European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes saturday july 13 1991 Robert Polhill fighting for causes. Indianapolis apr a year after being released from Captivity former Middle East hostage Robert Polhill entered another kind of prison he lost his a a try. 1 voice to Throat cancer. Now thanks to a mechanical voice Box Polhill is talking again and he has taken to the lecture circuit speaking out for medical science and for those who remain hostages in Lebanon. Polhill an accounting teacher at Beirut University College was taken hostage by shiite Muslim extremists on Jan. 24, 1987, and held for More than three years. Three weeks after his release the longtime smoker Learned he had cancer. Surgeons removed his voice Box a month later and therapists taught him How to talk by swallowing air but then his Throat Muscles tightened up. Polhill a speech during an appearance on Good morning America in March was so poor that his wife Ferial had to translate. Or. Eric Blom an Indianapolis speech pathologist watched Polhill struggling and offered him a advanced voice prosthesis he invented with or. Marc i. Singer of the University of California at san Francisco. The Blom Singer device is a surgically inserted two Way valve that enables people who have had their Laryn xes removed to speak naturally. The device costs about $15 and lasts about three months. I health technologies of Santa Barbara calif., which manufactures the device is giving Polhill a lifetime Supply. The Blom Singer device Isnit the first voice prosthesis but most of the others had one Way valves that required users to place a Finger Over a Hole in their Throat to speak. North Carolina leads in Rise of tick borne disease cases Atlanta apr potentially deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever carried by ticks was up nationwide last year. But Lyme disease a More common tick borne disease which can cause heart damage was Down. The nation reported 649 spotted fever cases in 1990, up from 603 the year before the National centers for disease control said thursday. Nearly half the cases a 45 percent a occurred in the South Atlantic Region with 178 cases in North Carolina alone. Fifteen deaths were confirmed. A two of the three other states with High incidence rates a Tennessee and South Carolina a Border on North Carolina suggesting a possible resurgence of cases in this area a the cd said. Tennessee reported 58 cases while South Carolina reported 43. Oklahoma had the nations second largest Case count with 70. The report did not speculate on the cause of the increase in spotted fever cases or Why reported cases of Lyme disease decreased 9 percent last year. But researchers said different ticks Are responsible for the diseases. The numbers of different ticks a and the diseases a can Rise and fall on different cycles they said. The cd advises people who live of work in tick prone places such As wooded areas to Wear protective clothing and use tick repellent. Lyme disease is most common in the Northeast and Midwest while Rocky Mountain spotted fever is most common in the Southeast. Both diseases can cause fever rash and flu like symptoms. Easier phoning for disabled ordered Washington a the Federal communications commission has ordered the nations Long distance Telephone companies to provide improved service for hearing and speech impaired people to communicate by phone. Although some service is in place there has been no nationwide Standard said Linda Dubroff of the acc. A it s a Patchwork quilt a a Dubroff said thursday. Devices commonly in use allow people with specialized equipment to communicate by phone a but Only with someone having compatible equipment. Under thursdays acc order people with hearing and speech disabilities could communicate with a hearing person by typing messages that a trained operator would then relay. A Callas contents would be confidential. The companies have until the Middle of 1993 to provide the services which must be the a functional equivalent of services for those without hearing or speaking disabilities the acc said. The commission was required to impose the order by the americans with disabilities act of 1990. Under the commissions rules Long distance companies May not charge More for the Calls than they do for regular voice Calls. But the panel did not Settle the Issue of who should pick up the extra Cost that the phone companies will incur for handling the Calls. At amp to the Only Long distance Carrier to immediately respond to the commissions action said that while it supports the idea a How to fund this provision is the Issue  at amp to said the Cost of the service should be spread among All phone users. The commission will seek additional Public comment on that proposal. Acc May rethink to Industry regulations Washington apr the Federal communications commission will undertake an extensive examination of the rules that govern television broadcasting including station ownership. The five member panel voted thursday to ask for Public input on the changing to environment expressing concerns that the pc cd a rules May no longer reflect the Industry a circumstances. The acc will seek comment on whether it should discard rules that prohibit a single owner from having More than one station of the same Type in the same Market and that bar to stations from owning Cable systems. The lat Ter change would require congressional action. Televisions changing environment includes increased Competition for network and Independent Staj Tion to from Cable and satellite stations and technological advances that could be a Boon to to stations and the networks. One of the new technologies stations Hope to use in their Battle against table and satellite is digital signal compression which would allow As Many As four or five signals to be broadcast on a single Channel. That Means viewers in an area with three to stations could choose from As Many As 12 to 15 programs. Voice Polhill underwent the operation three weeks ago at the International Center for Post Laynge Tomy voice rehabilitation at methodist Hospital. Blom and a surgeon conducted a test beforehand to hear How Polhill a voice would sound. A before the test not one sound came out of my Throat a Polhill said. A then. All of a sudden i was  i Hadnot heard my voice in so Long i did no to know what to shy a he recalled in a recent phone interview from his Home in Arlington a. A it. Was an emotional moment just to hear him counting from one to 10,�?� his wife said. Polhill is spreading the word about voice restoration. He plans to address the july 27 convention of the International association of  in Winnipeg Manitoba. A diabetic he also makes appearances on behalf of the american diabetes association. A i feel the same responsibility toward cancer victims that i feel toward diabetes patients a he said. A i feel that because of my prior experiences i have a responsibility. To get the word out that this can be  since his release from Captivity Polhill also has worked to draw attention to 13 westerners a including Terry Anderson chief Middle East correspondent for the associated press and five other americans a still held in Lebanon. A i  Call it a debt a he said a but. Our names carry weight and influence and we owe it to the hostages who Are left and to people who suffer the same kind of afflictions that we do.firm s gasoline touted As pollution reducing from wire reports los Angeles a Atlantic Richfield co. Said thursday it has developed a gasoline that will reduce pollutants by More than a third. The new fuel dubbed eco can be burned in any Model car said Rodwrick m. Cook Arco chairman and chief executive officer. If used by All Gas powered cars and trucks vehicle emissions would be reduced by about 1,900 tons per Day the equivalent of taking nearly one in three cars off the states roads Cook said. The. New fuel would Cost 16 cents a gallon More than current unleaded Gas. Whether its produced will depend on the strictness of air Quality standards to be adopted by the California air resources Board this year a we can to produce and Market eco unless the rest of the Industry is held to the same standards a Cook said. A gunman killed in Texas Pasadena Texas a a gunman who killed a police officer and held a neighbor hostage for nearly 20 hours fatally shot himself thursday. The woman was unharmed. Marvin Harris 40, was found dead of a gunshot wound in Jean Lina a Home after the woman walked out of the House. Harris fatally shot officer Jeff Ginn 29, after the patrolman drove into the Pasadena neighbourhood wednesday to respond to a Call about smoke coming from Harris Home officers said. Ginn died at a Hospital from gunshot wounds to the head and Chest police said a family member said Harris had been diagnosed As a schizophrenic. Before the standoff ended authorities Cut electricity to the House As temperatures climbed into the 90s. Police also blasted loud music and sirens about every 10 minutes to keep Harris awake As they negotiated with him by  chief selected Washington a president Bush on thursday named John Giffen Weinmann the current . Ambassador to Finland As his chief of protocol. P the protocol chiefs duties include a providing hospitality for visiting foreign dignitaries. Supervising the details of diplomatic immunities that exempt members of the diplomatic corps from . Laws and taxes. A attending to the details of presidential trips