European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 20, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16j letters to the editor wednesday april 20,1994 european edition col Steven s. Hoffman Usan commander publisher Bernard a. Zovistoski a a editor news and editorial Bill Walker european editor Deborah Aba her Bob Wicker George Manea news editor sports editor City editor to write us unit 29480 Apoate 09211 or Postrach 11 14 37 64278 Darmstadt Germany news Tel fax 06155-601416 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, Rome str. 104, 69128 Heidelberg car 419, Box 1318, Apo a 09102 Telephone Dan 370-7010 or civilian 06221-23421 Tel fax 06221-27239. 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James Wysocky circulation manager Jeffrey King com troll Dom Orget out of Gutter congratulations. The stars and stripes has finally crossed the line with your coverage of the Schap Case a love lost led Schap Down grisly path a april 11. What comes next Are we to look for four color front Page photo spreads of the a body in a boxy variety Elvis sightings alien celebrity diet plans Page 3 girls secret photos of Princess Dimaria and Fergie at their spas inquiring minds want to know. Thank goodness for the International Herald Tribune and the Wall Street journal which though riot always on the Date of publication at the stars and stripes bookstores Are usually to be found at your local Bohnhof. A Mark j. Hammill Schweinfurt Germany a a. A. A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a. Lack of decency the stars and stripes seems to have regressed to the yellow journalism standards perpetuated by certain Low ethics but High a lability rags stateside. Blurb a love and death in Fulda a april 9. I understand that scholars and practitioners alike have debated for sons Over what constitutes news and will continue to do so for sons to come but in this readers Humble opinion and Post Facto dissection of the marriage Between the murderer and the murderers wife victims Girlfriend cannot be considered a news event. To be sure it contains All the elements of salacious human interest Story sex crime love and death the latter in one of the More gruesome manifestations imaginable. However spreading it All out for the umpteenth time after months of detailed coverage is what this Reader considers a milking it for All its Worth a a blatant disregard for the survivors of this horrific event and an appalling Lack of human decency and journalistic ethics. I am willing to admit that a certain percentage of the stars and stripes readers perhaps a certain percentage in the mind of each and every Reader would like to know what compounds in a persons head to commit such a heinous act perhaps to come to grips with the sheer brutality of it but it is not the Job of a responsible journalist to exploit human misery or to titillate the readership but to relate the who what where when and How of an event. A a rationalizing or analysing the mechanisms of a murderers psyche is Best left to the professionals in that realm a the psychiatrists. The stars and stripes should return to reporting and remove the limelight from a family that will have plenty of Healing to do As it is. Please do not let ethics take a Back seat to circulation figures. A Andrea Moore Aviano Italy inconsiderate coverage i am in Complete agreement with the writer a trial sensationalized april 10. Has this newspaper become a supermarket tabloid in a sure that a lot of people out there like to read articles like the Schap trial and the events leading up to it. A a a the writer says to consider the people involved and their feelings. Is it Good for the morale of the military to constantly print the same thing Over and Over again that a a waste of paper and Ink unless you re worried that some people might not have heard it. Then i could understand the Complete and total a a saturation your paper gives to its paying customers. And now we have a love and death in  in a sure it wont be Long before Hollywood makes it a four part Minise Ries. But i suppose Well have to wait until it comes out on video. Gosh i Hope its in documentary form. A senior airman Greg Rafferty Ramstein a Germany a morbid titillation the continuing coverage of the sgt. Stephen j. Schap Case in your newspaper is i feel completely unwarranted. We have been subjected to All the grisly details of the Case not just once but on Many occasions. Your headlines on easter sunday were a disgrace a a pity that you could not find something More newsworthy to print on such a Day. Now it seems we have to know All the personal details of the Schap marriage and family history. All the characters in this tragic situation have certainly gone through enough a leave them and your readers in peace. Further coverage of this Case can Only serve to encourage morbid titillation in your readers and reduces your paper to the level of a lurid tabloid. A Geraldine m. Mass Stuttgart Germany l editor s note we encourage our readers a especially those who have never submitted a letter a to write to us. Letters expressing readers viewpoints Are published daily on this Page. All letters 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 29480, Apo a 09211.commentary disturbing myths abound among tax facts by Clifford d. May with april 15 having rushed Over you like a Mack truck i thought you might appreciate a momentary distraction. So Here Are a few facts myths and oddball opinions about your taxes. First the facts a Congress has raised taxes 54 times in 30 years but balanced the budget Only once in that period in 1969according to research by the heritage foundation. A the Federal tax Burden on the average family has gone from 2 percent in 1948 to 24 percent in 1989, according to the census Bureau.  1993, combined Federal state and local taxes consumed More than 40 percent of the earnings of an american family with two working adults and a median income of $51,883, the Washington based tax foundation calculates. By contrast that same family devoted 10 percent of its income to medical care. So which do you think is the bigger a a crisis a the average american had to work 123 Days top Gay the tax Man in 1993, the tax foundation figures. And the average Householder spends More than 27 hours doing taxes by the reckoning of professor Joel Slemrod of the University of Michigan. Now for the myths a ? a Reagan Era cuts in tax rates resulted in Washington having less Money to spend right no the lower rates stimulated economic activity and led to an increase in Federal tax receipts from $599.3 billion in 1981 to $990.7 billion in 1989. A the Rich Arentt paying their fair share True false. Steve Entin resident scholar at the Institute for research in the economics of taxation calculates that those with an income of $100,000 or higher account for Only 2.8 percent of the taxpaying population a but contribute 36.2 percent of All the income taxes the government receives. Actually if the tax system discriminates. Against anyone its Young men. The average 33-year-old male will during his lifetime pay government at All Levels $194,500 More m taxes than he will receive in benefits according to Laurence j. Kotlikoff a Boston u. Professor of economics. A but at least our tax dollars Are funding useful programs Arentt they you be got to be kidding. In 1991, $30 of every $100 in Federal income taxes went for interest on the debt a a debt that was amassed be cause no matter How much tax revenues in crease Washington always spends More. And in 1990, of every $1 taxpayers spent on food Stamps benefits 25 cents went to administrative costs mistakes and fraud according to us a records As Analysed by the associated press. Finally a couple of whimsical proposals a instead of haying our Money go into a Black Hole Why not allow taxpayers to direct their Money for example a Liberal Democrat might ask that his tax dollars be sent to the National endowment for the arts where it would be earmarked for Robert Mapplethorpe retrospectives. And a conservative Republican could tag her Money for the building of a new b-2 stealth bomber. A if that a too much to ask perhaps the irs would be willing simply to Tell us How our Money was being used. Maybe you can expect a letter like this dear taxpayer we just wanted to let Yem know that the $20,000 you gave us has been passed along to Mary Jones a 22-year-old single Mother of three in Milwaukee photos and a personal note from miss Jones enclosed Rocky Mountain nows