European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a a a the stars and stripes tuesday wednesday january 1/2, 1991blame Dionysius for Issue of the decade Washington a when docs a new decade begin anyway we ushered in the �?T90s a year ago but the  of the 20th Century is Only now about to unfold. Confused Well you can thank a Monk named Dionysius Exi Guus. Lie started it All Many hundreds of years ago. The question surfaces every 10 years and for Many people the answer is obvious the Nevy decade began with the 1990s a year ago on Jan. 1,1990, and will end dec. 31, 1999. But done to Tell that to the Calendar purists. A a a a a a a a a a if you refer to the decade of the �?T90s, in a  concede that 1090 is in the �?T90s. Its obviously no4-Iqthy �?T80s,�?� said Leroy , a Calendar expert at the . Naval Observatory. But he explained that this View of a decade in time is simply a colloquialism with no basis in history. A when we talk about the last decade of the 20th Century a he said a we get into a chronological question which Fortes you to ask when did the first Century begin a Doggett provided this explanation. The numbering system in our current Gregorian Calendar indeed in All human calendars is arbitrary. Someone picked a particular Date or event and started counting from that Point. There is nothing in nature that causes it to be a particular year or for a particular Day to be new year. That a where the Monk Dionysius Exi Guus or a Dennis the Small a got into the act nearly 1,500 years ago. He had been Given the task of developing a set of tables to help local priests and Bishops determine the Date of easter. At the time everything was dated from the accession of the roman emperor Diocletian. But Diocletian had persecuted the Early christians and Dionysius did no to want to commemorate him in the new tables. Instead Dionysius based the tables on the Date of Jesus birth which the Monk determined had. Occurred 532 years earlier. Dionysius pronounced that Jesus birth occurred in the year �?o1�?� and began the count. A so the first decade was 1 to 10, the second was 11 to 20,�?� Doggett said. A extrapolating from that we end up starting a new decade with 1991, which runs through 2000, which completes the 20th Century. So the 21st Century starts with 2001.�?� Why did no to Dionysius simply Call the first year a a Zero and avoid All the confusion. A Well the number Zero was not then in use in the we amp to Doggett explained. Counting was done using either roman numerals or fingers neither of which includes a Zero. There a More. Many scholars have concluded that Dionysius actually miscalculated by two to 10 years the actual birth of Jesus. But by the time those questions were raised his numbering system was widely used and was not changed. And the year 1991 is not the Only year that makes its debut in the coming 12 months. The Muslim year 1412 begins at Sundown next july 12, and the jewish year 5752 begins at Sundown next sept. 8. A a stateside amp a robber surrenders after taking 3 hostage Trinidad Colo. Apr a gunman took three people hostage when police foiled his attempt to flee a savings and loan after robbing it the Surron tiered four hours later authorities said. /. No shots were fired and no one was injured police said. David Amburgey 33, was arrested shortly after re leasing Century savings and loan president Louis Schick vice president Don Jones and an unidentified female employee police chief Lou Girodo said. Girodo said Amburgey robbed the a Ivings and loan of an undetermined amount of Cash which was later recovered. An employee tripped a silent alarm during the robbery and two police officers confronted Amburgey As he tried to leave through a backdoor Girodo said. Amburgey armed with a .22-Calibcr semiautomatic pistol went Back inside and took the three hostages Girodo . Surrendered after a state trooper negotiating the hostages release told him police knew who he was and had towed away his getaway car Girodo said. Amburgey was held saturday night at the Las Animas county jail. He told police he was out of work and needed Money Girodo said. Trinidad is a Small mining town in Southern  assigned to Quayle is a arrested for shop Ift Irig Vail Colo. Apr a secret service agent assigned to protect vice president Dan Quayle was arrested for shoplifting after allegedly trying to steal a $280 ski jacket authorities have said. Joyce Fletcher of Washington was charged with Misdemeanour theft and released after posting a $300 Bond. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 Days in jail and a $1,000 Fine. She is to appear Jan. 31 in Vail municipal court. Quot Quot police chief Ken Hughey said Fletcher 39,-was arrested after allegedly stuffing the jacket into a shopping bag in a changing room at he Gart Brothers store. Rhode Island Man chooses jail rather than junk his Salvage Yard Cranston . A thou 3rison eve frailties hate greed Sands of people go to prison every year for a myriad of a Quot a a a she left and to an associate to Call police. Jones  saw Fletcher a secret service identification card store manager Rick Jones  followed her when it Etc when she was arrested. \ Quayle was vacationing in Vail 70 Miles West of Den ver Belpre cd Irista so a 7.? 