European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes saturday january 18, 1992 at a glance James Brady shot by John Hinck Ley during an assassination attempt on president Reagan wants support not pity. See Story on pages 14-15. Bush Down in polls president Bush a approval rating has sunk to 45 percent according to an Abc news Washington Post poll. A Page 4 court wont Stop Texas plan the . Supreme court refused to Block a redistricting plan for the Texas legislature giving republicans their Best Chance in More than a Century to win control of the state Senate. A Page 5 patriots on trial a House subcommittee has begun an investigation into whether the performance of the Patriot missile in the persian Gulf War was As Good As portrayed. A Page 7 Trade deficit shrinks americans Trade deficit shrank dramatically to $3.57 billion in november the lowest imbalance in nearly nine years. A Page 9 Butch kid May be found a team of forensic experts and historians has exhumed a pair of skeletons in Bolivia that May be those of two famous american outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid. A Page 10 firms agree to pay fines nearly 100 brokerage firms and Banks agreed to pay fines totalling $5.2 million to Settle charges that they routinely lied to get bigger allotments of investments sold by government housing student loan and farm credit agencies. A Page 17 Index Abby Ann Landers 19 a a a id 1 v action line. 16 comics. 19-21 commentary. .13 faces a no places .18 letters. .12 Money matters. .17 sports. 22-28 to listings. .27 weather. .11 More grads fewer minorities make up military class of 791 Quot 1 1 by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a the . Military a fiscal 1991 recruiting class featured More High school graduates and fewer minorities As the draw Down narrowed opportunities to join the services according to Pentagon statistics. As the military steadily shrinks the services can afford to be More selective about taking in Only the Best qualified and Best educated recruits and defense department officials say that is reflected across the Board in the new figures. The total number of recruits during the fiscal year which ended sept. 30, was 200,727, compared with 224,080 in fiscal 1990, a decrease of about 10 percent. That decline helped All four services meet 100 percent of their recruiting objectives in fiscal 1991 while improving the Quality of those recruits at the same time. The Overall percentage of recruits with High school diplomas for example Rose from 95 percent in fiscal 1990 to 97 percent in fiscal 1991. The percentage of recruits scoring average or above categories i through 111 on the armed forces qualifications test went from 97 percent to More than 99 percent Over the same period. The percentage of Black military recruits fell from 21 percent in fiscal 1990 to 17 percent in fiscal 1991, Pentagon statistics showed. # minorities tend to score lower on military Entrance exams than Whites and the decline in minority recruits is a byproduct of increased Competition for fewer military slots As the draw Down moves into High gear. Each of the four services saw declines in minority recruits. The army for example saw its Overall percentage of Black recruits drop from 25 percent to 20 percent. Except for Blacks minorities Are classified under a a other under the race category and no further breakdown is available on percentage of recruits. Experts Are cautious about whether the military can or should do anything about the Issue at this Point since Blacks have Long been overrepresented in the military compared with the general . Population. The military is about 21 percent Black with the army at about 30 percent. The . Civilian population is about 12 percent Black while the Young enlistment age Pool of potential recruits is about 14 percent Black. A a it a a fact that the military is getting smaller and it will be tougher to get in a said a Senate armed services committee staffer. A a in a not sure what you could do besides establishing quotas and nobody is going to want to get into  Edwin Dorn a senior staff member at the Brookings institution who has written several books about race relations in the military said the draw Down will highlight the disparity in educational opportunities for Blacks and Whites in the civilian world. But Dorn agreed with the Senate staffer in that the military probably should not consider the declining numbers of Black recruits As a serious problem a yet. A obviously the military will be More competitive a he said. A but i  Start worrying unless the military percentages started slipping below the percentages in the general  colors from Page 1 paying the troop cuts. A the . Army is not just cutting numbers a he said. Quot we arc not now and will not be just a smaller version of a cold War  the numbers of soldiers being Cut included Many of the soldiers who had been assigned to the 1st army div in Northern Bavaria. Few made the move to the Rhein land Pfalz posts caverns and Sites. Instead they were assigned elsewhere in Europe returned to the states