European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes sunday july 19,19s4olympic May follow suit against James e. Starrs of George Washington University videotapes a hand print on a jail Wall in Jim Thorpe  print in jail cell keeps legend alive and experts Busy Hagerstown my. Apr legend has it that an Irish immigrant about to be hanged slapped his Grimy hand on his cell Wall and said the print would last forever to disgrace the Pennsylvania county that put an innocent Man to death. Today 117 years later a hand print can be seen in cell no. 17 at the Carbon county Jai in Jim Thorpe pa., where locals say the Mark a a Long time tourist attraction a keeps reappearing despite Coats of plaster and paint. Now two forensic scientists hired by the Nec television show unsolved mysteries have set out to determine whether it could have been left by the condemned Man Alexander Campbell who was executed for being an accessory to murder. Hagerstown police chemist Jeff Kercheval and James e. Starrs a professor at George Washington University in Washington d.c., examined the print monday in a sweltering cell. They removed paint samples and took photos including infrared and ultraviolet images a a will we be Able to conclusively prove or disprove it probably not a Kercheval said. Quot legends die  Portland Ore. A the . Olympic committee May take action against Tonya Harding if she is stripped of her National figure skating title for her role in the attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan. Soc president Leroy Walker said Friday that any move by his organization would depend on the outcome of a disciplinary hearing later this month by the . Figure skating association. Among other things the five member Ussa panel will consider taking away the National championship title Harding won Jan. 8 in Detroit two Days after Kerrigan was struck above the right knee with a Metal police Baton. The injury prevented Kerrigan from competing in the championships,.which served As the olympic qualifying Competition for the . Team. Harding qualified for the team by winning the event. A it is the intent of the soc to see what if any actions May be taken by the National government body relative to the olympic trials in Detroit in january a Walker said. A that would hold potential for Impact on the status of Tonya Harding As a member of the olympic  usog spokesman Mike Moran declined to comment on what action the olympic organization might take Given that the 1994 Winter games in Lillehammer Norway Are Long Over. Presumably the Quot soc could take away anything she received As an olympic team member. She finished eighth in the Competition. Kerrigan who was added to the team by the figure skating association won the Silver medal. The figure skating hearing is to begin the evening of june 29 in Colorado Springs colo., and is expected to. Conclude june 30. Harding will not attend and will Send no representative. A we must see if there Are actions taken by the Ussa on june 30 before we would consider soc activity relative to this Issue a Walker said. The committee president gave his endorsement of the figure skating associations disciplinary process. A we expect the Ussa disciplinary hearing in Colorado Springs to be thorough and fair a he said. The soc attempted to hold a hearing of its own in Oslo Norway just before the Start of the Winter games in february. But Harding filed a $25 million lawsuit contending the soc lacked jurisdiction since she had already qualified for the team through the figure skating championships. She dropped the lawsuit when the soc cancelled the hearing and agreed to allow her to compete in Lillehammer housing Bias an obstacle Blacks say in poll by the Washington Post Washington a nearly half of All Black americans believe racial discrimination would be a Quot major obstacles if they tried to buy a Home according to a new National housing Survey. And More than half of the Blacks interviewed believe they encounter Bias when they apply for mortgages. These findings were part of the results in the Survey which was commissioned by the Federal National mortgage association Fannie Mae and based on interviews conducted by researchers Peter d. Hart and Robert Teeter. The nationwide study covering 1,403 adults both renters and homeowners found that 84 percent believe that people a Marc belter off owning a Home instead of renting. The Survey reported that 42 percent of the Blacks interviewed believe that a the housing finance system. It. Discriminates against them and denies them Access to Homeowner ship a hispanics however did not consider discrimination a serious problem and about 14 percent of All adults said racial Bias is an obstacle to buying a Home. A discrimination is a very significant problem in the mortgage finance system a said James a Johnson Fannie Mae a chairman and chief executive. Lenders and others in the system a need to eliminate barriers that Are unnecessary a he said. The major purpose of the poll the third annual Survey that Fannie Mae has conducted was to find out How Many renters would like to become homeowners. Owners and renters were questioned Between March 30 and april 10 this year a total of 67 percent of the renters surveyed said they rent because they cannot afford to buy. Two thirds of All renters put purchasing a Home a among the top two or three priorities in their  they said the barriers to ownership include obtaining the Down payment and a dosing costs Quot including fees taxes and insurance that must be paid when a Home is purchased. Johnson said Fannie Mac a is working on a goal of reducing these costs by As much As $1,000. These costs typically total several thousand dollars depending on the amount of the mortgage. A Large number of americans associate Home ownership with Many positive benefits for the Economy in general the Survey found. Those polled said they would prefer to live in an area where 80 percent of the residents own their Homes. They believe for example that ownership leads a automatically to a better Economy More Young people getting College degrees More families getting ahead financially increased neighbourhood safety and greater turnout in local elections a researchers found. Johnson declined to say How much the Survey Cost. Smuggling of tarantulas could net prison Fine los Angeles a a spider dealer convicted of smuggling hundreds of endangered mexican tarantulas into the United states is facing up to 25 years in prison plus a $1.25 million Fine. Jurors in the . District court trial look just 30 minutes thursday to convict Stephen Earl Cook 46, of Long Beach. Sentencing was set for july 25. Mexican red kneed tarantulas Are classified Asen angered under both mexican Law and the . Endangered species act assistant . Attorney Nathan Hochman said. Prosecutors said Cook a dealer in reptiles and spiders since childhood paid s3 apiece for 600 mexican red kneed tarantulas in Colima Mexico last August and november. Cook carried them in by suitcase and later sold the crawlers for s30 to s45 each at reptile and spider shows and to private collectors. Defense attorneys argued that Cook did not know the spiders were protected. A Tarantula expert testified during the trial that Cook jeopardized the survival of the spiders in Colima their Only natural habitat and that the tarantulas venom was under research As a possible treatment for Parkinson a and alzheimer a diseases