European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a the stars and stripes saturday december 28, 1991 parents increasingly Send children to private schools bos i on apr William and Mary Donovan tapped into their sixth graders College fund to Send him to a private school reasoning that his Chance of getting into College was imperilled by overcrowding in his Public school. Jan Holbrook of Las Colinas Texas took a full time Job so she could enrol her three children in private schools fearing violence and drug use in Public schools. Even in the midst of a recession a growing number of parents Are abandoning Public education for expensive private schools. A i have Only one Chance to give my kids an education a Holbrook said. A i can to take a Chance putting them somewhere where they can to get the Best. And the Public schools Don t do that any  educators said Public school cutbacks in Art music athletics and advanced academic programs not to mention classroom crowding violence and drugs Are driving parents to spend As much As $17,500 a year on private education. Most parents say crowded classrooms Are a key incentive for selecting private schools. The average student teacher ratio in Public schools is 17-1. In private schools its 9-1, said the National Center for education statistics a division of the . Department of education. Private school applications Are up As much As 33 percent this year Over last year in some areas of the nation even As the number of school age children in most grades fell. Catholic parochial schools Are not included private schools Here Are some figures about private schools in the United states a private school enrolment excluding roman Catholic parochial schools increased 38 percent from 1981 to 1991 from about 2.4 million about 3.3 million students. A the student teacher ratio in private schools is 9-t compared with 17-1 in Public schools. A the average private school tuition is.$6,400. Tuition for private boarding school ranges to $17,500. A thirteen percent of private school students Are minorities. A thirty six percent of private school parents earn less than $50,000 a Yean a amps in that number their enrolment has declined primarily in inner cities. The number of students in non Catholic private schools has increased 38 percent in the past decade from about 2.4 million in 1981 to about 3.3 million this year the National Center for education statistics said. The average private school tuition is $6,400 a year. Many parents of private school students sacrifice to pay tuition 36 percent earn less than $50,000 a year said the National association of Independent schools. Law affecting military academies unfair to graduates officials say air Force Academy Colo. A a new Law that will require air Force Academy graduates to compete for a regular commission with other officer training graduates is unfair and May Hurt recruiting some observers say. Beginning with the freshman class of 1993, Academy graduates will be commissioned for one year As air Force Reserve officers instead of regular officers. The change is part of a new defense authorization Bill signed nov. 26 by president Bush. The Senate armed services committee proposed the change contending All new service Academy graduates should prove themselves first As Active duty reservists before receiving regular commissions. The change applies to graduates of the air Force Academy the . Military Academy at West Point n.y., and the . Naval Academy at Annapolis my. After serving for a year As reservists Academy graduates will compete with officer training school and Roth graduates for regular commissions. The Law assumes the three types of graduates a Are basically the same Quot an Assumption that angers Academy supporters said col. Mike Wallace air Force Academy spokesman. Retired it. Gen. Thomas Moorman a former Academy superintendent predicted the Law which takes effect oct. 1, 1996, will Hurt the Academy s recruitment program and a decrease the desirability of Young men and women to enter the  Wallace said he thinks it is unfair for Academy graduates to have to prove themselves As reservists for a year. Academy graduates Are five or six years ahead of other officer program graduates because they live a military life for four years he said. Roth graduates attend civilian universities and devote a few hours a week to military training. People with degrees from civilian colleges receive a few months of military training before graduating from officer training school. College enrolment increasing despite recession group says Washington apr Overall College enrolment continues to Rise despite the recession especially in the less expensive Community and Junior colleges the american Council on education says. Total enrolment this fall Rose in 12 states. Three states a Connecticut Minnesota and new York a recorded drops in enrolment the Council said after its Survey of 15 states. The report was issued thursday. Last year Connecticut was the Only state to report an