European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 09, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday february 9, 1993 . The stars and stripes b Page 5 household help Issue hits Commerce chief i ,. ?. By the Washington pos Washington Commerce Secretary Ronald h. Brown admitted sunday that for the past four or five years he failed to pay social Security taxes for his part time household help. But he said he began paying the taxes when the controversy Over illegal nannies began to unfold last month and he became aware of his obligations. Brown a lawyer said on Abc s meet the press that he had been unaware of his tax obligations and that he paid Back taxes and penalties when this came to Light with the disclosure that attorney general designate Zoe Baird had failed to pay social Security taxes for a undocumented peruvian couple working for her. Brown said his household worker was not an illegal immigrant and came to his House on an irregular basis for three hours a week to help with the cleaning employers arc required to pay social Security taxes on household workers paid More than $50 in a  s admission in response to a question placed him in a category similar to that of Washington lawyer Charles . Ruff who was ruled out by the White House As a possible attorney general because until recently he had failed to pay social Security taxes for his one Day per week documented household help. Kimba m. Wood the Manhattan Federal judge who was reported to be president Clinton s to Choice for attorney Gener Al after Baird s abrupt withdrawal withdrew her name Friday. She said she had hired an immigrant with an expired entry visa As a baby Sitter. Wood however did so before a 1986 immigration Law barred hiring undo cd merited workers. She said Brown she had paid All taxes filed All the necessary document Sand fulfilled every Legal requirement with respect to the employment of our baby Sitter who obtained Lega residency under the 1986 Law s amnesty program. . Trade representative Mickey Kantor said that when he was questioned during a background Check he was not directly asked whether he had employed Ille Gal immigrants. If he had been Kantor said he would have answered  speaking on can s news maker sunday Kantor said that while he thought that Wood s situation was unfair he did not believe that any double Standard was being applied to men and women in the scrutiny of Cabinet appointees As has been asserted by some Femi nist groups. � the broader context is that the work Force haschanged., people arc working harder for less in Ameri Ca and they re under economic pressure but they wan their children taken care of and there s a Lack of child care generally in the country Kantor said. Brown former chairman of the democratic National committee said the question of his Domestic employee did not come up during the nomination process. Sen. Phil Gramm a Texas also on meet the press sidestepped a question about whether he would have voted for Brown s confirmation if he had known about Brown s failure to pay the social Security taxes. He was t totally Clear As to what he was talking about what he meant by he paid it when he knew that it was owed. Again i d like to look at the facts be fore making a statement like that Gramm said. In the stars and stripes 10 years ago feb. 9,1983 the commission investigating the Beirut Lebanon massacre of palestinian civilians. Recommended that israeli defense minister Ariel Sharon be dismissed a senior official said. 20 years ago feb. 9,1973 a crippled Navy Jet smashed into an Alameda calif., apartment House turning it and three surrounding buildings into an inferno for 200 persons inside kill ing an estimated 22. 30 years ago feb. 9,1963 army troops revolted in Iraq apparently overthrow ing the regime of prime minister Abdul Karim Kassem. 40 years ago feb. 9,1953 Queen Juliana led the Netherlands in a Day of mourn ing one week after Hurricane driven seas smashed the nation s dikes and killed at least 1,362 people. 50 years ago feb. 9,1943 a National service act to Grant president Roosevelt Broad Powers to utilize the nation s men and women in any Job deemed essential was introduced in con Gress. World War ii 50 years ago today feb. 9 in a characteristic burst of optimism. Britain s prime minister sir Winston Churchill predicts in a letter to soviet Premier Joset Stalin that the North Africa Campaign will end by april the italian Peninsula will fall by july and Allied troops will land in France by August soviet troops take Belgorod North of Kharkov on the rail line to kursk . Forces discover japanese troops have fled Guadalcanal. Source 2194 Days of War. W h Smith publishers inc. World almanac Book of would War ii Bison books corp. 1981 a double standard7 for women kept Wood from getting Post group says Washington a a leading feminist organization started a phone and fax Campaign monday to protest a double Standard the group says kept Federal judge Kimba m. Wood from being nominated for attorney general. The White House denied the charge and insisted Wood was not fully forthcoming during her interviews. A the conventional Wisdom says she did t jump she was pushed said Pat Ricia Ireland president of the National organization for women. I think she absolutely got a raw  the White House said Wood s employ ment of an illegal alien would have made confirmation difficult. On the allegation of a double Standard White House communications director George Steph