7�?o 7sometimes love. Arthur a  Cournoyer went to prison for junk and he says a principle. A. A this is a country where a Matni sup posed to have a right to earn a living. And they Are supposed to have Justice a said Cournoyer who has spent 32 years and about $100,000 battling attempts to close a truck Salvage Yard on his property in the Northern Rhode Island town of Lincoln. His Salvage Yard was there before town zoning prohibited it Cournoyer said. The authorities contend he san outlaw. A so Cournoyer 66, last week finished six months at the minimum Security prison in Cranston for contempt of a judges order to Clear his property. A i believe that if in a right i should fight to the end a he said in a recent prison interview. It was his fifth time in prison since 1963 a a total of 287 Datys behind bars he said. The quiet barrel chested Cournoyer seemed out of place among the mostly younger inmates. His hair was going White. A brooms raw dangled from his Mouth in place of a trademark toothpick. A they Call me a the legend a a he said. A i keep com / ing Here.  be giving me a pension pretty  talk about prison life evoked not much More than a verbal shrug. Y 7f. A if a Man should be in jail he a got it made. But a Man like me that done to belong Here you know its still not that bad a he said. A a 7 the headlines of his continuing Battle May bring sympathy. But town officials patience has worn thin. / a a the fact that he a a colourful person the fact that he a. Quotable and funny .7. Does no to color the Basic fact that the Guy does no to want to listen to a court edict which to Quot me makes him something of an anarchist a town solicit defiant a a frenchy Cournoyer at his besieged place of business. Jor James Marusak said. It Cournoyer a 32 acres Are in a wooded area dotted Voith split level houses. His Rocky land is now mostly Clear but glitters with bits of broken Glass from junked vehicles. 77cournoyer a father a Carpenter who came from Canada in the 1920s, bought the land in 1946 and hoped to develop it but it was too Rocky. Cournoyer suggested he Start a Salvage Yard. Cournoyer has watched at least four times As Crews have come to haul away his junk sometimes hundreds of cars. But he always found More. _ \vltenth9y cleaned me out i started running again t hat s what burned them up a Cournoyer said. A i did make a living out of it one Way or the other. As Long As i keep the Yard open could  a Superior court Justice Anthony a. Giannini ordered Cournoyer released in time for Christmas but told him to. Clear a Mobile Home a half dozen vehicles and a garage from his land by feb. 15. Formula makers suspected of Price fixing Nunu Verso v y a m a it. V or to i r new York a Federal auf Hori. Ties have subpoenaed the records of the a nations biggest baby formula fan fac tuners after. State welfare officials. And consumer advocates made allegations of Price fixing a newspaper reported sunday. A a this is a top priority  ,�?� said Kevin j. Arquit head of the Federal Trade commissions Bureau of Competition. He said authorities have not concluded that Price fixing occurred. The companies denied the alienation so a a. The new York times reported that records were subpoenaed from Ross laboratories a division of Abbott laboratories the Mead Johnson nutritional group a division of Bristol Myers Squibb co. Wyeth a Erst laboratories a division of the american Home products corporation the Carnation company a subsidiary id Nestle . And the Gerber products company. The american Academy of paediatrics was also subpoenaed it  a Ross Mead Johnson and Wyeth ayerst account for about 95 percent of All. A j. Bahy formula marketed in the United states while Carnation and Gerber account for about 5 percent the newspaper said. The Domestic Market is Worth about si.3 billion a year it said. Infant formula is a major ingredient in food packages Given to Low income families who qualify for the special supplemental i Ood program for women in-1 ants and children. The program serves about 4.4 million people a month and accounts for one third of the infant formula sold in the United states. The programs funds Are limited and higher costs mean fewer people Benefit Arquit said. Dennis h. Bach of Iowa who Heads the National association of wic directors said baby formula prices a have seemed to go up in lock step Over the last 10  Betsy Clarke director of the wic program in Oregon said prices have tripled Dunn the past 15 years with different companies raising prices by the same amounts within Days of each other. Current retail prices Range from $1.so to $2.30 for a 13-ounce can of concentrated formula., a \