European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 20, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 letters to the editor saturday August 20,1994 european edition col. Steven s. Hoffman Usa commander publisher Bernard a. Zovistoski editor news and editorial Deborah a Bihar news editor Ami Wefeler european editor Bob Wicker sports editor George mane City editor to write us unit 29480. Apoate 09211 orpostfach111437 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 Jim Jones ext. 226. Business news ext. 326. News bureaus Heidelberg Germany room 117, rim Erst. 104, 69126 Heidelberg car 419, Box 1318, Apoate 09102 Telephone Dan 370-7010 or civilian 06221-23421 or Contact the City desk at the european Start and stripes. Postrach 11 1437, 64278 Darmstadt unit 29480, Apoate 09211 Telephone Dan 348-8237 or civilian 06155-601237 Tel fax 348-8416 or civilian 06165 601416. Kaiserslautern Germany Kevin Dougherty John Bohmer and Doyle Tiltman. Building 2899, Pulaski bar Racks Apo a 09227-3717 Telephone Dan 489-6585 or civilian 0631-52104 Tel fax Dan 489-6357 or civilian 0831-5366357. Nurnberg Germany Ron Jensen building 21, Wil Liam o. Darby Cavern Apo a 09222 Telephone Dan 460-7256 or civilian 0911-71256$ Tel fax 0911-717130. Wurzburg Germany Dave Melancon building 220, room 109, Faulenburg Cavern Apo a 09036 Tele phone Dan 350-6770 or civilian 0931-286956 Tel fax 0931-6896770. Mediterranean sue Palumbo and Marian Hamilton Naples. Italy pc 810, Box 56. Fpo a 09619 Tele phone Dan 625-4880 or civilian 0817624049/4547 Tele tax 0039-81 -7624049. Northern Italy j. 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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 1678-7-34560-800-898854 06-022-7629 900-99-4955 06155-601436 Germany " v " -. Augsburg civilian 0821-443254. Berlin civilian 030-8331848, Dan 332-3548. Kaiserslautern civilian 0631-57070 or 67079, Dan 489-7100. Tel fax 0631-60696. � Nurnberg civilian 0911-712558. Dan 460-7001 Stuttgart civilian 0711-797-7552, Dan 421-4277. Italy  -. " Naples civilian 0039-81-724480, Dan 625-4880, Tete. Fax 0039-81-7244489. V1cen2a civilian 0444-515358, Dan 634-7545. Tel fax 644400-641. ".". Spain "  Madrid us 665-5807, civilian and Tel fax 00341. 6561465. Turkey Istanbul civilian 0090-212-272 48 43. Tel fax 0090 .212-2743209. United kingdom Cirencester civilian 0285-71337. Dan 247-4445. Advertising display Germany 06165-601247 or 601309, Dan 348 8247. Classified Germany 08155-601349, Dan 348-8349. Advertising Tel fax 06155-601412 please Recycle this newspaper is an authorized unofficial 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 department of defense or Tofta . European command. The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements Doea not constitute endorse ment by the department of defense or the stars and stripes of the products or services advertised. Strike the strike .1 like baseball but this strike is ridiculous. They Are asking for More Money when they already make millions to Playa game i defend my country put my life on the line to do so and i make an insignificant amount of Money compared with those who play professional  they get the Gall to ask for More Money is beyond me. The military has tonight for a 2 percent raise every year sometimes getting it Cut Down to 1 per cent or not getting any raise at All. I realize that sports is big business but what if the fans went on strike i Don t think professional sports would be doing any business. These players need to get a grip an realize that they Are making out like ban dits. What other Job will pay. You millions to throw hit or kick a Ball around Julie a. Geske Oesterberg a Netherlands Exchange and it s full of British people having a Field Day. They get first Choice in a place in which the americans Are sup posed to have priority. Here in Germany we Don t really have a Choice nor do behave anything to ourselves. They want to Cut Down on the Ameri cans speeding in the housing areas but they Don t want to respect ours. We love our children just As much As they love their children. They have signs to let you know that children Are playing. Well we have children  one Day we can be treated just As Good As they Are being treated. Loria Griffi Butzbach Germany unfair treatment i be been Here in Germany forbears and i be been hearing about the Many things that the americans Aren t Al Lowed to do. I Don t think that it is fair to the american people to be treated this Way. We re being put Down for the same things that the germans Are allowed to  of All when it comes to working in the american facilities the German person will get hired before the Ameri can will get hired. Both of them can Havethe same experience but just because this is our Host country the German Willet the jobs Many times i be been in the main senators to blame recently an article appeared in the stars and stripes titled angry Senate votes to freeze spending on espionage  for decades the Cia budget has been secret this has been a prudent policy designed to protect american Intelli gence gathering assets abroad. Congress in its past Wisdom Wisdom which is lacking today recognized the in ability to keep