Nopoulos said there Isno evidence to support that Contention. All people who Are nominees Are now being asked the question. When we be came aware of this situation we made sure everybody complied.". He said the White House now routinely asks potential nominees if they have problems similar to that of Zoe Baird the corporate lawyer who with Drew her nomination for attorney general after it was revealed that she had illegally employed two peruvians in her House All the conventional Wisdom says she did t jump she was pushed. Think she absolutely got a raw Deal Patricia Ireland president National organization for women hold As a Nanny and Driver. In the Case of judge Wood we asked several times As we have All nominees men and women alike Steph Nopoulos said. He said president Clinton and vice pres ident Al Gore did not break immigration or tax Laws in the hiring of household help. Administration officials speaking on condition of anonymity have said the presi Dent could nominate an attorney general in a Day or two following Wood s withdrawal under pressure Friday. Ireland said now s 600 chanters nationwide would be asked to Call the White House Congress and radio talk shows we want to make the Point that there i this double Standard and there is this Dou ble Burden on women Ireland said. If women arc going to be held accountable on How they juggle work and family then me should be held accountable  reminded that Commerce Secretary Ronald h. Drown belatedly paid taxes for a the acc hour a Wick employee Ireland said i Don t think we can achieve Equality for women by bringing men Down. Wear after changes in Public policy and pub Lic perception that the child care Issue won t be used to keep women out of positions of power.". Steph Nopoulos said he was not aware of any other senior administration officials or Cabinet members who failed to pay taxes. He also defended the decision to seek someone other than Wood who once hired an illegal alien As a baby Sitter. Number one she had an illegal alien in her employ even though it was Legal to dose at the time Steph Nopoulos said. Secondly All the details did not come to lighting the interview  unlike daird Wood hired the woman while it was still Legal to hire illegal aliens and she paid All necessary taxes. The political atmosphere is such right now that confirmation would have been difficult White House press Secretary dec Dee Myers said monday on Fox morning news. Doctors increasingly seen As Carrier of aids san Francisco up More americans Are convinced they can get aids from their doctor or dentist says Survey that updates a 1988 poll. The Survey conducted in late 1991,said 38 percent of those questioned expressed concern about his transmission in health care settings. Only 19 percent expressed such concern in 1988, said the report by the University of California san , the number of those believing they could be infected by a doctor Rose from 33 percent to 46 percent in the four years. But the Survey reported monday inthe archives of internal Medicine found Only 5 percent of the 1,350 adults questioned around the country thought doctors with the disease should quit the r jobs. The study showed 37 percent would change physicians if they knew theirs was infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. In a similar 1988 poll 56 percent said they would switch. The highly publicized 1990 cases of Kimberly Bergalis and four other patients apparently infected by a Florida dentist with aids swelled Public concern about his transmission in a health care Center the researchers noted. In the new poll 92 percent said healthcare workers should be tested for aids and 93 percent thought infected professionals should be required to disclose their condition to their patients. Only 6 percent had Ever asked their doctors whether they were infected. A vast majority 89 percent said healthcare providers have the right to know their patients status. The same number would consent if asked but not required to get an his test by their Doc Tor or dentist and 78 percent favored mandatory testing of All surgery patients. Support for mandatory his testing arid disclosure of his ser status does not necessarily imply support for Draco Nian measures to limit patient Contact with his infected health care provid ers said Barbara Gerbert chairwoman of the division of behavioural sciences a tucs and Lead author of the report. Gerbert s study found 63 percent of the participants supported limited prac Tice by infected doctors while 21 percent thought no change was needed. The number of those stating infected doctors should not be allowed to work dropped from 45 percent in 1988 to 39percent in 1991. For surgeons the figures decreased from 59 percent to 54 percent and for dentists from 52 percent to 47 percent during that time. Those who personally knew an aids victim were less concerned about his transmission and More supportive of infected workers right to their jobs. The percentage of participants who knew an infected person jumped from 20to 35 in the four years Between the two studies while that of respondents acquainted with an individual in a High risk group Rose from 38 percent to 51 percent. Only 21 percent of those who knew victim and 29 percent of those acquainted with someone at risk said they would switch from an infected physician com pared with 44 percent of those who had no Contact with an aids patient and 46 percent of those who had never met any one at risk