European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes thursday january 23,1992 schools adopt dress codes to reduce student violence by the new York times Oakland Calif. A in Many Urban schools wearing a Blue Bandanna red stitching on a baseball Cap a raiders jacket or expensive athletic shoes can be enough to set off a fight and even a killing. Violence by and against students a whether related to the stealing of coveted clothing or jewelry or to the flaunting of clothing or colors associated with gangs a has become such a concern in California that Public schools Are increasingly adopting dress codes for safety a Sake. The Oakland Board of education after months of study and planning is among the latest to do so. A it is our belief that youngsters parents teachers and the Community have a right to come to a Sanctuary that is free from messages of violence a said Toni Cook a Board member who sponsored the dress code. Some new York City schools and the entire Public school system of Detroit have banned expensive clothing and jewelry believing that fights Are caused by disparities in income among students. But in Aldand dress codes Are aimed mainly at eliminating symbols of gang affiliation. Many students oppose the ban saying it violates their right to dress As they choose. The american civil liberties Union has also expressed concern fearing that the dress code could potentially censor students political opinions or treat any clothing fads particularly those of Black and hispanic students As gang related. But increasingly parents and educators see dress codes As one of the few Concrete Means at their disposal to combat the violence threatening Many Young people. As Pat Gray the Mother of a High school student told the Oakland Board Quot i am alarmed i feel that my child is not Safe at school. If it takes a dress code by god lets try  the Board also has banned clothing and jewelry denoting identification with a gang expensive jogging suits frequently worn by gang members and drug dealers and All hats and headgear and clothing designating membership in non school organizations. The ban also covers to shirts with wording that incorporates profanity approves of drug use or violence or denigrates people because of their race ethnicity religion sex or sexual preference. While Many Oakland students View the ban As severe it is less restrictive than some others. In Central los Angeles for example Robert Bamer principal of the 2,500-student manual arts High school said the voluminous brightly patterned pants popular with Young men have recently been added to the list of banned clothing. The pants along with coloured shoestrings Are often associated with gangs. In California the problem is no longer isolated in big cities. The farming Community of Modesto known nationally As the setting for the 1973 teen age cruising movie american Graffiti has barred students from wearing hats and headgear in response to attacks by gangs from los Angeles. Loneliness May be health Hazard by the los Angeles times at a time when More americans than Ever Are living alone evidence is mounting that isolation can be bad for ones health. The latest clues about the hazards were published wednesday in two studies that found people with heart disease who live alone and have no close friends Are More Likely than others to suffer another heart attack. Reasons for the pattern Are unclear but studies have found higher death rates among the unmarried. Moreover accidents suicides psychiatric disorders and even tuberculosis have been found by some to be More common among the socially isolated Quot the data is very Strong and suggestive that we need better social contacts a said or. Robert b. Case a new York cardiologist and author of one of the new studies. Nearly 12 percent of american adults or 22.6 million people were living alone at the time of the 1990 census. According to census officials those figures Are believed to represent an All time High up from 7 percent or 10.8 million adults in 1970. The Rise of the one person household coincides with advances in knowledge of the health risks of being alone. Some researchers have gone so far As to suggest that social disintegration in the United states is helping to undermine Public health. The new studies reported in the journal of the american medical association focused on people with a history of heart disease. The first study by Case and others at St. Luke a Roosevelt Hospital and Columbia University in new York City found that heart attack patients living alone were nearly twice As Likely As others to suffer another heart attack a and More Likely to die of an attack a within six months. The researchers compared the Impact of living alone to that of such physical risk factors As previous heart the data is very Strong and suggestive that we need better social contacts.1 a or. Robert b. Case damage and heart rhythm disturbances. They found that living alone was a a major Independent risk factors comparable to physiological factors. To cases Surprise he did not find a similar increase in health risk associated with divorce separation or the death of a spouse. A half of the people with disrupted marriages in his 1,234-patient study were living with someone else at. The time. In the other study or. Redford b. Williams a professor of psychiatry and psychology at Duke University medical Center found that unmarried heart patients without a close Friend were significantly less Likely than others to survive for five years. Williams and his