sensitive information classified therefore it formed an intelligence  chairman of the intelligence panel at the time the questionable spending was approved sen. David Boren p Pul states that the reason a $310 Mil lion building project was allowed was that the members of the intelligence Community at the time were  who was deceived who misled our Noble con Gressmen we even have a member of the minority party sen. Malcolm Wallop a whoa member of the panel claim ing that the National reconnaissance organization no and the intelligence committee Are equally to blame. At least he accepts part of the blame. The facts Are that government spending does not occur without the approval of Congress. I am sick and tired of american voters Al lowing their congressmen to pass the blame for their inability to effectively direct government spending on others Oren Wallop other members of the intelligence panel and the Senate leadership of both parties who chose these senators to run such a sensitive co remit tee Are at fault. I will bet my career that an examination of the facts will reveal that the Cia and the Pentagon did in deed fully disclose All the spending specifics of this project and the Complete fault will rest in the Lap of the Senate. Capt. Michael Ricks Baumholzer Germany i editor s note i we encourage our readers especially those who have never submitted a letter to write to us. Letters expressing readers View Points or opinions Are published Dally 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. Or fax country code 49 06155-601 463, Dan 348-8463. Commentary rail travel deserves bigger chunk of pie by Jessica Mathews three clues Point to the missing link in american transportation policy in the past 20 years Chicago s land area has grown by 55 percent while its population has grown by 4 percent. At Chicago s o Hare Airport almost20 percent of the planes Fly less than 200 Miles and More than a third cover less than 400 Miles. Nationwide the Cost of air traffic de lays leaped from $5 billion to $8.5 billion last year and it will keep on climbing. Chicago like other metropolitan areas has sprawled because of transportation and zoning policies that make the Auto Mobile a not people and certainly not communities the no. 1  Hare necessarily Way out in the suburbs Drew development away from downtown becoming the City s largest employer. Notwithstanding its growth of Hare s delays like other airports Are getting worse because so much of its traffic serves Short distances. What s missing in this picture inter i. To rail. /. ". V. " Congress acted to save  service by creating Amtrak in 1971. But two decades of bold service Man dates combined with starvation funding have made it impossible to reach eco nomic Takeoff. Rail funding was slashed in the 80s, while Highway funding Rose and aviation funds nearly doubled. Inter City rail now claims just 3 percent of fed eral transport dollars. The reason for this meager share i that highways and airports Are each fed by a dedicated Trust fund. The More we drive and Fly the larger these funds grow and the greater becomes the Road an Airport infrastructure that encourages us to use them More and so on. The sys tem keeps us chained to the least Energy efficient Means of transportation and inthe Case of driving the one with the High est social Cost. The great canard about Amtrak is that it alone requires a subsidy while in the words of rep. Bob Carr d-mich., chair Man of the House appropriations transportation subcommittee most Ameri cans travel without subsidy truth is Drivers pay less than two thirds of the Cost of building and main Taining roads. The remaining $30 billion comes from general funds and property taxes. And this subsidy is just the tip of the iceberg. The unpaid social costs borne equally by no Drivers Are 10 to 20times greater. Rail s social costs Are far  two track right of Way can Cany As much traffic As 16 lanes of Highway. Per passenger mile trains use one third the Energy of an air plane and one sixth that of a Driver Only Auto. Air pollution is Low. Stations unlike airports Are no problem to locate. Sixty million passengers use o Hare each year 150 million Pas through Paris s  station. Rail s Niche is the 100-500 mile  these distances downtown to Down town travel times on a High Speed train Are competitive with flying. In the United states for the foreseeable future High Speed Means just 100-125 Mph reachable on upgraded existing tracks there Are plenty of High density Corri Dors crying out for such service Sandiego los Angeles Sacramento hous ton Austin Dallas Miami Tampa Orlan do and Boston new York Washingto Charlotte Vav is it affordable Detroit Chicago Mil Waukee St. Louis service would Cost $1.2billion. Resurfacing nine Miles of Chi Cago s Kennedy expressway is costing one third that amount. After 40 years the lesson of trying to serve a highly Mobile Economy without rail is Clear it can t be done no matter How much is spent on roads and airports. How much longer will we keep trying Mathews is a senior fellow at the Council of foreign relations. Special to the Washington port th&7bm plate for fakovtuha7af& , no no. Civ on 5&ft0ack. A fro the future