European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 12, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes monday december 12,1994 at a glance Heidi Yoder displays an Africa Sunburst on her lower Back. It s called body branding exposure to White hot Metal for a lasting scar and it joins piercing As the latest in personal statements. See Story onpage4. Costly decision a Federal decision involving the cancelled a-12 Avenger attack Jet could Cost the Pentagon As much As $1.6 billion. -page5 Brown plans to stay Commerce Secretary Ron Brown has brushed aside rumours that he will step Down to run president Clin ton s re election Campaign. R.pago6 opening soon the decision to disband the presi Dio s 6th army has a Silver lining such base attractions As the Golf course Pool and Tennis courts could soon be open to All. Vav. V. .pfl.-9 beamed up one reason William Shatner appears As capt. James t. Kirk is that Patrick Stewart lobbied hard to ensure Shatner was included in the lat est Sta trek film Page 10 grounded american Eagle airlines has been hit hardest by a government order to ground european built at Turbo prop planes in cold weather. Page 14 l Index Abby Ann Landers. 20 automotive ."., 9 classifieds. 21-25 comics. 18-20 commentary. 13 faces n1 places. 10 focus. 15-17 Horoscope 22 Jumble. 22 letters. 12 Money matters. 14 sports 26-32 to listings. 31 weather 11 convoys from Page 1not move because of the serbs ban. This is of course totally unacceptable Janowski said this will put con Voys on hold everywhere where they have to Cross confrontation Linesbut there appeared Little that the United nations could do in the face of continued bosnian serbian obstructionism. The threat of nato air Power to Force serbs to allow the . Mission in Bosnia an Herzegovina to proceed has been virtually eliminated by a conflict Between .diplomats and nato military planners. The bosnian serbs even refused to Grant clearance sunday to a plane carry ing the . Commander in Bosnia it. Gen. Michael Rose. The plane wanted Toland at Sarajevo s Airport. Rose was returning from a failed mis Sion to visit his trapped soldiers in North Western Bihac a trip blocked by serbs in neighbouring Croatia and he landed in Sarajevo anyway said . Spokesman Michael Williams. The Airport has been closed for week since bosnian serbs positioned surface to air missiles in the air corridor approaching the City. That has forced a shutdown in Trie humanitarian Airlift which supplies 80 per cent of the needs of the bosnian capital s300,000 residents a three truck danish fuel Convoy was hijacked in bosnian serbian territory near Sarajevo s Airport saturday night after gun men armed with rifles and rocket prof polled grenades blocked the front and rear of the Convoy von Merveldt said with one armed serb in each vehicle the Convoy was forced to go to a serbian held Section of Sarajevo where the peacekeepers were questioned. Serbs then agreed to release the troops but two danish officers refused to leave. They were believed to be some where in the serbian held part of the City where the fuel cargo was presumably unloaded von Merveldt said. It s robbery and banditry he added. If this has been done by uncontrolled elements in the bosnian serbian army then it poses a question of who is i charge also on saturday evening two dutch communications vehicles with satellite equipment were hijacked von Merveldt said. --.-. -.  Page 1 nonverbal statement of one s Orienta-tion.".-.  patient doctor confidentiality tha Blaesing relied upon does not apply in the military services and the reason i for one of Mission readiness said maj. Tom Schultz a Pentagon spokesman. In a Case such As Blaesing a Schultz said the Counselor would have to report the individual and the commander would be duty bound to consider discharge. But Peter Tepley Blaesing s attorney said he believed that his client had not stated a sexual orientation and therefor should not face discharge. Tettey said the policy defines telling As a statement that a reasonable person would believe indicates the speaker propensity to engage in homosexual our position is and the evidence Athis hearing showed there was no intent to convey that. Therefore the policy was t violated Tepley said. The Marine inspector general s office investigated Bla Esig s Low re enlistment rating and said earlier this month that i could not substantiate the Bias allegations according to Tepley. The inspector general has offered to extend Blaesing s enlistment for one year after which he will be re evaluated Tepley said. The Pentagon reports that the Dis charge rate for homosexuality is holding steady despite the new policy that Clin ton said would make life better for Gays already in the services. In fiscal 1993, 682  separated for homosexuality about 0.0003 percent of the total Force according to the Pentagon. A total of 597 were separated in fiscal 1994, but the percentage rate remained unchanged be cause of downsizing in the military. Even though the services Are not sup posed to ask about sexual orientation Benecke said the practice is still com mon.,-0-.one woman who spoke on condition that she not be identified for fear of recriminations said her Recruiter asked about her sexual orientation last March. I was stunned she said. The reason Why i was asked was my vehicle