European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 17, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday december 17, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 5stealthy b-2 poses quandary for air Force by Robert Burns the associated press Washington a the air Force is reconsidering How Stealthy its b-2 stealth bomber needs to be now that the main threats it was designed to overcome a the Warsaw pact and the soviet Union a have disintegrated. No final decisions have been made but the Mere existence of such an air Force study adds a new twist a the a state Over the b-2 program which began in 198f but still is in the Early stages of testing and production. Some Independent analysts say the air Force is going overboard on stealth buying More of the radar evading capability than the b-2 reasonably can be expected to need. A the receding threat ought to change the requirements for stealth investment said John Foster chairman of the defense science Board which advises defense Secretary Dick Cheney on scientific matters. The b-2s, costing a projected s865 million apiece Are the most expensive air planes Ever built. Pressure is growing in Congress to Stop production after the 15 planes now on order Are built. The Bush administration is arguing the need for 75 of the aircraft. In the 1992 defense Bill signed by president Bush on dec. 6, Congress rejected the administration s request to buy the 16th through 20th stealth bombers. One of the arguments used by b-2 opponents was the plane s failure in a july 26 test to demonstrate its required degree of stealth. After the air Force publicly disclosed the failure in september it began analysing whether it makes economic sense to stick to the original stealth requirement according to maj. Gen. Stephen b. Croker who oversees the b-2 acquisition program. The value of stealth the air Force says is that it provides an unprecedented degree of Confidence that manned bombers could penetrate sophisticated air defences anywhere in the world with relatively Little risk of being shot Down. Stealth is a matter of degree though. It can be a Little or a lot. The air Force says the b-2 already is far More capable of evading radar than the f-117a fighter bomber used so effectively against Iraq. But the b-2 is far from having demonstrated that it will be As Stealthy As originally advertised. The question is does it need to be that Stealthy Given the vast changes in the world since the b-2�?Ts requirements were set a decade ago How much stealth can the nation afford to buy Given competing needs for Federal dollars Quot the problem with trying to answer those questions in the View of the air Force is that it brings up a related More troubling question is the b-2"needed at All a a also by discussing the possibility of lowering the official Standard for b-2 radar evading capabilities the air Force fears it May give the impression that it is looking for an excuse not to resolve the aircraft s july stealth test failure. Croker said corrective work on the stealth problem is under Way and that for political reasons it is essential that the air Force find and demonstrate a solution. Quot there is an element of distrust Quot on Capitol Hill when it comes to air Force claims about its products Croker said. The concern that the air Force won t live up to its promises is a not wholly undeserved Quot he conceded. Even if the stealth flaw is fixed the air Force s new study May determine that the degree of stealth Ness originally sought is no longer Worth the Cost. A Given future missions How much stealth is enough Quot Croker said in an interview last week in his Pentagon office. In the stars and strikes 10years ago dec. 17,1981 a the soviet Union sent transport planes to Poland to Back up the martial Law regime but the aircraft were loaded with food not troops or military supplies a soviet source said in Moscow. The source also said that the soviets Are pleased with Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski a Quot decisive action to break strikes that erupted in poland.20 years ago dec. 17,1971 a Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi announced that pakistanis forces have surrendered unconditionally in East Pakistan and added that she is declaring a unilateral cease fire on the Western front. 30years ago dec. 17,1961 a More than 150 marching singing Blacks were arrested As they staged their fifth anti segregation demonstration in five Days in Albany a. Among those arrested were the Rev. Martin Luther King or. Of Atlanta president of the Southern Christian leadership conference.40 years ago dec. 17,1951 a pan american airways ground Crew and flight personnel struck to support their demand for a pay raise. Airports in new York Miami san Francisco and Seattle were among those affected by the strike. World War 50 years ago today 17 dec. 1-9-4-1 two More japanese divisions begin Landing in Mataya to strengthen the offensive aimed at Singapore the major British Island base off the Southern tip of the Peninsula. Adm. Nimitz is named new commander of the . Pacific Fleet. Housewife s 1 person Campaign puts thousands Back in champs St. Petersburg Fla. A armed with Only a typewriter and a Telephone Terry Cox took on Congress and closed a loophole that had left her husband and thousands of other disabled veterans without military health coverage. A i would never have thought that one person could make a difference a Cox said. A but in be always believed that if you re going to