European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 17, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Stateside news Best read part of stripes Quot by the stars and stripes service members May be stationed thousands of Miles from their country but they still want to read about it according to the stars and stripes 1990 readership Survey. A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a the Survey report based on responses from 3,915 military and civilian members of the u a armed forces revealed that the stateside news pages arc those most often read in the newspaper. International news pages followed a close second in ratings of the sections of the newspapers. Daily advice columnists Ann Landers and dear Abby were also popular among readers according to the newspaper Survey. More than 69 percent of the readership said they always or usually read Ann Landers and More than 67 percent said they always or usually read dear Abby. Ann Landers and dear Abby Are the Only columnists who appear in every edition of the stars and stripes. The Survey was mailed to 12,247 military and civilian members of the . Forces in Europe from june to August 1990. Analysis of the 3915 returns was done by Lowndes Stephens a department of defense consultant and professor of journalism at the University of South Carolina. Stephens said about 261,000 military members and their family members Are regular stars and stripes readers. About 60 percent of the Active duty Force in Europe reads stripes at least five Days a week on a regular basis the Survey shows. Approximately 81 percent of . Forces civilians read stripes five Days or More per  time activities Here is a listing of Leisure activities that stars and stripes readers say they participate in. Reading travel 10.02% videos Vcra 9.33% i television 8.78% movies7.88% exercising 7.81 sports participation watching sports 15.94% >.05% listening to radio 4.49% personal computing cycling j3.58% 3.55% Bowling hiking 3.11% j3 08% Hunting fishing j 2.69% other j 3.25%. Source stars and stripes readership surveys amps Wes Booher Overall 41.5 percent of Survey respondents reported Reading stripes every Day of the week. Daily circulation of the newspaper was approximately 120,000 at the time the Survey was distributed. Since then the newspaper inaugurated a desert shield storm edition a computer coding error made it impossible to provide accurate ratings of individual comics. The Survey forms were printed before the addition of stripes sunday Magazine to the newspaper and no rating was available on the Magazine or individual features in this Section. The five Best read sections or pages of the newspaper those marked most often in the a always read category by readers arc stateside news pages 71.8 percent a always read International news pages 65 percent sports pages 38 percent faces a no places Page 23.2 percent and letters to the editor 22.3 percent. A readers have told stripes there Are a number of areas where they want to see More stories a Stephens added. There was a tie for top Choice Between readers local Community overseas and stateside news. The next three topic areas which Drew an answer of not enough space devoted to them in stripes included a a vacation destination features a computer hardware and software reviews a health and medical care. Readers also gave stars and stripes a Good indication of their free time interests. The top free time activity of the . Military in Europe is Reading. The other four free time activities in percentage order a travelling a watching videos Vcra so watching television. A going to movies stripes readers go through the paper primarily Dur ing breakfast and evening meal time. About 22 percent read the paper from 6 to 8 . While approximately 33 percent read the newspaper Between 6 and 8 . About two thirds of the audience spends Between 11 and 30 minutes Reading the newspaper. Eleven percent finish the newspaper in 10 minutes or less a Day Stephens who also wrote the report on the stars and stripes 1980 readership Survey said 75 percent of military personnel in Europe can get a copy of stars and stripes seven Days a week. That compares with 64 percent in 1980, he said. However Only about 60 percent of the military audience is Reading stripes today As compared to 64 percent in 1980. Readers action Lin of deployed soldiers it a i know you re not an information Agency but then again i feel so atone right now. My husband a a posed Quot to fort Hood. Texas he had. Tried to. Extend his tour in Germany but the army did t leave him  a Choice at that time ,. A a. A. We decided that our daughter and i  move to Texas right away but remain in Germany i was aware of a the fact that Alt logistic support for. Dependents ends 90 Days after the sponsors return to the United states. When my husband was deployed to the Middle East i. Checked with the customs or group to see if i d be eligible for certain privileges again because my circumstances had changed. As Long As my husband is = Quot in the Middle East it is impossible for me to move to the. United states where i be never lived before customs a a a told me i still was t eligible for any  support. Is that True a. To make matters worse i Don t have an id card at All right now. My regular one expired in june and i did t worry too much about a new one because id planned to move to Texas in a couple of weeks. I thought id just wait until then to gel a new one made. A a what is available to me in my special situation. A Helga Clemmer Tublitz Germany Anne Matthews individual logistic support coordinator 1st personnel come replies thank you for the Opportunity to advise you on a privileges granted to family members of deployed soldiers As Well As on renewal procedures of expired id cards during the sponsors absence. A. Under current policy the following procedures Are in effect a a a a family members of sponsors who deploy with a Usa eur unit to saudi Arabia will keep full privileges for the. Duration of the sponsor s deployment. A a family members of sponsors Quot pc sing from Usa eur to a .-based unit who then deploy to or meet up with their .-based unit in saudi Arabia May also keep full privileges for the duration of the sponsors deployment Quot. A. A family members who  remain in Usa eur after the sponsor s pcs permanent change of station move to the United states May keep full support for up to 90 Days after the sponsor s move. After 90 Days support for the unaccompanied family members i limited to the following items ,. A. V 1 armed forces recreation facilities. A. 2 army continuing education system. 3 department of defense dependents schools. 4 Legal assistance. 5 local morale and welfare recreation services. 6 medical and dental services. 7 mortuary services. A. 8 quartermaster laundry and dry cleaning services. A 9 transient billets limited. A a a v. V a if the sponsor is transferred to a Short or restricted area from his . Assignment at a later Date which v seems to be your situation the family members receive ail items above plus the following a. 1 commissary  items privileges 2 cafes Europe facilities excluding rationed items. 3 class i excluding rationed items a / a family members in this category must apply for a German customs certificate at the 42nd my group their id card will be Over stamped  the to cards of family members whose sponsors Are deployed to hostile environments May be renewed at any personnel service Center pc. The verifying activities at the pc will assist in preparing the application and. Advise on required documentation. A a to write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available if you a have a question and done to know where to turn for the. Answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes Apo 09211-4211. All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Page 16 a the stars and stripes wednesday april 17, 1991