was see Nat a prominent Gay Barshe said she parked there because thelot of the nearby restaurant where she was dining was full. The Recruiter who knew her recognized her car because hews seeking a spot in the same lot she said. A. Boston attorney Paul Roecker said he represented a Texas based airman who was investigated earlier this year because another air Force member accused him of having a homosexual relationship. There were two sessions in which hews questioned by military authorities at which i was present Roecker said de Clining to name his client the service member was asked to identify other serv ice members who had engaged in. Homosexual Conductroecker objected. The military lawyers then left the room and came Back and did not ask any More questions that i considered to be Inappropriateto Mcgil m is stir stands by his a is a signal Estimo from Pagel joint and muscle pain skin rashes men Tal confusion mood swings hair loss and new sensitivities to common chemical such As cleaning products or gasoline. The defense department statement said the military had specific approval by the food and drug administration for special military use for the particular medical purposes Indicatedthe Fra approval was based on extensive scientific information which sup ported the safety and effectiveness Fortis investigation Al product the de sense department statement said. Thesda also specifically approved the use of this drug in the military combat Circum stances involved without the usual in formed consent Requirementsthe report however alleges that serv ice members were neither told that the drugs were untested for these uses nor advised of possible Side effects. Or. Edward Martin Deputy chief of defense department health affairs said in a statement six months ago to the com Mittee that the services documented the distribution of  to various units. But Martin said r the information was considered classified due to the order of Battle and deployment of selected Force Unitsin addition he said that since the ingestion of the drug was accomplished by the individual service member its us could not be entered into individual med ical records since Date time frequency and dosage could not be clearly estab-lished.". James Turner defense Media relation division assistant said Friday that Martin. The Senate committee report dispute the defense department s claims that the Fra gave its full approval and that proper documentation was t  its other Points and allegations commanders and medical personnel weren t educated about the drugs Leav ing them ill prepared to recognize and treat military personnel who experienced Side Effectsa the department published a study inthe journal of the american medical association about the drugs use during the Gulf War. However certain elements such As risk education and not getting in formed consent were left put and instead included in an unpublished Fra report. Defense officials gave assurances but did not follow through on promised action to get a waiver on informed consent. On dec. 31, 1990, and Jan. 8, 1991, the Fra commissioner granted the de sense department a temporary waiver on the informed consent Issue for the drug based on department officials assurances that each person receiving the preparations would get at least verbal information. In addition officials said written information would be posted at medical facilities and leaflets would be distributed to personnel when possible. On March 15, 1991, defense official notified the Fra that the . Central come had decided the vaccines would be Given Only on a voluntary basis. Yet nearly All of the 150 veterans inter viewed by the committee said they received no information verbal or written about the products and 16 of 23 medical personnel interviewed said they did no provide any information. In addition More than half of the vet Erans said they were told they could no refuse the drugs. T this trend spilled Over into the civil Ian work Force positioned in the Gulf As Well As Many members of the news media.,a. Numerous civilians have reported tothe committee staff that they were Given  by the military. They were usually not told it was experimental nor were they told of the risks the . -. It added that Many of these civilians Are now reporting that they have the per Sian Gulf syndrome. Many of 150 veterans who testified said that they were threatened with courts martial or administrative punish ment if they told anyone including the unit s physician that they had taken the drug or been Given the vaccines. Therefore the majority of people who received the drugs did not have the information recorded in their medical records the report said Rockefeller said he directed his com Mittee staff to undertake this investigation shortly after he became chairman in it s intended to provide information Tor future deliberation by the Congress he said. -. He Lack of safeguards in the persian Gulf is just the latest of Many examples such As previous radiation and Ltd experiments that the Pentagon has con ducted on its personnel Over the past 50years, he said. These kinds of abuses must stop_ ethical considerations aside Rockefeller said in an accompanying statement it s virtually impossible without documentation for a Veteran to make a disability claim with the department of Veteran affairs