European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 19, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday december 19, 1993 commentary the stars and stripes Page 15what newspapers Are saying at Home the following editorial excerpts Are selected from a Cross Section of newspapers throughout the United states. The editorials arc provided by the associated press and United press  daily Gazette Schenectady . After a record five Days of space walking to fix the ailing Hubble space Telescope the astronauts Are Safe on planet Earth their Job extremely Well executed. And yet however much we crave knowledge of the great beyond there is so much work to be done Here on Earth that it makes sense to question the Worth of seeking All the answers especially Given the Hubble s astronomical Price tag. It s ludicrous to cry that America has no Money for. Basic needs when it is pouring vast amounts into outer space. In the end it All comes Down to setting . Paul Minn Pioneer press when it absolutely had to do the excruciatingly difficult the Crew of the shuttle Endeavor and their Earth bound Nasa colleagues delivered. Some say Why keep reaching into the heavens with expensive space programs people need bread today not Moon dust or a s3 billion Telescope to troll the universe for other worlds. Bread yes. But dreams that come True too. Expanding knowledge through the technical and intellectual frontiers of the kind pioneering in the. American space program corrects for nearsighted vision in the National  Post Gazette t a. A. A advocates for the . Space program used to complain that the american people had become so jaded by masterfully managed Moon landings that they did t give Nasa credit for other Well executed operations. But the labors of seven astronauts to repair the Hubble space Telescope Are remarkable even when considered in a vacuum. This was one Large step for Hubble and one giant leap for Public Confidence in extraterrestrial exploration examiner san Francisco political Power May come from the barrel of a gun As Mao tse Tung proclaimed. But economic Power in America comes out of millions of pocketbooks. That s Why we join surgeon general Joycelyn elders in urging parents to refuse to buy toy guns As Christmas presents. A a a. If enough parents heed the surgeon general Scall toy manufacturers will get the message. There Are Lens of thousands of ways to divert and entertain children. We done to need to glorify the tools of death and Heartbreak to keep our youngsters  Washington Post the two people who campaigned so Long and Well to put the Brady Bill into Law Are ready for a new Battle against gun violence a and anyone who has been following the news from the streets of their hometowns or the subway cars in new Yolk can see Why., Quot the possibility of movement Here has just opened up Quot president Clinton said Quot and the american people need to keep the pressure on and we ii keep moving. J that s an invitation that awaits the return of Congress and invites the support of everyone who believes that this country can make and enforce. Distinctions Between gun ownership and gunfire  Post intelligencer Quot guns done to kill people a the National Rifle association and other gun lobbies always declare Quot people kill  Well then it makes perfect sense to Deal with the people As much As the guns. Thus president Clinton has asked attorney general Janet Reno to study lie possibilities of requiring the licensing of gun owners and the registration of guns. Some May feel threatened by such a totalitarian scenario. There is a much greater and More immediate threat from the unregulated unlicensed Possession of  City . Journal Here s an idea. Civic leaders in Kansas City mo., Are developing a Media Campaign to curb violence. The idea is to promote nonviolent conflict Resolution. Teach teen agers that differences can be resolved without violence. Make it Cool to walk away from a confrontation. The Campaign funded by foundation Grants centers around the phrase Quot Squash it a As in Squash those impulses to lash out Squash that urge to strike  we Squash the urge violence will plague  san Diego Lenlon Tribune surgeon general Jocclyn elders suggestion that americans crime rate could be decreased by legalizing drugs is not merely controversial. It is irresponsible. The absence of an easy solution to drug abuse should not cause this country to decriminalize drugs. Rather we must wage a sustained coordinated Effort to reduce the demand for these life destroying  Chanute Kan Tribune surgeon general Joycelyn elders has dropped another Public relations bomb on the Clinton administration by suggesting that legalizing drugs could help solve some of americans crime problems., we agree. Each year we pour billions of dollars into our War on drug abuse. Some of these efforts Are modestly successful. But some Are not. We strongly disagree with most of elders other positions such As her support of abortion rights but her suggestion to study decriminalization has some Merit. A Detroit free press a a \ a lot of serious people a notably libertarians and conservatives a argue that trying to outlaw drugs adds to crime. A Why is . Surgeon general Joycelyn elders supposedly in trouble now because she had the unmitigated Gall to argue. That maybe we would have less trouble with crime if we gave drug addicts less reason to resort to it. President Clinton and or. Elders surely know that those who want to discredit the surgeon general will try to paint her As a fuzzy minded Radical even when the Radical idea she is floating is straight out of libertarian dogmas. Louis pos dispatch a task Force on welfare r form has proposed that president Bill Clinton impose a two year limit on Public Aid and require All recipients to find employment in private Industry or be placed in Public service jobs. The report does no to say what the government should do if welfare recipients cannot find private employment or if their states Lack Public service jobs to accommodate them. Nevertheless a number of studies suggests that Well designed state welfare reforms can make a  angelas Timas Energy Secretary Hazel o weary was Quot appalled shocked and deeply saddened a she said to learn that the United states had injected 18 human subjects with plutonium during the 1940s. Quot it just gave me an ache in my gut and my heart Quot she added. Quot certainly by the standards of today it is apparent that informed consent could not have taken  on Earth was the rationale. The cold War has left behind a radioactively dirty peace and the nation has no Choice but to Start the  Elmee Picayune now Orleans what to do with the North Atlantic treaty organization that has been the question since the collapse of the soviet Union and the communist regimes of its East and Central european allies. Now that its former cold War adversaries appear to pose Little if any direct military threat nato must decide what it is to protect and what it is to defend against. Until that question is answered it is not unreasonable to Ponder another question is there now any need for nato to exist at All