European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 14, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes . Sunday november 14,1993 Gap Irico on eve of vote san Juan puerto Rico a fear is dominating the first Campaign in 26 years to determine whether puerto Rico prefers to retain its . Commonwealth status gain Independence or become the 51st state. Television ads Tell the 3.8 million puerto Picans they could lose their Homes through increased taxes if they vote today for statehood or risk losing their . Citizenship if they Don t do so. Playing on fear is effective in puerto Rico. Despite having a per capita income much lower than that of the 50 states the Spanish speaking territory is the envy of its Caribbean and latin american neighbors with an Economy that has multiplied 20 times since achieving Commonwealth status in 1952. The chief Pitchman in the negative to campaigns arc americans former presidents Ford Reagan and hush and Illinois democratic sen. Paul Simon for statehood sen. Edward m. Kennedy d-mass., for Commonwealth. Although the vote is nonbinding president Clinton has said he would respect the right of puerto Picans to choose their own future which has been tied to Washington since the Spanish speaking Caribbean Island was Sci cd As War Booty from Spain in 1898. The race is being closely watched by the 2.6 million puerto Picans living in the Continental United states and others among the nation s 22 million latinos who gym. The Young people Here Don t want to live the Way we be lived for90 years. We live in a world where we Are not owners of our destiny former puerto  Ferre would find their political Power increased by two . Senators and at least six representatives if puerto Rico gained statehood. In 1951, Commonwealth took 76 percent of the vote and in 1967, the last plebiscite it chalked up 67 per cent. But in recent years statehood has gained popular Ity accentuated by gov Pedro Rossello s landslide Vic tory in november. Pollsters say the latest race is too close to pick be tween statehood and Commonwealth. Independence is predicted to receive fewer than 60,000 of the registered .1.2 million voters. The Young people Here Don t want to live the Way we be lived for 90 years. We live in a world where we Are not owners of our destiny said former gov. Luis ferry the 89-year-old patriarch of the statehood move ment. Sitting in the suburban office of his Cement company f \ surrounded by Gold framed 17th-Century italian and French paintings Ferre said statehood would bring puerto Picans Equality with other americans. Right now Congress can dispose of us the same Way it Dis posed of the Philippines he said. But Commonwealth supporters say the same threat expressed in the ads with Simon reflects ignorance of puerto Rico s current status and the Lack of any at tempt to revoke . Citizenship since it was extended to islanders in 1917. In the ads Simon says Commonwealth really Means second class citizenship and that citizenship could disappear eventually the and could make the difference in the race acknowledges Commonwealth supporters More than Hal of puerto Picans receive some form of Federal assist Ance and threats to . Ties mean a possible halt to monthly paychecks. But Commonwealth adviser Jose Berrocal say statehood would destroy beneficial tax Breaks double puerto Picans tax Burden and Lead to mass layoffs inthe private sector and in the Island s no. 1 employer puerto Rico s government. He said the main benefits old by statehood ers is increased Federal welfare Bene fits an Issue that will not play Well if the . Congresses forced to seriously consider allowing puerto Rico to join their club. Vets Hope to lift veils surrounding world War ii troop ship tragedy Birmingham Ala. A More than a thousand american sol Diers died when a German Bombe used a new Birrd of Matte to sink a British troop ship the Rohna 50 year Sago this month. Yet even military historians know Little of the disaster a bloody even shrouded in secrecy from the moment it happened. A few survivors arc working to change that. All i want is for 1,015 men to be remembered and for the Rohna to take its rightful place in history said John Fievet 70, a retired steel com Pany buyer in Birmingham and one of the 875 survivors. Fievet an army Corporal during the War and some other survivors Are try ing to get recognition for what befell their comrades that awful Cloudy afternoon in the Mediterranean sea. The . Death toll was comparable to the 1,102 men killed when the battleship Arizona went Down at Pearl Harbor. Yet while the Arizona s victims Farewell recorded in history books and memorials veterans Day on thurs Day found the lost men of the Rohn Aall but forgotten. Requests for information from the Pentagon were referred to the army Center for military history in washing ton. We Don t really have much ,"said the Center s Steve Gammons. That kind of response saddens Fie vet and fellow survivor Bill Caskey 71, of Walnut Creek Calif., who was a private when the 461-foot Rohna Sank. Together they Are leading the push Roget their Story told and find other survivors. Newspaper stones about the Rohna appeared in september when survivors met in Gatlinburg tenn., for their first Reua Ion. But still relatively few people know about the Rohna. The Lack of information is not unusual. When enemy attacks kill troops governments often withhold details for Security reasons and stories Are lost be Titis is an undated file photo of the Rohna which Sank off the coast of Algeria. Military Security for the delay. The official announcement was Les than sketchy it did t even name the ship. But once classified documents have now been released and with survivors recollections this Story emerges on oct. 12,1943, a Convoy of 17 Mil itary vessels shipped out of Newport news va., for Europe the Suez canal and the India Burma China Battle Fields. It was common for the allies to us each other s vessels to move troops and the Day before thanksgiving nov.24, nearly 2,000 . Troops were transferred to the Rohna near Oran Alge Ria. All hell broke Loose off Algeria two Days later. German bombers approached. On fired a missile. The flame spitting bomb cruised Over the Waves and slammed into the Rohna s left Side exiting through the right. You could see the ship Start listing immediately Caskey said. Fievet who was below deck remembers waiting in the dark to make his escape with hundreds of his comrades. Someone mimicked the whistle of bomb. Yet no one panicked he said. The entire death toll was 1,138, including 115 Indian Crew members five British officers and three red Cross workers. Survivor John Kvet clutches a piece the ill fated British ship Rohna. Fore they can be told. There was a lot that was hushed up during world War ii. There weren t the instantaneous can folks standing Over your shoulder said Ben King a historian at the army transportation Center in Hampton va., which handles troop movements. King said secrecy might have been compelled by Germany s use of a relatively new weapon a radio controlled missile to sink the Rohna. The army waited nearly three months to disclose the death toll citing study suggests Gene linked to cholesterol Atlanta a some people Wolf Down eggs every Day and live to be 90. Now scientists believe they know Why the egg eating Gene. Their cholesterol some clearly Don t. These fortunate few who can thumb their nose sat every eating Rule in the Book have Al ways been a mystery. Scientists suspect they Are born wit genes that make them impervious to artery clogging cholesterol in food. A new study released suggests they Are right. Or. Richard b. Weinberg of Wake for est University in Winston Salem n.c., found that people who carry a Gene for protein called Apo-a-iv-2 seem to be Able to eat All the eggs they want without raising their cholesterol. Health groups like the american hear association have Long considered eggs and saturated fat to be culinary no nos to be eaten Only in moderation. Of course no single Gene is Likely to control the body s response to All the nutrients in the diet. Weinberg who presented his findings at a heart association meeting in Atlanta believes that a combination of perhaps a dozen genes influences cholesterol Levels. Hormone treatment used against Lupus Stanford Calif. Up a new hormone treatment appears to ease Many symptoms of Lupus an incurable some times fatal disease that strikes mostly Black  University researchers found in a preliminary study of 30 women Cap Sules of a hormone called dhea minimized breathing difficulties fever Adjoint pain without severe Side effects. The hormone normally produced by the adrenal glands is at unusually Low Levels in Lupus patients. The doctors said the thought that boosting the hormone Levels might alleviate some of the  begins when the immune system for unknown reasons attacks the body sown connective tissues including the skin joints and in severe cases internal  disease varies in intensity from rashes to brain damage and even death