European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday september 16, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 3640 special athletes visit Alconbury by Meridith Winder Bureau Raf Alconbury England with cheers and applause from spectators and participants Dennis Hilson raced around the track saturday carrying the Torch to Light the flame to kick off the 1991 special olympics at Raf Alconbury. Hilson represented More than 640 athletes from the Cambridge area who participated in the third olympics for the disabled held at the air base. The event was designed primarily for the British teams from this Region but it Drew the unexpected entry of a team from Heidelberg Germany. A they were visiting a local school and decided to come on out a said Margie Mazor games director and project officer for this years olympics. A they have about 15 people Mazor acknowledged that she was worried about How the Day was going to turn out especially since it is her first year being in charge. A a in be been walking around since eight this morning nearly pulling my hair out a she said. A but everything a worked out Fine and everybody a enjoying has been a part of the program since it started but Only became the top person after Maggie Mast left. A Maggie was the one who came up with the idea to try and set up a program on Alconbury a Mazor said. Mast enlisted the help of several of the base personnel to organize the first olympics committee on the base. It. Col. Mai Heindel Alconbury a Deputy base commander said of Mast a Osne built the program from scratch. She contacted the . Special olym pics committee on her own and after she got the go ahead she came to the base for this years budget is nearly $15,000, Heindel said. The Money was raised from donations from private off base companies and fund raising activities by units on the base. Almost every sector of the base is involved in the festivities. Events were held at the bases track football and soccer Fields and the gymnasium. Athletes from All age groups participated in such events As running walking High jump Long jump standing Broad jump baseball toss and shot put. Bowling and soccer clinics were also held and the youth Center was the site of a disco and face painting. Mazor said a we get new athletes Here and act As a training and recruiting Camp. This is the initial step to higher Levels of Mazor said it takes a lot of work to put this program together. For instance officials have to match up 640 athletes to events without the Aid of a computer. A we also have to find buddies for each one of the participants a she said. The buddies stay with the athletes throughout the Day directing them to the events and helping in anyway necessary. A the first couple of years we had to search for buddies on the Day of the olympics a Mazor added. A but this year we actually have More than we can the Effort has a Reward she said. A to see the end result is beyond words a she said. A just look at the expressions on their faces. Its a great . African peace pact signed amid violence Johannesburg South Africa apr Black and White leaders on saturday signed a treaty to end political violence As 3,000 armed Zulu protesters rallied outside and at least 15 people were reportedly killed in another spate of factional violence. The zulus members of the inkatha Freedom party refused a police request to give up their clubs Spears and Shields As they danced and chanted outside the downtown hotel where the leaders met. Police and soldiers ringed the demonstrators. Police said the deaths came Friday night and saturday in fighting in Black townships around Johannesburg. President . De Klerk african National Congress president Nelson Mandela inkatha Leader mangos thu Buthe Levi and other political religious and civic leaders signed the pact. A we dedicate ourselves to ending the Specter of terror in the lives of our people a Mandela said after signing the pact. But the Anc and others expressed doubts it would end the strife. The agreement is meant to Stem violence by setting up strict monitoring controls and outlining standards for political conduct. It forbids provocative statements or actions promotes political tolerance and sets codes of conduct for political parties and the Security forces. A i believe that today is a historic Day. The eyes of All South africans yearning for peace Are upon us. We dare not fail them a de Klerk told the conference. Pro apartheid White political groups however boycotted the meeting and some militant Black groups also said they would not sign. Mandela in a speech saturday that was interrupted several times by applause said the Anc the largest Black opposition group had serious doubts about the pact but would sign for the Nelson Mandela president . De Klerk and mangos thu Buthel Czi prepare to shake hands after signing a peace pact saturday. Sake of peace. He did not spell out the Ancus reservations. But Elezi the inkatha Leader said he saw no reason Why the pact would succeed where others failed. But he said he would sign a to be. Part of the peace the pact arranged by Church and civic leaders is intended to end a wave of political violence that has claimed More than 6,000 lives in recent years. Leaders on All sides agree the violence must end if a Multi racial democracy is to be constructed. But Many observers doubt the new Accord can end the violence. The government and the Anc reached a cease fire in August 1990, and Mandela and but Elezi agreed to peace terms in january. In both instances the violence raged on. The new peace pact is seen As an important test of the ability of the main political groups to work together. Never before have the National party the african National Congress and inkatha reached an agreement. Police on sunday reported two overnight deaths in township fighting near Johannesburg. The unrest report also said four people were injured in a grenade attack East of the City. Police said there was no additional trouble reported As of midday sunday and the townships appeared less tense than at any time since the violence erupted sept. 8.surgeon stresses value of baby Organ donations Pittsburgh apr babies Are some of the Best candidates for heart transplants because their immature immune systems accept organs More easily but there Arentt enough tiny hearts coming from donors a surgeon says. Or. Leonard Bailey said physicians May be timid about suggesting Organ removal to grieving parents of brain dead infants whose hearts and other organs could be saved. But if asked Many parents would be willing to approve donation of their child a organs he said. A a there a a significant Reward in knowing that one or two other babies May be doing Well because of their baby a Bailey said. A a doctor is remiss if he does no to offer parents that Bailey director of heart lung surgery at Loma Linda University medical Center near los Angeles performed the worlds first successful heart transplant on an infant in 1985. Transplants can save babies from several life threatening heart defects. Most common is Hyp plastic left heart syndrome a group of defects responsible for one fourth of All deaths in the first week of life. Babies with the syndrome rarely live beyond the first weeks. Since the 1985 transplant 116 children less than a month old have received heart transplants worldwide including 47 last year said the International society for heart and lung transplantation a registry in san Diego. But some paediatricians Arentt willing to present the procedure As an option said or. F. Jay Fricker a professor of paediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh a medical school. He said data on survival rates in infant transplants Are limited and physicians May see More Good in giving an adult a More years of life than in saving a Newborn who could die in a years. With a transplant a a 45-year-old Man. Can live to be 50 and see his kids graduate from College a Fricker said. Last week 47 children less than a year old were among the 2,128 people awaiting heart transplants in the United states according to the United network for Organ sharing in Richmond a. Babies Are More vulnerable to infections. But doctors said infant bodies accept organs More easily because their immune systems were suppressed in the womb. Bailey said that characteristic continues for about one month after birth. A a that a so they done to reject mom and vice transplants Cost about $150,000 the first year of care costs an additional $25,000
