European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 20, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pago 16letters to the editor to monday december 20,1993 european edition col Steven s. Hoffman Usan commander publisher Bernard a. 20vist0ski Echor. A news and edit Oral Bill a afar. European editor or both Abs he of Bob a Lek a Nawa Ednoff. Sport editor Gorg Manh City editor to write us unit �9460 apoae092t1 of Postrach 11 14 37 64278 Darmstadt Germany news Eleax 06155-601416 to Call us dial 06155-601 plus Extension or Dan 348-8 plus Extension As follows news ext. 237, �55.282, 226, 326. Sports ext. 225,269,263,332,321,221. Features ext. 230,245,341. Letters to editor ext. 208. Education Jim Jones ext. 226. Business news ext. 326. News bureaus Heidelberg. Germany Joseph Chen room 117. Rome str. 104, 69126 Heidelberg car 419, Bax 191#. 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Classified Germany 06155 601349, Dan 348 8349. Advertising Lel fax 06155-601412 a please Recycle a this newspaper a an author feed Enol Fidiaj publication for members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes do not necessarily reflect the official views of or endorsement by the . Government the de paiement of defense or the u. S. European command. The appearance of advertising in this publication. Including inserts or supplements does Noi constitute Eno Orsa event by the department of Welense or the stars and stripes of the products or services  education i in the current atmosphere of the military draw Down i feel the department of defense dependents schools system has been Able to continue its standards of excellence. Dodds has a Good reputation for their schools and Here at Panzer Ca sent the school is excellent. My children went to private schools before coming to Germany and i was very concerned with the kind of education they would receive when we came Here especially after hearing All the horror stories of the draw Down effects. Bubbling in elementary school has a Good teacher student ratio open door policy with the principal and an Active Parent teachers association. The environment is one where the teacher students and parents Are willing to put in extra time to make the programs and opportunities for the children the Best they can be. My children have been Able to take part in Many study trips that take them into the German culture. This is important if we Are to understand the country in which we Are visitors. They have also been Able to take part in tips to museums other military installations and to experience other cultural events. We have specialists in Art music physical education and talented and gifted programs. Public and private schools in the states do not have All these opportunities for children. Though no school is a Utopia 1 believe we arc getting a lot for our taxpayer dollars Lam now worried about going Back to the states and my children not being Able to do or experience Alt the opportunities that they have now. The draw Down has tic Fly Here in Stuttgart but we Are Lucky that drastically affected the Quality of life there has been very Little change in the outstanding Quality of our schools a Janet Gilmore Stuttgart German something must be done you must really be scraping the Bottom of the barrel in order to print the letter titled Quot citizens need those guns by the Young sergeant from Fulda. Who Are a they a government clergy the people Here and there who Are coming to the realization that something has to be done on the Issue of gun control Laws a a they is a Little vague who Are these bad people who want to spoil the fun of owning a gun to argue for the right to Bear arms with the highly nonsensical hypothesis of civilians a women men too old to be drafted and children a winning a War with their own weapons against a super Force that had managed to destroy not Only the marines but also the army Navy and air Force shows a frightening Lack of adult thinking. The cry for National gun control is not something a few gun haters brought about. It Rose from the terror of witnessing the senseless killing and maiming of thousands of innocent people year after year. Life has changed from the Days the Constitution was written. Today s semiautomatic weapons Liz is etc., just done to go with the a right to Bear  arms that Are All too often in the hands of the wrong people some of them still children. Life will not be Over for the a sportsman a either. How could a Hunter suffer any restriction in his sport due to the prohibition of a machine gun it is time to rethink show responsibility instead of harping about a rights a and Tell the All powerful National Rifle association that enough is enough. A Britta Wacter Ramstein a Germany a. A a a y ,. Not always evident the writer of a a where a the evidence . 5 stated that gaps in the Fossil record Are fatal to Darwin a theory of evolution. That conclusion is it logical t the writer discussed two of Darwin a ideas first that evolution involves genealogical relationships linking ancient species with Modem species second that fossils should thoroughly document these genealogical links. Logically the second idea May be entirely false without negating Darwin s Central concept of genealogical relationships. Similarly not every murderer leaves fingerprints at the scene of the crime but that does t mean the murder never occurred. Obviously Darwin hop a to be right on both counts but he underestimated the difficulty of finding fossils. Fossils Are rare because they Are subject to being eaten trampled buried and otherwise altered or destroyed. Many fossils Are preserved Only by isolated geological events like the volcanic eruption that preserved Pompeii but such disasters Are relatively infrequent Many of the evolutionary transitional forms Are lost in the Long intervals Between these rare events thereby creating gaps in the Fossil record. The gaps Are certainly unfortunate but its simply illogical to conclude from them that evolution never happened its like comparing your wedding photo to your 50th anniversary photo. The two photos by themselves done to record the gradual evolution of every bulge or wrinkle. By the same Token Geol Goca other evidence and reasonable inferences fill in the missing links the same Way that forensic scientists rely on fiber evidence and other clues when there Are no fingerprints. -c.p. Huson Berlin c editor s note the Holiday season has produced a shortage of Fetters so this feature has been abbreviated. We encourage our readers a especially those who have never submitted a letter a to write to us expressing viewpoints or opinions that Are published daily on this Page. All tetters must be signed and include address and Telephone number. Preference is Given to Shorter letters so that More can be published in a timely manner. We Reserve the right to edit letters for clarity length and taste. Send to letters to the editor the stars and stripes unit 29480i Apo a 09211. R commentary j new defense nominee faces Tough Row by the new York times president Clinton has made a Safe and smart Choice in nominating retired adm. Bobby Ray Inman to be his second Secretary of defense. The National Security establishment is already singing the nominees praises. That has to be music to the cars of a president who May feel vulnerable about his own weak National Security credentials. Inman would bring a Sharp mind government experience and bipartisan respect to the Pentagon Post. A retired four Star Admiral and formerly director of the National Security Agency Deputy director of Central intelligence and chief executive of a private sector computer consortium Inman is known for the kind of management skills the incumbent Secretary Les Aspen is said to Lack senators Hill want to examine his management record in and out of government and satisfy themselves that his so Vout amp  a Fafak to facultya6ain about 6/tape Imam. So rms a amp justfaujn6 off a oaf. Military and intelligence background in no Way detracts from his ability to exercise Strong civilian control Over americans armed forces. Such control is crucial because Inman will have to plug the defense budget Gap that was reportedly the last Straw in an increasing tense Clinton Aspin relationship. That will require establishing a firm hand Over the service chiefs whose requests will need to be scaled Back if even a fraction of Clinton s Domestic goals Are to be financed. At the same time the new Secretary will need to get up to Speed quickly on the Complex nuclear bargaining now going on with North Korea. And it will be his responsibility to assess the military implications of the Rise of aggressive nationalists in a nuclear armed Russia. The Secretary of defense is a key member of any administrations National Security team an influential voice on wider issues of diplomatic and even economic strategy. This administrations team has not yet jelled and will not until the president himself begins to give personal direction. Clinton a notion of simply leaving Bush policy on autopilot Many Bush policies had already become outdated in the swiftly administration foreign has not worked. A changed environment following the cold War. In other areas what president Bush left behind were not coherent policies but time bombs waiting to explode after months of procrastination and evasion for example Bosnia and Haiti. Aspin took the heat for some of the consequences. So will his successor unless american objectives Are systematically rethought. Whether the Clinton administration can now begin to perform More smoothly on National Security issues depends not Only on the new defense Secretary but on the presidents ability to absorb the lessons of a shaky first year