the streets issued a statement saying that a a recessionary Economy and the hard times that come with it Are facts of life in our City and  a with hard times come hard choices a he said. A we All Hope and Pray for better economic times. Until they arrive however i will continue to impose strict budgetary  the last layoffs of such scale were at the height of the City a fiscal crisis in 1975, when about 25,000 workers were Laid off. City comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman meanwhile projected a budget deficit in the current fiscal year of As much As $738 million and said the deficit for next year could reach $2.6 billion. The mayor claims that the budget is balanced for this fiscal  of time however a follow up of 270 women who proved to be pregnant showed their attitudes apparently changed after learning the news. Fifty three percent said they would have an abortion including 31 percent who earlier opposed the procedure Baffi said. A when reality set in. They Felt abortion was not such a bad thing a he said noting the attitude shift occurred despite a graphic anti abortion film shown at the clinic. Baffi who presented his findings at the american Public health associations annual meeting said his work Maria the first extensive study of women who go to clinics with anti abortion  the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. Oct. 6,1950south korean troops faced and repulsed the first counterattack fron communist forces since South koreans crossed the 38th parallel on oct. 2 As the North koreans retreated.30 years ago today. Oct. 6,1960 a a four engine Eastern airlines Turbo prop transport plane crashed jus after Takeoff plunging into Boston Harbor. Sixty one people were killed and 11 Wen mjured.20 years ago today. Oct. 6,1970 a Singer Janis Joplin was found dead of a drug overdose in her Holly Wood apartment. She was 27 years old and had become the Leader of the Rock pantheon Only a month earlier when guitarist Jimi Hendrix also died a drug related death.7 0 years ago today. Oct. 6, 1980 a Iraq cancelled a unilateral cease fire Only 12 hours after it began Anc without warning captured the key iranian Oil port of Khorran Mshar. It was a major Victor in iraqis persian Gulf War with Iran