European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 6, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a the stars and stripes monday january 6, 1992 Pennsylvania Homes contaminated with radioactive Sand by Michael Decourcy Hinds the new York times upper Darby a. After an unusual House by House search in 11 communities for buildings constructed with Sand that had been laced with radioactive Radium a Federal Agency said Friday that it had found 25 contaminated Homes including four in this Western suburb of Philadelphia. The government offered to relocate 13 families whose Homes were found to have excessively High Levels of contamination. It said one of the most extensively tainted properties was found in upper Darby with a contamination level 23 times that considered acceptable. Over the last eight weeks scientists from the environmental Protection Agency have inspected More than 100,000 Homes in Southwest Philadelphia and in 10 suburbs. They Are using a Van equipped As a Laboratory. In addition to the four Homes found in upper Darby scientists said they identified contaminated Homes in Aldan Darby East Lansdowne and Lansdowne. They said that in Lansdowne they also found contaminated Sand in the soil of one property and in the sidewalk of another property. Leanne s. Nurse the Agency s Community relations coordinator held a news conference in upper Darby on Friday to announce the conclusion of the Survey. A we done to see a pattern that would Lead us to search beyond the two mile area a she said. These communities were selected for inspection because they arc within a two mile radius of a Lansdowne factory and warehouse where a form of the element Radium 226, was extracted from Ore in the 1920s for use in treating cancer patients. The factory furnished some area contractors with a Sandlick waste from the extraction process. The contractors used the material in making plaster stucco and Concrete. The waste is decaying in the Walls and foundations of buildings emitting radon Gas an invisible odourless substance that can cause cancer in Peoples lungs. Radon occurs naturally from the decay of the Small amounts of uranium in some soils. Radon seeping into Homes is easily dispelled by increasing ventilation. Tree recycling taking Root Chicago up1 a you can buy a Cut Christmas tree and still consider yourself environmentally conscious a at least if you live in Chicago or one of the other cities across the United states that Recycle the Holiday symbols. At least 2,000 people dragged their Trees to 14 locations around Chicago on saturday then watched As their evergreens were turned into mulch said Kirk Savaric of the City s newly created department of he environment. L he program sponsored by the City of Chicago the Chicago Park District and Community groups is an attempt Quot to encourage people to bring in Cut live Trees in order to see them recycled into some thing useful a Savare said. People who bring in Trees done to have to go Home empty handed Savare said. The Public is offered bags of the mulch after City and Park District workers feed the Trees into Wood ship pcs. People can put the mulch around the base of House plants or Trees in their Yards or Public Parks to protect them from the cold and to hold in moisture Savare said. The chipped Trees eventually become a nutrient. Participation in the program is Quot heartwarming a and Many people said they no longer Quot feel guilty about having a tree Cut for Christmas Quot Savaric said. Ready for Active duty the nuclear powered attack submarine Springfield slides into the thames River in Groton conn., on saturday during commissioning ceremonies. The los Angeles class sub is named for Springfield mass., and Springfield Iii. Those Winter blues May be a Richmond a. Up a the Winter doldrums can be As real for some people As the Chilly blast you get from turning on your car Heater before the engine is w armed up. For them Winter is when seasonal affective disorder strikes. It can bring severe depression even suicidal behaviour. Quot it is a very serious disorder a says Rakesh Sood associate professor of psychiatry at the medical College of Virginia and medical director of Mcva a sleep disorders clinic. Yet the medical Community generally is unfamiliar with the malady he notes. Some physicians arc downright sceptical about whether seasonal affective disorder is real. A a it a a Bona fide Issue without question a a said Johnnie Gallemore chairman of the psychiatry department at Eastern state medical school in Norfolk however what causes it is open to debate and Challenge he believes. Called sad for Short seasonal affective disorder occurs Between september and March when nights Are Long. It causes depression crying spelts feelings of guilt and helplessness cravings for sweets and junk food and periods of listlessness. Studies Trace the disorder to Luck of Bright Light but it has not been proven. Sood said indications Are that unreal disorder some people the brain produces More of a chemical called melatonin when they Are subjected to a reduced amount of Light which May trigger the condition. It May be an inherited trait but so far research shows the environment also May have something to do with its occurrence. Sad is treatable. Sometimes drugs Are prescribed to counteract the brain produced chemical Gallemore said. In another treatment called Light therapy patients sit for two or three hours every morning and evening in front of a Metal Box containing Bright artificial Light. They engage in some Type of activity a such As sewing or Reading a and glance into the Light  Gay rights activist kills himself by the los Angeles times Hollywood a Marly James the Gay rights activist who disclosed on National television that he had assisted aids victims in committing suicide has taken his own life after a Long Battle with the deadly disease. He was 38. James died Christmas Day alter taking sleeping pills at his Home in Hollywood his longtime companion Steven Kanong Iser said saturday. Kanengiser said that James Quot really held out until the  James gained National attention March 31, 1988, when he described on abcs night inc How he had helped a Friend suffering from aids to end his life. James subsequently said that Over a five year period he had helped at least eight men with the incurable disease to die. Both the san Francisco and los Angeles county District attorneys offices investigated James activities but declined to file any criminal charges against him. Born in Santa Maria calif., on nov. 14, 1953, James grew up in san Bernardino calif., and moved to los Angeles in 1971. When his Mother died of Hodgkin a disease a protected and painful death he observed James became a drifter and a heroin addict. In 1983 James co founded the  Angeles chapter of the san Francisco bused Shanti foundation which trains Volunteer Counselor to talk with aids patients. Quot Shanti Quot is from the sanskrit language and Means a dinner  after serving As executive director of the los Angeles chapter of Shanti James left the organization in 1985 and worked As a private Counselor on terminal illness and death. The Shanti group has adamantly divorced itself from his views on assisted suicide. A private memorial service was scheduled for sunday