European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 09, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 letters to the editor wednesday february 9,1994 european edition col Steven s. Hoffman Usan commander publisher Bernard a. Zov1stosk1 editor news and editorial Deborah a Thor news editor Butwil ctr european editor Bob it ctr sports editor Reorg Manes City editor to write us unit 29480 Apo a 09211 Orost Tachell 1437 64278 Darmstadt Germany news Tel fax 0$155-601416 to Call us dial 06155-601 plus Extension or Dan 348-8 plus Extension As follows news ext. 237, 255, 282, 226,326. Sports ext. 225, 269. 263, 332, 321, 221 features ext. 230. 245.341. Letters to editor ext. 208. Education Jimi Jones ext. 226. Business news ext 326. News bureaus Heidelberg Germany Joseph Owen room 117, r6merstr. 104, 69126 Heidelberg car 419, Box 1318, Apo a 09102 Telephone Dan 370-7010 or civilian 06221-23421 Tel fax 06221-23421. Kaiserslautern. Germany Kevin Dougherty John Bohmer Steve scholar building 2899, Pulaski bar Racks Apo a 09227-3717 Telephone Dan 489-6585 or civilian 0631-52104 Tel fax 0631-50696. No Babero Germany Ron Jensen building 21. Wil Liam o. Darby Cavern Apo a 09222 Telephone Dan 460-7256 of civilian 0911-712563 Tel fax 0911-717130. Won Burn Germany Dave to Linncon building 220, room 109. Fau Lonberg Cavern Apo a 09036 Tele phone Dan 350-6770 or civilian 0931-286956 Tel fax 0931-8896770. Mediterranean Gary Miller sue Palumbo and Marian Hamilton. Naples. Italy pc 810, Box 66, Fpo a 09619 Telephone Dan 625-4880 or civilian 0039 0617624049/4547 Tel fax 0039-81 -7624049. Northern Italy j. King Cruger Aviano Italy Tele phone Dan 632-8176 or civilian 0039-434-66-6176 Tele fax 0039-434-668222. United kingdom Nancy Tomer and Dave Dudlo. Build ing 464 Cess us Raf Mildenhall Apo a 09459 Tele phone on 238-2228 of civilian 0044-0638-542226 Tel fax 0044-0638-718013. New York City Timothy Lahiji room 638, 201 Varick st., new York 10014 Telephone 212-620-3333. Washington . Chuck Vinch Cindy kill Lon Oast a the Pentagon room 2e756 . Box 46095, Washington. . 20050-6095 Telephone 703-697 6695 Tel fax 703-693-6366. Business departments maj Richard k. A or Usa Deputy comr Wancjer Dale a tos newspaper operations director Fred Shane now York operations director James Wysocky circulation manager Jeffrey kingdom comptroller circulation toll free customer service for Home or office delivery inquiries or delivery problems Call 24 hours Germany Belgium Italy United kingdom Netherlands Spain Tel fax 0130-840048 07811-8775 1678-7-3456 0-800-89885406-022-7629 900-99-495506155-601436 Germany Augsburg civilian 0821-443254. Berun civilian 030-8331846, Dan 332-3548. Bremerhaven civilian 0471-85160, Dan 342-8119, Kaiserslautern civilian 0631-57070 or 57079, Dan 489-7100. Tel fax 0631-50696. Nornberg civilian 0911-712558, Dan 460-7001. 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The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements Doaa not constitute endorse ment by Tho department of defense or the stars and stripes of the products or services advertised. Stressful encounters i am encouraged by the article about the Lack of customer service and people skills provided by certain military office Sand agencies. It is about time someone finally realized How bad it has become an has taken Steps to rectify this situation. Finally someone is listening to the sol Diers and their families. An unidentified woman was quoted inthe article As saying we customers need to be considerate too. They redoing their Job and it is Nice to see some body smile. Nobody wants to hear con Stant  i cannot count the times i have gone into military offices or facilities with a Friendly attitude Ami a smile Only to retreated As an intrusion and a whining Mil itary wife. Apparently any questions regardless of How they Are presented show these employees that we Are uncooperative and unwilling to work with them. I have been advised that i need to Lear not to talk to people a certain Way when All i had done was ask questions to try to find a workable solution to a joint prob Lem. I was made to feel As though i was just a dependent therefore i should keep my Mouth shut and allow people to Lead me around. No question no opinions no thoughts. Many of these offices Are there to Han dle complaints and try to solve problems in their area. Some of these employee obviously feel As though they Are there Only to help certain people such a friends or officers. Quite possibly these employees May be too Lazy to Deal wit anyone they find to be unimportant. These jobs Are All customer service positions to some extent. If people Are not Able to provide that with a professional if not Friendly attitude they should see employment elsewhere. I applaud those who Are trying to re Instate that professionalism to the Wiir Burg Community and can Only hop that other military communities follow suit. There Are Many installations such As Babenhausen that Are in dire need of people who do not turn simple situations into unnecessarily stressful encounters. Jill m. Grcar Babenhausen Germany. Good hearted Hospital due to the draw Down and closure of some american hospitals there have been several articles in the stars an stripes regarding medical services at German hospitals. One woman was rather critical of the staff and patients at