European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 21, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday May 21, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 european edition col Gene e. Townsend Usan commander publisher Bernard a. Zovistoski editor news and editorial Bill Walker european editor Deborah Absher Bryan Nolan news editor City editor Bob Wicker George Manes sports editor special sections editor to write us unit 29480 Apo a 09211 or Postrach 11 14 37 6100 Darmstadt 11, Germany news Tel fax 06155-601416 to Call us dial 06155-601 plus Extension or ets 348-8 plus Extension As follows news ext. 237, 255, 282, 226, 326. Sports ext. 225, 269, 263, 332, 321, 221. Features ext. 230, 245, 341. Letters to editor ext. 208. Education Jimi Jones ext. 226. Business news ext. 326. News bureaus Bremerhaven Germany Ken Clauson building 103, Carl Schurz Cavern Apo a 09069 Telephone ets 3428659 or civilian 0471-88782. 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United kingdom Meridith Winder. Building 464 Cess us Raf Mildenhall Apo a 09459 Telephone Dow 238-2226 of civilian 0638-512226.Washington . Chuck Vinch Ray Rowden Oast a the Pentagon room 2e756,  Box 46095, Washington . 20050-6095 Telephone 703-697-6695 Tel fax 703-6936366. Business departments Christopher a. Eddings it. Col. Thomas e. Conrad Usa general manager Deputy commander Marie Kominicki James Wysocky production manager circulation manager Dale Estes Chris Ryan advertising manager comptroller circulation for Home delivery service and inquiries Call the office nearest you listed below main office unit 29480 Post Tach 11 14 37 Apo a 09211 or 6100 Darmstadt 11, Germany circulation Tel fax 06155-601417 Germany Berlin civilian 030-8331846, ets 332-3548. Bremerhaven civilian 0471-85168, ets 342-8119. Rhein main a civilian 069-692050 or 692565, ets 3306025 or 7103, telex 412712, Cen Reg Tel fax 069694087. Kaiserslautern civilian 0631-57070 or 57079, ets 4897100, Tel fax 0631-50696. 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The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements does not constitute endorsement by the department of defense or the stars and stripes of the products or services advertised everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for Purchase use or patronage without regard to race color religion sex National origin age marital status physical Handicap political affiliation or any other non Merit Factor of the purchaser user or Patron letters to the editor replying to the beef the writer of a a what a with the beef a got my attention. Who sets the beef prices the meat manager does. How by Supply and demand. The writer did not say How big the packages were or How much it Cost per Pound. Stew meat will not be the cheapest next to ground beef if its Gristle and fat free. Stew meat should be of High Quality meat. Some of my prices on Tbone porterhouse top loin and filet steaks arc 30 cents to 60 cents a Pound higher and in a a 20-minute drive away. The beef at the writers commissary is 7 cents to 8 cents a Pound cheaper. Also at this base we have about 80 percent of officers yet i try to keep my prices Down so the lower ranking people can buy too. The writer should ask the meat manager How he or she sets the prices. Now As for the writers last statement we do have All of our cups in the cupboard you just did no task to see them a meat manager Ken Morrison Stuttgart Germany cos need he answers lately in be noticed a trend with cos working in orderly rooms the Pac personnel action Center and the pc personnel service Center reassignment Branch. Too Many times soldiers have walked away from the office that is supposed to provide service without service or answered questions. It seems easier now for the no to say a i done to know or a a it a not my Job a than to provide professional service to the Soldier. I remember a time when you could go to the no for help. Now it seems that the professional is the specialist and below. So for those cos who arc offended by this article take a look at yourself and say a do i know my Job enough to provide professional service or am i just another Amateur putting up a front a a staff sgt. James l. Lenk Wiesbaden a Germany so Long to a real pro i am writing in reference to the draw Down under the voluntary separation incentive and special separation Benefit programs. Done to get me wrong i understand the reasoning behind it. However i feel we Are eliminating very professional cos. I have had the pleasure of working with one such no a persian Gulf War Veteran. He always attains above 270 on his physical training test and has More than 80 hours of College numerous military schools and correspondence courses. He a fully qualified in his primary mos military occupational specially and always scores the maximum on his no evaluation reports. He has three army commendation medals and numerous army achievement medals. This no is a professional in every sense of the word. His average workday begins at 4 30 . And ends at 6 . He has sacrificed 14 years of his life Only to be forced out of something he loves and is darn Good at. The Only thing this Soldier did wrong is that he had a break in service. This Soldier is being Given no alternative but to take the Money and run under the new criteria for e-5 promotable which will be 15 years As of oct. 1, 1993. I honestly believe the department of the army is not screening records for approval under the Vii sub programs. If they were this soldiers paperwork for separation would not have been approved under any circumstances. Sergeant Delgado i just Hope the next War with the new hollow army will be As Quick and less costly As the Gulf War. Without cos