European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a the stars and stripes Friday september 13, 199114 die in Texas commuter Jet crash Eagle Lake Texas apr the Fri joined the investigation into the crash of a commuter plane that witnesses said went Down after a fiery explosion blew off a Wing. All 14 people aboard were killed authorities said. Fri spokesman Charles Kearney would not say what the Agency was looking for. Witnesses said they heard a loud bang and saw a fireball before the twin engine Continental express plane crashed wednesday in a Cornfield about 75 Miles West of Houston. Wreckage was scattered Over four Miles of Farmland. One Wing Lay beside the fuselage the other was hundreds of Yards away along the Colorado River. One engine landed about 200 Yards from the scorched fuselage which was missing most of its top and much of both sides. Continental express president Stephen Kolski said claims of an explosion were unconfirmed. Spokesman Richard Dan Forth said the airline received no threats before the crash. In addition to Fri agents officials from the Federal aviation administration and the National transportation safety Board began searching through the wreckage thursday. The brazilian made Emhraer-120, in route from Laredo had begun its descent to Houston s intercontinental Airport when it disappeared from radar screens while at an Altitude of ii,8 h feet Kolski said. The weather was Clear and the Pilot had reported no difficulties Faa spokesman Roger Myers said. Those killed included 11 passengers two pilots and a Light attendant authorities said. State trooper Jake Sanchez said the bodies were burned beyond recognition. The victims identities were not authorities Check the wreckage of a commuter air plane that crashed in a Cornfield near Eagle Lake Texas on wednesday. Immediately released. The plane also known As the Brasilia is the same Model As one that crashed in april near Brunswick ga., killing former sen. John Tower astronaut Manley a a Sonny Carterjr. And 21 others. That plane was operated by Atlantic Southeast airlines a commuter Carrier affiliated with Delta air lines. The Nosb discovered a propeller defect on that plane. The Faa ordered inspections on aircraft with similar propellers to Check for worn parts that could cause pilots to lose control of the propeller. Kolski said the Continental express planets propeller was checked and no defect was found. He said the 3 /2-year-old aircraft had logged 7,229 hours and had no mechanical problems. The plane had a a heavy maintenance inspection last november he said the Houston based wholly owned subsidiary of Continental airlines has 34 Embraer-120s, including the one that crashed in its Fleet of 101 Turboprop aircraft. The Embraer-120 can carry 33 people. Both the Pilot and the co Pilot were qualified As captains and had a combined 15,000 flying hours the airline said. It was not known who was at the controls at the time of the  found to Cut women s heart disease risk Boston apr oestrogen pills can reduce the risk of heart disease in older women so dramatically that the benefits outweigh the increased chances of breast and uterine cancer a new study says. About 20 percent of Post menopausal american women use the female hormone which eases hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause. The study found that women who used oestrogen after menopause also Cut their risk of serious heart disease by half. If More women took oestrogen a it would translate into Many Lens of thousands of premature deaths that could be postponed Quot said or. Meir stumper of Brigham and women s Hospital in Boston the principal author of the study. Despite its Many proponents the use of oestrogen is still controversial in part because it can raise the risk of breast and uterine cancer. However drs. Lee Goldman and Anna . Tosteson wrote in an editorial in thursday s new England journal of Medicine that a Small reduction in a common disease is much More significant than a Large increase in a rare one. Heart disease is the no. I killer of older women. Diseases of the heart and circulatory system kill nearly 500.0 h women annually twice As Many As die of cancer. Oestrogen probably works by its effect on cholesterol. The hormone increases Levels of High density Lipoprotein cholesterol the so called Good cholesterol while lowering Levels of dangerous Low density Lipoprotein cholesterol. But Goldman and Tosteson both Are doctors at Brigham and women a said oestrogen raises the risk of breast cancer 30 percent and increases the Chance of uterine cancer sixfold. States assailed on drinking Laws by the Washington Post Washington a the minimum drinking age of 21 adopted by the Federal government seven years ago is a largely a myth Quot because state Laws enacted to enforce it Are a riddled with loopholes laxity and lip service a surgeon general Antonia c. Novelo said wednesday. The National minimum drinking age act of 1984 required All states to raise their minimum Purchase and Possession age to 21 or face a reduction in Federal Highway funds. Novelo said that no state has been sanctioned in part because the Federal legislation allows for exceptions which the states have widened into a huge  she released a 50-state Survey of state alcoholic beverage control and enforcement officials which found that a All 50 states and the District of Columbia have Laws that prohibit sales to minors but five states and the District do not make it illegal for minors to buy alcohol. Instead they make it illegal for a minor to use false identification or otherwise misrepresent his or her age. Thus minors can a a shop for a Vendor or store that does t ask for an id Novelo said. A penalties against vendors and minors Are nominal and rarely invoked. Many states have Cut their staffs for enforcing underage drinking Laws. A Possession of alcoholic beverages by minors is Legal in 38 states through exceptions provided in Federal Law. Exceptions include when a minor is in a private residence. Club or establishment or when a minor is accompanied by a Parent spouse or guardian older than 21. Novelo said this exception makes it difficult for police to raid Quot Kegger parties that have become a Staple of teen age entertainment in Many communities. A forty four states allow minors to sell alcohol without adult supervision. An earlier Survey found that 3.5 million teen agers regularly Purchase alcohol from stores with Young clerks and almost 3 million Purchase alcohol from stores where they know the clerk. A store owners need to know that youths Are under a lot of study favors hospitals for treating alcoholics by the Washington Post Hospital treatment for employees with alcohol problems May be much More effective than previously believed according to a study by Boston University and Harvard Public health researchers. Since the mid-1980s, the preponderance of medical evidence has indicated that alcohol abusing patients tend to fare about the same whether they receive conventional 21 or 28-Day inpatient treatment or Short term outpatient care. As a result Many insurers have begun to restrict payments for hospitalization. But a study of 227 workers at a general electric Plant in Massachusetts published thursday in the new England journal of Medicine found the opposite. Employees were randomly assigned to one of three regimens compulsory 21-Day inpatient programs compulsory attendance at alcoholics Anonymous meetings or a Choice of treatment options. After two years of follow up monitoring the inpatient group showed much greater improvement in drinking behaviour and Job performance. In addition Over 24 months the Cost of treating the inpatient group proved to be Only 10 percent higher than the a Only and Choice groups. Pressure to sell to other youths a he report quotes a stale official As saying. Novelo urged states to join the 27 that revoke or suspend Driver s licenses for Youthful offenders. She also urged them to enact Quot dram shop Quot Laws that allow suits against people who provide alcoholic beverages to minors a 23 states have such Laws a and to use sting operations to deter vendors