European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 letters to the editor monday. November 21,1994 european edition col Steven it. Hoffman Usan commander publisher Bernard a. Zov1stoski editor news and editorial Deborah a thet news editor Bill Walker european editor Bob Wicker sports editor George Manet. City editor to write us unit 29480 Apoate 09211 Orost Facell 1437 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. 208,400. Education Jimi Jones ext. 226. Business news ext. 326. News bureaus Heidelberg Germany Effle Baleen room 117. Rome str. 104, 69115 Heidelberg Telephone Dan 370 7010 or civilian 06221-23421 Tel fax 06221-10554, Kaiserslautern. Germany Kevin Dougherty an Doyle Tillman. Building 2899, Pulaski Barracks Apo a 09227-3717 Telephone Dan 469-6585 or civilian 0631 52104 Tel fax Dan 489-6357 or civilian 0631 -6366357. Nurnberg Germany Ron Jensen building 21, Wil Liam o. Darby Cavern Apo a 09222 Telephone Dan 460-7250 or civilian 0911-712563 Tel fax 0911-717130. Wuh2buro, Germany Pat Barham building 220, room 109, Faulenburg Cavern Apo a 09036 Tele phone on 351-4289 or civilian 0931-286956 Tel fax 0931-s896770. Mediterranean sue Paw no and Marian Hamilton Naples Italy pc 810, Box 56. Fpo a 09819 Tele phone Dan 625-4880 or civilian of 17624049/4547 Tele fax 0039-31-7624049. Northern Italy j. King Cruger pc 54, Box 473 Apo a 09601 Telephone Dan 932-6176 or civilian 0039434-664176 Tel fax 0039-434-668222. United kingdom Nancy Tomer Marc Mcfann and Dave Aldio. Building 464 Cess us. Raf Mildenhall Apo a 09459 Telephone Dan 238-2226 or civilian 0636-5422261 Tel fax 0636-716013. New York City Timothy Chih room 638, 201 Varlock st., new York 10014 Telephone 212-620-3333 Tel fax 212-620-3268. Washington . Chuck Vlinch and Cindy kill lion Oast a. The Pentagon room 2e756 . Box46095, Washington. . 20050-6095 Telephone 703 697-6699 Tel fax 70693-6366. Business departments Marte Hank. Major us Deputy commander  operations director  manager Jeffrey h. 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 900-99-4955 06155-601436 Germany Augsburg civilian 0821-544529, Tel fax 0821-544565. Berlin civilian 030-8331846, Dan 332-3548,. Kaiserslautern civilian 0631-57070 or 57079, Dan 489-7100. Tel fax 0631-50696. Nurnberg civilian 0911-712558. Dan 460-7001. Stuttgart 0130-840048, Italy Naples civilian 0039-61 -724480, Dan 625-4880, Tele fax 0039-61 -7244489. Vicenza civilian 0444-515358. Dan 634-7545, Tel fax 0444-300 -641. Spain Madrid Dan 665-5807. Civilian and Tel fax 00341 6561465. Turkey Istanbul civilian 0090-212-272 48 43. Tel fax 0090 212-3743209. United kingdom Cirencester civilian 0285-713-637, Dan 247-4445. Advertising display Germany 06155-601247 or 601309, Dan 348 8247. Classified Germany 06155-601349, Dan 348-8349. Advertising Tel fax 06155-601412 please Recycle this newspaper is an authorised unofficial publication Tor member it Trie 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 the . European command. The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements does not constitute endorse ment by Trie department of defense or the stars and stripes of the products or services advertised. Fast classes needed the . Army Europe s decision to cancel the functional academic skills training fast program seems not Well thought out. Although it is True that most soldiers have High school diplomas and even some College there Are still soldiers who have general test it scores of less than 100 and have been out of school Lor several years. They May have trouble Reading their technical manuals studying for leadership training or College courses or writing All the reports and statements that noncommissioned officers Are required to write. We still hear about train ing accidents related to miscommunications and see poorly written letters on this editorial Page. As the army becomes More technologically Complex the need for functional academic skills increases. I have been a teacher for big Bend Community College for almost 20 years since March 197p, and have seen some trends. Basic skills classes were once places where units sent their misfits or where soldiers who were looking for ways to avoid work would hide. There was also stigma attached to these classes classes for dummies and Many students did not have Good attitudes. However now there Are higher Quality soldiers in the army. They Are Niobe mature than before. Such soldiers realize they need some assistance and they make our classes productive and Worth while. That is Why it is  a tragedy that the program is ending now. Nicholas  bad Kreuz Nach Germany thanks for support we would like to take this Opportunity to express our appreciation for the sup port we received from patrons during at lactic resolve. The sales from the hot dogs sodas chips desserts and baked potatoes located in the morale welfare and recreation tent during this exercise enabled club beyond to raise some much needed funds in order to maintain this Organiza Tion for children of soldiers and civilians stationed overseas the patrons who supported our food fable Are an asset to organizations and communities