colleagues found a similar pattern among the poor in their study of 1,368 men and women. Patients with incomes less than $10,000 a year were much less Likely than those with incomes of $40,000 or More to survive for five years. The link Between social relationships and health remains largely unexplained. Researchers speculate the reasons May include some mundane practical factors As Well As More mysterious emotional factors with physical effects. Williams and others suggested that people who Are alone May experience More stress without the emotional Buffer offered by a companion. Suicide study finds stronger family links by the new York times one of every four people who attempt suicide has a family member who also tried to commit suicide a study sponsored by the National Institute of mental health has found. The number is higher than previous estimates. In earlier studies about one in 14 people who attempted suicide had relatives who had also tried to kill themselves. The new study involved 2,304 los Angeles residents the earlier estimates were based on interviews with mental patients and their families. The chief investigator in the new study or. Susan Sorenson a psychologist at the University of California at los Angeles said she believes the new study offers a More realistic View of the incidence of suicide attempts because it looks at the general population. Sorenson said that having a family history of suicide was not in itself a predictor of suicide. But mental illness can promote clusters of suicide attempts in families she said. Ones own mental illness the mental disorder of a Parent or a parents suicide can contribute to a persons sense of social isolation she said. Suicide studies have consistently found that women have a higher rate of suicide attempts than men. In the new study women were 4vi times More Likely than men to attempt suicide Sorenson said. Unmarried women with a history of suicide in the family were at a higher risk for suicide attempts than men or married  Highway Bridge closed because of cracks from wire reports Jacksonville Fla. A major interstate 95 Bridge was closed tuesday for up to two weeks because of growing cracks in its steel plates. Authorities worried that closing the drawbridge Over the St. Johns River downtown would snarl traffic at a time when Many northerners Are driving to Florida. The interstate is the nations principal East coast artery stretching from Miami to the Maine Canada Border. Authorities blamed the cracks on vibrations from trucks. The 37-year-old Bridge carries nearly 100,000 vehicles a Day twice the number it was designed  left in cold Fraser Mich. A police on tuesday considered child abuse charges against a woman who left her Newborn baby outside in subzero cold. The 6-Pound, 9-ounce boy suffered hypothermia and stopped breathing As he was rushed to mount Clemens general Hospital. It took 10 doctors and emergency medical personnel to revive him. Quot he was literally like ice a patrolman Larry Smith said. Police said monday that the boy was suffering from pneumonia but was in stable condition. The boys 25-year-old Mother gave birth in her parents bathroom saturday afternoon and then lowered the child out the window in a plastic bag to hide the pregnancy from her family the family a attorney Antonio Viviano said. Police estimated the baby was outside for five minutes before the woman a father discovered the boy. The temperature at the time was 6 degrees with a wind chill Factor of minus 13  mix up discovered Dallas a a mix up must have seemed like a scene from a Honor movie to employees of a Dallas recycling Center tuesday. Police said two maintenance men from the University of Texas southwestern medical Center were sent to Liberty commercial metals with a Large Metal Box to be recycled. A there were several boxes in the area fat the medical Center a police officer Mike Welch said. A they evidently got the wrong  when the Gray Container was opened at the Plant one Liberty employee said a i saw three Eads and parts of severed  instead of the Box meant for the recycling Center the workers had mistakenly taken a Box containing cadaver parts intended for use at the medical  Bull owner convicted Junction Texas a a Man Drew eight years in prison for sicking his pit Bull on two troopers during a traffic Stop. Michael Wilson 28, of san Antonio was convicted monday of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a Law enforcement officer. Wilson testified the officers who stopped him june 14 taunted the dog into attacking and he could not control the 60-Pound animal. The troopers shot and killed the  group limits Gays new York a National state and local officials of the ancient order of hibernian have agreed that homosexuals will not be permitted to March As a group in any sponsored St. Patrick a Day parades in the country. A joint statement issued by the National Board and the state Board of the hibernian said Gays and lesbians could join new Yorkus Parade or any other around the country a was Long As he or she marches As an individual within a group that is accredited to the  a the Aoh is and has been for the past 156 years steadfastly committed to one of its main founding purposes to uphold defend and protect the roman Catholic Church its priests and Bishops its teachings and tenets a the statement said. The ban followed a move this month by new York mayor David n. Dinkins to take the sponsorship of the Parade away from the Manhattan chapter of the hibernian and give it to the state chapter