European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 5, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 a the stars and stripes saturday october 5, 1991 rage o a i it o i Annj mime o i Riu i a a gos sipers jump on bin Dwigon study notes a in the  turned out to be the first i new York apr researchers say they have found one explanation for Why gossip tends to be so Nasty a and its not just that its More fun that Way. Instead they blame the Way gossip unfolds in group conversation. Once one disparaging comment is made the Structure of the conversation encourages further cutting remarks while severely limiting the Chance to Challenge the criticism researchers found. In fact the study suggests that if a participant wants to Stop the criticism a a you be got to jump in real quickly and Challenge the first disparaging remark immediately said study co author Donna Eder. A then it becomes More of a discussion of that person and their pros and cons rather than a fully negative  the study focused on adolescents who Are More prone than adults to disparage other people behind their backs Eder said. But once an initial criticism is made among adults the Structure of gossip probably promotes further disparagement in the same Way she said. The adolescents in the study were White and Eder said the relevance of the research to other ethnic groups is not Clear. Eder an associate professor of sociology at Indiana University in Bloomington reports the work in the August Issue of the american sociological review with Janet Enke a visiting professor of sociology at the University of  negativism is in the very Structure of gossip researcher Jack Levin the study is an important contribution that a definitely adds to our knowledge of gossip and in particular Why gossip turns negative a said sociologist and gossip researcher Jack Levin of northeastern University in Boston. People usually blame negativism in gossip on a some personality blemish in people who gossip like the need for revenge a he said. A but what these investigators find instead is that the negativism is in the very Structure of gossip. I mean you can pretty much count on it.�?�. Levin said the finding pertains Only to gossip done in the absence of the target. Researchers Analysed 16 conversations from 11 groups of Middle school students Ages 10 to 14. They focused on a a evaluative gossip in which a positive or negative evaluation of somebody not present was followed by a response from another student. Most initial evaluations were criticisms and a key step in the conversations turned out to be the first response to the disparaging remark. This was the Only time such a remark was challenged researchers said i the first response supported the disparagement instead it appeared to Block any further Chance for a Challenge they found. A a it a perhaps easier to have a conflict or a disagreement with one person than it is to have a disagreement with what appears to be a group consensus a Eder explained in a Telephone interview. Only four challenges were noted in the 16 conversations. On the other hand there was abundant Opportunity to join in the disparagement As the conversations proceeded. Even students who barely knew the target or who had previously appeared to have different viewpoints sometimes jumped on the bandwagon researchers found. A gossip is pretty easy to participate in. You done to have to know a Story that involves this person you done to have to have insulting skills a Eder said. People like to join in these conversations because it makes them feel part of the group Eder said. And since the Structure of gossip gives Only a fleeting Chance to disagree an initial criticism but lots of Opportunity to support it it encourages More criticism she said. That might explain Why people who really done to want to put somebody else Down do it anyway and it May also make the disparaging opinion seem More widely shared than it realty is Eder said. Sex educator elected Memphis first Black mayor Memphis Tenn. A former school superintendent Willie Crenton won by 172 votes to become the City s first elected Black mayor replacing two term incumbent Richard Hackett. A this Victory tonight represents a new beginning for Memphis a said Yerenton who promised to do More than his predecessors for social programs and Public schools. A we Haven to been inspired like this since the civil rights movement of the �?T60s,&Quot Yerenton told Campaign workers As the final votes were counted Early Friday. Yerenton received 122,585 votes or 49.45 percent to 122,413 for Hackett or 49.38. The tabulation came Down to a hand count of 8,130 Absentee ballots. Perennial candidate Robert Hodges 44, who claims to be from a planet he called Cambodia received 2,921 votes. A routine audit of totals will be conducted before the Shelby county election commission certifies the vote total oct. 14, said commission chairman . Pleasant. The requirement for a Runoff if no candidate receives More than 50 percent was done away with this year by a Federal court which ruled that runoffs have been used in Memphis to discriminate against Blacks. In Memphis where 55 percent of the 610,000 residents Are Black Blacks outnumbered Whites by a slim margin in voter registration this year for the first time. Yerenton 51, grew up in poverty and attended segregated Memphis schools. He worked his Way through College to become a teacher and earned a doctorate in education. He retired As superintendent of schools in june after 12 years. Hackett 42, ran on his reputation As an administrator who can attract business. He described himself As a a steady hand in changing  Yerenton described Memphis As a a mean spirited City that puts too much emphasis on tourism and business and too Little on social programs and schools which Are 80 percent Black. % deep breathing out in this class Lansing Mich. A a deep breathing exercise has been dropped from a Model health class because some parents complained that it promotes mysticism and undermines christianity. Other stress management techniques will be substituted for Calm breathing during which students take several deep breaths to relieve stress said Don Ben Sweeney spokesman for the Michigan Model for comprehensive health education. A people will come and Tesi Ity like mad that it creates out of body experiences and undermines christianity most of which we just never understood As being a realistic concern a Sweeney said wednesday. Sweeney said the breathing exercise will be replaced by techniques like counting to 10 and resting ones head on the desk lie said instructors still May suggest a couple of deep breaths. Rep. Harold Ford Rightd-Tenn., joins mayor elect Willie Yerenton at Celebration. Sex Boeing worker claims in suit he was fired Over b-2 episode t. .1 a _ it 1 a. A a. C to. A a. J w. Seattle apr a scientist on thursday sued the Boeing co., charging he was unjustly fired for pursuing work on radar technology that could be used to detect the radar evading b-2 stealth bomber. Terence Barrett contends Boeing stifled his research last year because it did not want to upset the air Force or jeopardize the project. Barrett a British born scientist who specializes in impulse radar was fired in october 1991. Barrett said his superiors at Boeing ordered him not to say anything about the potential problem while Boeing and the air Force lobbied Congress to authorize construction of More b-2s. Boeing is a major contractor on the project to build the Bat winged bomber which has special fuselage coatings to absorb radar signals and is shaped to reduce reflections of radar Back to the transmitter. Barrettes civil suit filed in King county Superior court seeks unspecified damages for among other things lost wages and emotional distress. Boeing spokesman Tom Koehler on thursday denied the Seattle based company Ever stifled Barrett. A the company never put any undue pressure on or. Barrett to withhold information about this radar to the air Force or anyone else a Koehler said. He declined to say Why Barrett was fired or discuss other allegations in the suit. Bill Dunne Boeing bomber product line manager said the radar technology Barrett was involved with might be Able to detect stealth technology. But he said a special air Force team last year concluded no one had the capability a now or in the foreseeable future to a defeat Quot stealth. But last month air Force Secretary Donald Rice announced that the b-2 Quot did not meet the desired Levels of performance a after it appeared on radar during a test flight. Barrett said Boeing hired him in Jan Saiy 1990 to work on impulse radar which detects objects by bouncing off them a very Short intense wide frequency radio signal. Unlike conventional radar which emits much larger pulses and is Best at detecting the presence of an object the smaller pulses emitted by impulse radar can distinguish parts of an object. Barrett said Boeing fired him after he wrote a letter to the defense advanced research projects Agency a which oversees Federal Money for military research a challenging the findings of a Darpa advisory committee. That committee found that impulse radar could be used for Short to medium Range purposes. But Barrett said the panel intentionally ignored the technology a potential Long Range applications a such As detecting b-2 bombers