Hospital where she was treated. I can Only speak of my recent experiences at the Sta it inches a Linimum in Fulda where i was a heart patient i september and october 1991 and again last fall for re evaluation. In june 1991, i drove from Giessen Germany to Zaragoza Spain to help  and two daughters with a pcs move to Fulda Germany. Upon arrival in Zaragoza i experienced Chest pains and visited the Usan clinic in Zaragoza. The doctor made arrangements for me to be seen by a heart specialist at Maz Hospi Tal in Zaragoza. After being evaluate there the Spanish doctor said that upon returning to Germany i needed to see Aheart specialist. My wife consulted with army doctors at Fulda and an appoint ment was made to see a heart specialist at the Sta it inches a Linimum Fulda. A exploratory examination indicated that a triple bypass heart operation was in order. I was operated on on oct. 1,1991. Prior to and after the operation i was patient in the Fulda Hospital for a considerable amount of time. There were Al ways one or two other patients in my room. I found the medical staff secretaries nurses and technicians Friendly professional and helpful. The two doctor Sand other assistants were excellent. If i had a medical problem i would re turn to that facility in a heartbeat. Jim Cummings Giessen Germany taxpayers burdens engaging in sex unlimited with or without condoms might be an individual s Freedom of Choice however when it affects society As a whole it becomes a different matter. Why should it become the duty of tax payers to foot the Bills for medical re search care and treatment of those individuals who engage in irresponsible pursuits of happiness e.g., sex or drugs Why should monies be taken from tax payers to pay for abortions t he support of illegitimate children and Infin Tum just How much taxation can the Ameri can people take in order to pay for All society s ills when Many harmful things could be prevented through self control and curbing instincts As for the idea education is the key education by whom by the Public school system Are parents delegating the Job of child raising then those people should t have children. And that is the la. Niess Catania Italy i editor s note we exx Mirage our readers especially those who have never submitted a letter to write Tous. Letters expressing readers viewpoints or opinions Are published daily on this Page. All letters must be signed and in clude 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 let ters to the editor the stars and stripes unit 29480, Apo a 09211. Commentary you con bet of electric cars foe fro of does of what do the 30 Miles per gallon family Sedan the catalytic converter thereat Belt engines that run on unleaded Gas the air bag and the bumper that does t crumple in a 5 Mph Colli Sion All have uncommon there Are Al things the Detroit manufacturers originally said could not be made Standard even widely Avail Able. Either the were too expensive or would bankrupt the Industry or would t win Public acceptance or were unnecessary or were simply technologically infeasible. Now the manufacturers Are making the same claims anymore against the Zero emissions electric car. And despite the impressive amount of data they have marshalled in their favor who wants to bet the environment Robert Reno Tal future of America on their being right this time California has already mandated that 2percent of cars sold there by 1998 be electric. And next month environmental officials of 12"states will meet in Washington with officials of the environmental Protection Agency to decide whether to extend this Rule to the entire North Eastern Region from Virginia to Maine. The manufacturers and the Oil companies Are lobbying like maniacs to prevent this of course. Anyway even those scientists  neers and economists who disparage the electric car will now have to admit that the California regulations have already produced results. Witness Detroit s re cent proposal that instead of developing an electric car it invest heavily in More clean burning internal combustion engines thereby reducing emissions in the next few years to Levels far below those required by present and future Federal standards. Remember of course the manufacturers used to argue that eve present Federal standards were unrealistic. Now who wants to argue that having this Blowtorch held to their fannies has t goaded them into action Robert c. Stempel used to be publicly sceptical about the electric car when he was chairman of general motors 1 was wondering what had happened to him since he was forced out a Little More than a year ago in a particularly unseemly coup engineered by a Board of directors trying to prove they had t been asleep while pm went Down the tubes. Probably playing Golf in Florida i guessed wearing his pants too High and spending his Golden Parachute. So imagine my Surprise to discover he s gone into the electric car business. He s forming a company to mass produce them. So i asked myself what does Stem Pel know that we Don the s an  Neer remember an old line automotive nuts and bolts Man. Who is in a Bette position to know whether Detroit s Resis Tance to the electric car is just a Tad technologically specious c new Day but i m your Trust a conf my instructions he to treat this Mission Asa highly a a save National skew of matter you be bbb Hirz Wasmus