of your Caliper i can hardly imagine it. A sgt. Donald e. Curtis and family Firth Germany editor s note a. Letters from readers expressing their viewpoints or opinions Are published daily in this space. All letters must be signed. We Reserve the right to edit letters for clarity length and taste. Preference is Given to Shorter letters so that More can be published in a timely manner. Letters should be addressed to letters to the editor the stars and stripes unit 29480, Apo a 09211. A a o letters requesting information or assistance Are answered in a feature called readers action line which appears on Page 16 every Day except thursday and sunday. Such letters should be addressed to readers action line the stars and stripes unit 29480, Apo a 09211.too Many a wins out Here As the fellow said in his letter of May 11, a guns done to kill people people pulling the trigger kill  but then again common sense says that if no one can find a convenient easily available trigger wont it be a Little More difficult with a knife baseball Bat or bottle of Poison perhaps easy availability of guns is the essential ingredient these Days on the streets in the schools under the car seat ready for that emotional impulse by untrained fingers. Another recent letter writer blamed the Legal judicial system. Funny that its always easier to blame a the system rather than our own shortcomings. If i understand correctly we Are the system. The fact is that our Legal system is based upon the English Legal system the Magna Carta right of Hareas Corpus Etc. I read an Era article last year that tried to compare the violent death rates in the United states and United kingdom saying there Are similar living conditions. The author concluded surprisingly that it  be done As the violent death rate in Washington ., alone was More than that of the entire United kingdom. So much for blaming the system which does no to have those results in the United kingdom. Perhaps the newly appointed chief of the los Angeles police department put that in better perspective in a recent interview on the . Riots. He said a the tremendous number of guns out there is the problem. A studies have shown that its just As easy to get into a bar fight in the . As in the . But its far More Likely you la be shot to death in that bar fight in the .�?� his words exactly. And you know if members of the Public keep Reading letters saying the reason they need All those guns is in support of their second amendment rights As militia they May just conclude that a a lot less expensive than our Large standing highly trained professional armed forces. Is that really tie conclusion you want to get across or Are there some better 20th-Century kind of sensible solutions to this drastic problem which threatens your family and mine a George Jocher Stuttgart Germany a armed citizens needed the Rodney g. King verdict was a travesty of Justice but lets face facts. Hundreds of guilty people Are acquitted each month in our imperfect Justice system. I would guess that Many of the hooligans who brutally murdered innocent people in los Angeles had also been acquitted for previous crimes. The Lawless mobs that terrorized the streets saw the acquittal As an Opportunity for a 48-hour, Media grabbing free for All. The police cannot protect us. Our streets have been turned into War zones and we re at the whim of criminals who no longer fear our courts. I have been associated with Many Law enforcement officers in the past 10 years. The majority Are ill equipped ill trained and justifiably frightened of the criminal element they face daily. They do the Best they can in a Lawless society. The problem is that their Best wont save your life. Denying responsible Law abiding citizens the right to carry firearms is a death sentence. Yes firearms can raise the body count. And its better to walk away if you can. But when a violent situation  not do coca late on its own an immediate aggressive response will often disperse the situation or delay it Long enough for escape. I have been involved in Many situations where one trained armed citizen quickly defused a violent situation without spilling blood. A Mark a. Plumberg Rota Spain Auto series Eri seized your recent series on Auto sales left a very sour taste in my Mouth not unlike sour grapes. Could it be a stars and stripes staffer or staffers was not Happy with a Purchase it seems a amps became judge and jury and did not bother to question defense witnesses a the Many satisfied customers. My wife is an cafes Ford sales rep and she receives far More compliments than complaints. Although you seemed to target oms overseas military sales Cor the sales organization for pm and Chrysler your series nonetheless created doubt As to the integrity of All sales personnel and their respective organizations. A knowledgeable buyer armed with current Price data May beat an cafes Price in the states however no dealer will have the variety offered by special ordering. Can you do without transportation while the dealer looks for an acceptable vehicle cafes new car sales programs major advantage is having the exact vehicle at a reasonable Price when you arrive Home without haggling and going from dealer to dealer. Ordering Early protects you from Price increases which you would pay in the states. Prospective buyers should be aware that stateside dealers typically command a higher markup than the maximum 7 percent cafes allows. A stateside dealer will Promise anything but if it is not on a binding contract beware. When you pcs make a permanent change of station Back to the states your local dealer has no reason to beat the military sales Price and you no longer have an alternative. A Gary s. Cook Rhein main a Germany