throughout europe.1 i please accept our Heartfelt thanks for your cooperation and assistance. Margaret wearer sorg Hof Germany coed Back in 79 on nov. 2, i read another article inthe stars and stripes on coed Basic training stating the first coed units we reformed in september at fort Leonard Wood mo., and in october at fort  but if i can recall correctly i was in a coed Basic training unit in March 1979 a fort Jackson. The Only thing both men and women did not do together was to take showers and sleep on the Sam floor even though we both shared the same building. I was just wondering what the differ ence is Between now and the coed group inl9?9. In my opinion there were several problems with our coed Basic training unit first the unit could Only train a fast As the slowest person. Second the male counterpart always came to the Zaidof any female who appeared to need any Type of assistance. These rendering actions led to further problems that compounded a series of problems loss of concentration due to the by product of having the opposite sex within  close proximity and the in ability to focus on certain objectives. The outcome was the loss of training and the extent of training a Soldier needs to accomplish the Overall Mission. However most of us in the unit accepted the fact that we were All in this to Gether and formed an Esprit de corps. This created an understanding of Mission accomplishment. The idea of coed Basic training can work especially in one station unit train ing out units with a support Mission. Paul Cieri i Livoto Italy Eagle eyed Reader i read the stars and stripes daily and Iam disturbed  frequency of grammatical errors and misspellings in this publication. I am even More alarmed by errors in reporting. An article oct. 29 re fers to a drug used to treat  drug is called ritalin not Ridlin As stated three times in the article. Reporters owe it to their readers to present factual accurate information. Careful reporting and competent proof Reading Are the least we should expect from a newspaper. I Hope the stars and stripes will provide them in the future. Nancy l. Vii Cresmar Wurzburg Germany to our readers Lelus Knonz what you think we encourage our readers Spe Fialty 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. Send to letters to the editor the stars and stripes unit 29480, Apo a 09211. Or fax country code 49 06155 601-395, Dan 348-8395. We Reserve the right to edit letters for clarity length and taste. Commentary false accusations slander a  to the Washington Post we All know the Story a menacing african american male suspected of car jacking and kidnapping two Young White boys a teary eyed Mother s televised plea for their Safe return a nationally circulated composite of a Man who could be me Given the right  image was burned into the minds of everyone who watched to or read a newspaper or listened to the radio Many of us had become de Facto agents for the Union s.c., police and searched for More than a  we All got burned bad. The leaks of failed lie Detector tests marriage gone awry and leads that went nowhere began to Breed suspicion Amon Many the announcement by Union s police of the arrest and subsequent confession of Susan Smith in the murder of her two children left a nation with its Mouth hanging open embarrassed that its heart could be toyed with and tossed into the Lake like the Young boys who Are now  left a lot of people angry especially african americans. A sleepy Southern town could have turned into Salem mass., at the time of Witch Hunts. Or Boston in 1989 with the murder of Carol Stuart. Hek husband Charles who was White charged that an african american Man shot his pregnant  Case nearly Tore the City apart and stained the reputations of journalists Law enforcement officials and common residents  seized on Stuart s emotion Al Story. Law enforcement officials descended upon a Black neighbourhood in Boston stopping and frisking Young Africa american men. But Stuart s Story was a hoax after learning that he was the prime suspect in his own wife s death Charles Stuart killed himself. Those who were pointing to an inno cent african american Man were wrong. To its credit there were no reports of Union police arbitrarily rounding up an harassing african american men As their counterparts did in Boston in 1989. But we came close. Many people believed it could have been an Anonymous african american Man. I believed it for a Short time. It s that easy willingness to believe that s left a lot of people angry especially Africa americans. We be borne the Brunt of a lot of Quick Finger pointing in cases like these. I m not saving we should maintain a purely cynical Eye toward the Justice system. We can however continue to  could have identified tried and convicted innocent parties in the court of pub Lic opinion a dangerous thing to do. But we did  time. There Are still some unanswered questions. A big one is How do we avoid coming close to the Stuart Standard again the next time. Ballou la president of the Washington association of Black journalists and an associate producer for conus communications me sprawling Java Awn