Overall decline in the number of students. The councils Survey covered private and Public institutions. It said the 15 states surveyed constitute More than 40 percent of the nations enrolment and can be taken As a general indicator of National trends. The Council said half the nation s colleges and universities and two thirds of Public four year institutions suffered midyear cuts in their 1990-1991 operating budgets and this trend has continued into the current fiscal year. But other factors were also at work. Officials in Connecticut and new York for instance reported the number of High school graduates had declined. Rich Novak director of the Center for higher Edu cation policy and finance at the american association of state universities and colleges said however �?oa1 indications Are that we will have substantial growth ii the school age population by 1996.�?� meanwhile some states have imposed enrol Man Caps for budgetary and other reasons. Minnesota Foi example tightened Entrance requirements and limited the enrolment of undergraduates at the University o Minnesota. Novak said such limitations will make it a Tough Foi some of the fastest growing states such As California Arizona and florida.�?�. Community College enrolment increased in 14 of the 15 states surveyed with Only Connecticut recording a decline. The increases generally ranged from 3 percent to 6 percent. Louisiana posted a 21 percent gain. Periods of economic distress usually see rapid increases in two year College enrolment said Bill re inward a spokesman for the american association of Community and Junior colleges. Quot we re seeing a lot More 30-year-Olds deciding to go to school to increase their marketable skills Quot Reinhard told the Council.  of Willie Nelson hangs himself at Home from wire reports Nashville Tenn. A Billy Nelson the son of country Singer Willie Nelson hanged himself with a Cord in his Home authorities said. He was 33. A Friend found the body wednesday. The medical examiner or. Charles Harlan ruled the death a suicide. Billy Nelson the singers son from his first marriage underwent alcohol abuse treatment last year. His Mother Martha was divorced from his father in 1963 and died two years ago. Quot willies a firm believer in reincarnation. So that makes it easier to take a said Bonnie Garner a spokeswoman for Nelson. A private funeral is set for today in  stabs priest Dearborn Mich. A a priest reciting his morning prayers was stabbed thursday by a Church robber. The Rev. Ronald Green was being treated at Oakwood Hospital. Authorities said his injuries were not life threatening. Police. Found Green suffering several Chest wounds shortly before 5 . When they responded to a Call at sacred heart Church. The suspect was being sought by  fired 3 suspended Atlanta a a Hospital said on thursday it has fired a nurse and suspended three other workers amid suspicions that a terminally ill patient was intentionally Given an overdose. The 87-year-old patient died dec. 16, a Day after the overdose when relatives decided to disconnect a ventilator said William t. Foley chief executive officer of St. Josephus Hospital. He said the overdose had nothing to do with the Pat Entys death. The Hospital Hasni to released the names  anyone involved. Foley said Hospital officials suspect the three suspended workers knew of the overdose a and did not immediately come  the Fulton county District attorney is  bans Gays again new York a for the second straight year the St. Patrick s Day Parade committee has refused to allow a Gay Irish group to join its March. The committee a panel of the Manhattan chapter of the ancient order of hibernian has also banned division 7 of the Manhattan hibernian. That division invited the Irish lesbian and Gay organization to join its contingent last March after the committee rescinded an invitation to the Gay group on the grounds that the Parade was too Long. The controversy places the 231st St. Patrick a Day Parade on March 17 in jeopardy. Mayor David Dinkins is Quot reluctant to Grant the Parade permit to the people who have had it Over the years a said Patrick Gatins Legal counsel to the new York state Board of the hibernian. The Issue of the Gay presence in last March s Parade caused a juror. Dinkins who extended the Parade after the committee  was no room for the Gay group was heckled for nearly 40  attempt fails Miami a a person spotted hanging from the Bottom of a Jet Airliner As it left Havana Cuba on thursday probably fell into the Ocean before the charter flight landed in Miami the Fri said. Air traffic controllers in Havana saw someone hanging from Miami air International flight 8606 As it left Cuba and notified the jets Crew said Paul Miller spokesman for the Fri in Miami. But the Boeing 727�?Ts Crew  see anyone and decided to Fly on to Miami he said. Miller said a homemade wooden seat was found hooked to the Jet s wheel cover along with what appeared to be blood stains. Someone tried to hide in the wheel Well we think a Miller said