moan and groan about something you a better not do it from the  a i know individuals can make things happen in government a said sen. Bob Graham a Fla. A i know because she did  it took More than a year of writing calling and frankly pestering every member of Congress before winning adoption of legislation that plugs the loophole and restores military insurance benefits through age 65 to about 9,100 disabled vets. The measure was part of a military spending Bill that president Bush signed earlier this month. A a in a Happy but ill never get Back what i lost a said Cox who became bankrupt and had to sell her Home in order to provide for her husbands care. It began in 1987 when her husband retired army staff sgt. Andy Cox fell from a ladder and suffered head injuries that left him a quadriplegic unable to speak or even Swallow. Now 54, he remains bedridden and almost motionless. His military sponsored health insurance covered his round the clock care a while it lasted. A Little known provision in the 1972 Law governing the civilian health and medical program of the uniformed services or champs said that if totally disabled patients require continuous medical care for longer than two years or reach age 65, they Are turned Over to medicare the government subsidized health care plan. But medicare has limited provisions for Home care and none for Cox since his Case is termed  Quot you get to keep your health insurance so Long As you stay healthy a that a just not right a Cox said. Quot my husband served his country for 22 years and was always promised his country would take care of him. I was going to see to it they kept that  at first her protests fell on deaf cars. A i was told again and again it s the Law. There a nothing you can do about  she fired off letters to president Bush congressmen senators and military officials asking that the Law be changed to allow her husband Back in champs. Finally the office of rep. Bill Young r-Fla., drafted legislation to plug the loophole. Cox then went through an alphabetical listing of every member of Congress in a phone and mail Campaign to get co sponsors for the Bill. Quot a congressman asked me once How one of his colleagues stands on the Issue Quot Cox said. Quot had to say 1 done to know Yel his name begins with a and in a Only up to the of Quot i must have visited about 2 h congressional offices Quot said Cox. A they would always ask me a so what organization arc you with a i guess they weren to used to just an Ordinary housewife dropping by. A it was an educating process for congressmen and senators a Cox added. Quot the thing we ran into is they did no to believe such a loophole could exist. It could t happen. We had to say it does happen a it has  More than 130 co sponsors eventually signed on to the House Bill. Just before thanksgiving the Senate passed the 1992 defense spending Bill with $20 million allocated for disabled retirees in champs Cox a next goal is to work for legislation to extend champs coverage to military retirees for life not just through age 65. Quot in be still got my list of congressmen to Call a she said. Quot its the Only Way i know How to do  ruptured silicone breast implant nets woman record $7.34 million source world almanac Book of world War Bison books corp. 1981 a san Francisco a a Federal court jury has awarded $7.34 million to a woman after finding that her Dow Corning silicone breast implant had ruptured causing a painful permanent immune system disease. The six member jury found that the implant was designed and manufactured defectively. It also found that Dow Corning corp. Had failed to warn the woman of the risks of the device had breached its warranty and had committed fraud. The jury on Friday awarded Mariann Hopkins of Sebastopol calif., $840,000 for economic losses and pain and $6.5 million in punitive damages. Hopkins lawyer Dai Bolton said the award was the largest Ever of the four breast implant cases held in the United states so far. It exceeds the previous record of $5.4 million awarded by a jury in Alabama against another company this fall. A lawyer for Dow Corning the nations largest implant manufacturer said the Midland  company will Appeal the verdict. The verdict was the latest setback for the breast implant Industry. The food and drug administration is reviewing the safety of the devices after telling the four . Manufacturers that the test data they have thus far submitted Are inadequate. Hopkins a College Secretary had both breasts removed in 1976 after a diagnosis of potentially cancerous tutors. She had the silicone gel devices implanted the following year after reconstructive surgery. Bolton said Hopkins began experiencing extreme fatigue later that year. She was diagnosed in 1979 with an immune disease called mixed connective tissue disorder. The lawyer said the disease is irreversible and causes severe swelling and severe pain of the joints and Muscles. Hopkins who can no longer hold a Job said she has been in and out of the Hospital for 15 years. She said she must take an injection of Iron into her Bone marrow once a year because her system cannot absorb Iron. The suit contended that the disease was caused by a leak of silicone gel and that Dow Corning had knowingly misrepresented the implant As tested and Safe. Company lawyers said there was no evidence linking the disease to the implants. They also said Downs package inserts warn of the possibility of implant rupture and the potential for silicone to enter the Lymph system