European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 16, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday december 16, 1993 . The stars and stripes Page 5dod seeks 40 c-17s a with caveat Washington a defense Secretary Les Aspin said wednesday the Pentagon wanted to buy 40 c-17 transport planes but threatened to halt production at that number if the manufacturer fails to improve the program. The Pentagon s decision must be apr proved by Congress. Aspin said the aircraft is a late Over ceiling Price and has serious deficiencies. If the c-17 can t be put right we will have real alternatives to fill Airlift  the plane which is manufactured by Mcdonnell Douglas corp. Has been plagued by Cost overruns totalling $1.5 Bil lion delayed flight tests and wings that failed stress tests including a failure during ground tests in september. Aspin said that after months of discussions a we have settled on a flexible program that gives us the Opportunity to fix the c-17 but does not hold us hostage to  initially the air Force planned to buy 210 of the c-17s to replace an aging Fleet for carrying Large cargo Over Long distances. In april 1990, then defense Secretary Dick Cheney Cut that number to 120 at a Cost of $40 billion. The 40 planes would represent Only a third of what the air Force recently envisioned. Aspin said the program would be continued for a two year interim period during that time six planes a year would be built. He added that some performance specifications for the aircraft would be eased including the Range and payload requirements. This will keep the Cost Down by using less expensive commercial engines the Secretary said. The Secretary said a comprehensive settlement had been reached with the manufacturer that requires Mcdonnell Douglas to drop about $1.2 billion in claims. The Deal was Given to  tuesday. The contractor will make new expenditures of about $456 million for flight testing management and technical improvements. The government Wilt incur $348 million including $237 million to Settle claims. The rest would go mainly to the flight test program Aspin said. If the plane is cancelled after 40 planes Aspin s plan Calls for providing additional Airlift capacity by buying commercial wide body jets or by reviving the production of the giant c-5. A new study has begun to determine the Best backup aircraft for the c-17, Aspin said. Sticking together a they say Christmas is a time for sharing and appear Beach near Jacksonville . The canines were spotted entry these two dogs have that in mind monday at the playing with a stick on Onslow Beach. Lawyers to press for Packwood diary Washington up a Senate lawyers investigating sexual harassment charges against sen. Bob pack Wood go to Federal court today seeking to compel the Oregon Republican to immediately surrender his diary and tape recordings they accuse him of altering. Packwood 61, has refused to surrender the materials on grounds that it would violate his constitutional right of privacy. He has accused the Senate ethics committee of conducting a Legal a fishing expedition for damaging information beyond the sexual misconduct allegations. The Senate after a Stormy and politically difficult Fiu Blic session voted last month to authorize Senate awyers to go to Federal court to seek enforcement of a subpoena for Packwood a diary and transcription tapes. The urgency of the Issue accelerated this week Cathy Wagner Cormack a former Secretary who transcribed Packwood a recordings since 1969, said the embattled senator had acknowledged altering some of the tapes. The lawyers asked judge Thomas Jackson to demand that Packwood immediately surrender All materials sought under the Senate subpoena to protect the documents from possible alteration or destruction. A it is now apparent that the integrity of sen. Packwood a diary tapes and transcripts is not guaranteed Quot attorneys said in papers filed in Federal District court. Moderate drinking found to help heart Boston up a moderate alcohol consumption cuts the risk of heart attacks the largest study to Date on the question has found. The results should a put to rest some of the debate raging Over the past 20 years Quot about whether alcohol helps prevent heart disease or. J. Michael Gaziano of Brigham and women a Hospital in Boston said wednesday. The study found that people who consumed three or More alcoholic drinks per Day had about half the heart attack rate As those who were virtual Teeto tales taking in fewer than one drink a month. But Gaziano who led the study that appeared in the new England journal of Medicine cautioned that the results should not be interpreted to mean that alcohol is a health elixir. A obviously there Are serious downsides to excess drinking a he said. Quot some people can be reassured that they can drink moderately rather than abstaining. But this is a very Complex Issue and we can to make any kind of global  the study compared data on 340 heart attack survivors and an equal number of control subjects Alt of whom lived in the suburban Boston area. Slightly More than three quarters of them were male and those in both groups were on average about 58 years old. After adjusting for such risk factors As smoking the researchers found that those who drank moderately had a lowered heart attack risk apparently because they had higher Levels of High density Lipoprotein or Hal the so called a Good . Scientists have found that Hal apparently works As a kind of vacuum cleaner for arteries helping the body get rid of excess fatty deposits by carrying them away from the heart and to the liver where they can be broken Down. Gaziano said researchers do not know Why alcohol consumption seems to raise Hal Levels but he thinks it increases the liver s ability to produce Hal. In an editorial accompanying the study drs. Gary Friedman and Arthur Kratsky of the Kaiser Permanente medical Caret Ogram in Oakland Calif.,.echoed Gaziano a warning that alcohol consumption can be a Good news bad news Story. Gets slap for joke Greenville . A sen. Ernest a Fritz Quot Hollings was criticized for remarks suggesting that african leaders attend International Trade conferences so that a rather than eating each other Quot they can a get a Good Square  Hollings spokesman Andy Brack said the comment was a joke made when the South Carolina Democrat was criticizing a Trade Deal that would remove some provisions for protecting the Domestic textile Industry. A the senator was talking about Gatt about How it s going to lose 40,000 jobs in South Carolina and the fix is in by the Clinton administration Quot Brack said. A the made a joke. There s nothing left to  the Greenville news reported wednesday that Hollings made the remark during a meeting with Hollings reporters in Washington to criticize the negotiations on the general agreement on tariffs and Trade. A everybody likes to go to Geneva. I used to do it for the Law of the sea maritime conferences and you d find these potentates from Down in Africa you know rather than eating each other they a just come up and get a Good Square meal in Geneva Quot Hollings said. He said the Good food at the talks in Geneva was the Only thing the textile Industry got out of the negotiations. The remark Drew a rebuke from William Gibson National chairman of the National association for the advancement of coloured people who called Hollings a mentally  a was an african american i condemn him for making those kinds of accusations against leaders of african nations a Gibson said tuesday. Navy identifies remains of 9 sailors lost in 68 Washington a amps the remains of nine Navy service members who had been listed As missing in action in Southeast Asia since 1968 have been identified and Are now at Hickam fab Hawaii Pentagon officials said tuesday. The names of eight service members have been released it. James s. Kravitz Riverside Calif. It. Curtis of Thurman St. James to. Ensign James c. Wonn Pittsburgh Petty officer 1st class Paul n. Donato Boston Petty officer 2nd class Clay born w. Ashby jr., Louisville by Petty officer 2nd class Chester l. Coons Bismarck . Petty officer 2nd class James e. Martin Salt Lake City and Petty officer 3rd class Frank a. Dawson Fairfield Calif. The name of the ninth is being withheld because of his family a  nine were Crew members of an observation aircraft that was flying Over ban Thouei be Savannah he to province Laos on feb. 17 1968. The Craft was hit by Smalt arms fire and burst into flames before crashing into a Hillside. The remains were brought Back to the United states after being found by a .-laotian search team in february 1992