European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 27, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 this the stars and stripes wednesday May 27, 1992 letters to the editor european edition col Gene e. Townsend Usan commander publisher Bernard a. Zovistoski de a news and editorial Bill Walker european editor Deborah Kabahar news Edh or Bob Wicker sports editor Bryan Nolan City Edh or George Manee 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 Clemson building 103, Carl Schurz Cavern Apo a 09069, Telephone ets 3428659 or civilian 0471-88782. 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The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements does not constitute endorsement by the department of detente or the stars and stripes of the products or services advertised. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available Tor Purchase use or patronage without regard to face. Color religion sex. National origin age. Marital status physical Handicap political affiliation or any other non Merit Factor of the Purchase. User or Paton dream comes True i would like to say thank you. You see in be been accepted to the uniformed services University of the health sciences Suhs f. Edward Hebert school of Medicine at Bethesda my. In four years ill be a doctor. Its my lifelong dream come True and there Are some truly remarkable people to whom i will be eternally grateful Melissa my wife retired it. Col. Jim Summers sgt. Floyd Holliday col. Paul Henry or. Maj Chris Williams Harold Dusick Fabian Arturo Calderon and of course my parents. Thanks for your inspiration. A 1st it. James a. Phalcon Torrejon a Spain if grass is Greener stay i thought the letter a no place like Home was refreshingly patriotic. There is nothing wrong with being proud of your country. No one is implying that America is above reproach but granted its difficult to ride a bicycle when you be been graced with a Cadillac. Americans enjoy Good service and convenient accommodations. Having to Rush around to get the simple things done at a merchants Leisure is a foreign concept to me. 1 prefer to do my shopping when it suits me. The germans have never had it so Good since the americans stepped in and offered to pay them twice what they would pay an american for doing the same Job. There Are plenty of unemployed people in the United states who would be More than willing to work for 58,000 Marks a year. I suppose All the americans would be cruising around in a Mercedes if their combined marital income exceeded $68,000. So to every american that defends Germany More so than their own country i say give up your citizenship and stay Here although i doubt the germans would put you to work. A Heidi Shepherd Worms Germany battalion discrimination on feb. 7, i made a formal equal Opportunity complaint regarding sexual racial discrimination within our battalion. Equal Opportunity in our battalion Isnit a soldiers program. Like most army programs its designed to serve the greater Good of the battalion a the command. What happens when the command is at fault what happens when females Are offered the same Opportunity As males to succeed absolutely nothing. Had my complaint been directed toward a certain person the command would have done everything within its Power to ruin the career of that Soldier. Because the command a past and present a is at fault a in a offered an additional duty which would have made four to make myself More visible. The main purpose of my letter is to make myself More visible. Its important that my commander and his superiors know that i know that an additional duty will not fix the problem of discrimination within the battalion. Until the battalion looks at the Issue and explains to me what makes everyone except Black females qualified for a position i will keep writing. The equal Opportunity program in our battalion does not work and will not work when complaints regarding the command Are the Issue. If equal Opportunity is left to the discretion of the battalion company commander the army needs to realize that there Are far More bad commanders than there Are Good commanders. A sgt. Gloria Dawson kit Zingen Germany editor s note 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 a 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. Headed for dead end where is Justice for the Black american was it displayed or reflected through the painful seating of judge Clarence Thomas who almost missed it or is it displayed through Gen. Colin a Powell the nations military Boss who just might have become our first Black president had he not been silenced by More years of military duty with the present display of Justice which has put our country in the eyes of some Between a Rock and a hard place one wonders where Are we headed Cape town a Joseph Pryor Sandhofer Germany Stop blaming Scapegoat i have closely followed the Rodney g. King trial and following aftermath. I am not going to defend the actions of the four police officers but i think its Only fair to look at this situation objectively. Lets face facts. Our Justice system has forgotten the concept of guilt and innocence. Instead it scrutinizes the propriety of those who Are enforcing the Laws and gives every Benefit to those who commit the crime. This fault is a result of our demand to have  yes we Are to blame so lets Stop passing the Buck. We want everything to work in our favor but done to want to pay the Price. Today we blame americans problem on racism and tomorrow it will be the Economy. I think its time to Stop looking for a Scapegoat and Start examining ourselves. A few months ago i saw a news report where a suspect involved in a criminal Case was acquitted. Afterwards several comments were made about How Well the criminal Justice system works. Now overnight the criminal Justice system failed a Isnit that a Little ironic i think the Only conclusion we can come to is that this incident merely provided an excuse for some to take out their frustrations on the rest of us. The Only question remaining is who or what is to blame for their frustration. Perhaps the criminal Justice system the police or maybe even president Bush but i done to think so. A sgt. Michael a. Praizner Heidelberg Germany misdirected hostility the letter a a fair proposal april 13 inspired several readers myself included to respond to misinformation presented. Today i picked up my newspaper once again to find the honorable Pat Schroeder the recipient of an undeserved a a bashing april 30. The disputed Issue of source taxes As presented by the writer does indeed appear to be unjust. The state of californians unfair position puts the Retiree in a potential double taxation situation a that of being taxed on the military pension both by the former state of residence and the current one. I agree that some Protection under Federal Law is required to preclude this double taxation situation. But i also believe the writer has misdirected his hostility Over this matter toward our successful congressional advocate Pat Schroeder. It would appear the writer has attempted to make a connection based upon the Assumption that two very separate issues a that of the us spa uniformed services former spouses Protection act and that of source taxes a Are inextricably entwined and that those in favor of one Are necessarily in favor of both. This is simply not the Case. There is however an adjoining thread that does tie these two issues together. This thread is the vested interest in the earned military pension. The problem is a systemic one a service members and their spouses Are subject to state Laws when it comes to Federal pension Legal issues. A plethora of outcomes Are possible when attempting to adjudicate and enforce entitlement legislation under a dual set of Laws a both Federal and state. Simply put no uniform standardized body of Law exists to be applied equally and fairly to All service members and or their sex spouses no one court system has singular jurisdiction Over . Government pension retirement enforcement matters. This Lack of a Central focal Point with governing judicial Powers serves to proliferate time consuming legislation and increase Legal obstacles for both service members and their former spouses. The perception that the military currently has no advocacy program in place to protect its pensioners and their spouses is an accurate one. Piecemeal Federal legislation is a Start but does not solve the greater problem. State adjudication is the wrong tact. The pension is . Government property co owned by the servicemen Ber Retiree and spouse federally mandated and federally funded. This Federal Benefit should be enforced solely by the Federal court system and subject Only to its jurisdiction. A Jill m. Brown Cairo Egypt