or discharged from the military As part of the draw Down. In Frankfurt neither Sullivan nor Saint gave specifics to reporters questions about the Speed of the troop pullout. The draw Down is a progressing appropriately and its being Well managed a Sullivan responded when asked whether it was happening too swiftly. He said he would not discuss published reports that . Land forces will reach their reduction goals by october 1993, two years ahead of schedule. This week however . Army Gen. John Galvin the nato commander was quoted As saying that the earlier Date will hold True a in some  in Frankfurt Kimmitt lauded the 250,000 soldiers who have served the 3rd army div during the 35 years since it returned to Germany and termed the withdrawal of the spearhead division As  Saint acknowledged the divisions role in winning the cold War. A the Berlin Wall did not come Down by Accident a Saint said. A the men and women of the 3rd army div took it Down. The spirit of the 3rd army div lives on. The soldiers and their families will not be forgotten. The cold War Victory is their  there arc several reasons for the re designation or re flagging of the 8th inf div said maj. Gen. John p. Otjen the 8th�?Ts last commander. A when the department of the army decided on its downsizing. It went through a complicated formula on which units had been on Active service longer which units had greater Battle decorations which units met the Force Structure As it was being designed a he said. A the answer is clearly the 1st army div one of the first armoured divisions. We wanted to keep armoured divisions in Europe so we kept the 1st army  Sullivan credited the soldiers with a Large role in changing Europe and moving Germany to a unified state. A you Are the dedicated committed men and women of character who have brought us to this Point a he said. A you and the countless thousands a americans army a together with our sister services have stood trained and  Otjen bid Farewell to the 8th inf div on his 50th birthday. The soldiers who now form the 1st army div will be commanded by maj. Gen. William m. Boice. Vince Crawley contributed to this report Cut from Page 1 to $35 billion to use for other outlays or tax cuts Over the next five years. But that Money will be crucial to help pay for an array of tax reductions the administration plans to propose in its elec Tion year economic package including increases in personal exemptions health insurance tax credits and tax deductions and Breaks for first time Home buyers. The package to be revealed next week is designed to stimulate the Economy and Holster president Bush a re election prospects. Under the deficit reduction agreement adopted in october 1990, legislative a fire Walls bar the shifting of Money saved from cuts in military spending to Domestic discretionary spending or to tax cuts until fiscal 1994. Bush had earlier indicated that he might try to change the budget agreement to take advantage of military spending reductions. But the multiyear commitments of the Pentagon prevent rapid cuts in military spending so the size of the savings from the new spending cuts Are Small in the first year of the plan. With the collapse of the soviet Union the administration has decided it can afford to pare the country a military budget but its new cuts still fall Short of demands in Congress. Sen. Phil Gramm a Texas would Cut military spending by $74 billion and thursday Senate majority Leader George Mitchell a Maine proposed $100 billion in military cuts airman gets 8 months in pedestrian s death Stuttgart Germany a amps a senior airman convicted of negligent homicide for accidentally killing a pedestrian with his car last summer was sentenced Friday to eight months in prison. Senior airman James e. Ragland 26, of Louisville ky., was also reduced to the rank of airman by the 11-member air Force court panel. Ragland who joined the air Force six years ago works As a computer operator for the . European Cornde a command control and communications directorate at the commands Headquarters at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart. The five Day general court martial at the Stuttgart trial Center stemmed from a car Accident on the evening of aug. 31 in by Bingen. Ragland lost control of his 1978 Bow 316 Sedan on a curve. The car bounced off the right curb careened Over to the left Side of the Road and onto the sidewalk where it struck and kilted by Bingen resident Kurt Koch 41, and his two dogs. Ragland suffered minor injuries. Prosecutors attributed the Accident to drinking fatigue and excessive Speed. Ragland admitted having had two or three Beers at a Barbecue earlier in the evening but he and other witnesses testified that he did not appear to be impaired by alcohol when he agreed to drive a fiend Home. In finding Ragland guilty of negligent homicide the panel rejected a More serious charge of involuntary manslaughter. It also found him innocent of property damage charges stemming from the Accident. The airman is expected to serve his sentence at the army confinement facility in Mannheim Germany