European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 19, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 letters to the editor monday december .19, 1994 thes european edition col Steven 8. Hoffman Usa commander publisher Bernard a. Zowistoski. Editor. Nev a and editorial Deborah Absher news editor Bill Walker european editor Bob Wicker sports editor George Manet City editor to write us unit 29480 Apo a 09211 Orpostfachn-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. Business news ext. 326. News bureaus Heidelberg. Germany Effie Bathen room 117, Rome str. 104, 69115 Heidelberg Telephone Dan 370 7010 or Chan 06221-23421 Tel fax 06221-10s54. Kaiserslautern. 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" seeking the real needy the approaching Holiday season gives us All that Holiday spirit and it s a time when we place special emphasis on helping others. Army Community service acs has been out in our Community in preparation to help with its shake a can program designed to help those families in need by making this Holiday a Little brighter. We give thanks for this program and its goal of helping those in need. My con Cern is just what is the military s definition of needy seeing some of the families that Quali fied and received with this program while other More needy families were overlooked made me want to cry. How can one justify a higher enlisted who i clearly financially established receiving while lower enlisted stands by Only to watch i realize that there Are recipients Whoso need this generosity but More importantly there Are those who clearly do not. With this situation How can one honestly look in the Mirror and receive knowing those less fortunate will go without after people donated so much of their time to help make this event possible this season where is the Chain or Cournand where Are those who were responsible to ensure integrity and ensure that the proper families Are looked out for to see that this program not be taken advantage of by those who Are deceitfully greedy and obviously not needy Josic Miller Kaiserslautern Germany at the mercy of movers i realize this problem has been addressed before yet i feel the situation is out of control. I am referring to the Way our furniture our household goods and even our very memories Are treated by . Government contract movers. My wife and i anxiously awaited the arrival of our household goods after our pcs to Germany. Had i known in and Vance the Heartbreak and emotional upheaval that unpacking some of our most treasured items would bring would not Haye looked Forward to their arrival with such  wife cried seeing her antique Wash stand which was More than 90 years old and had survived much. The vicious handling by the government contract movers proved too much for it. It was broken into 49 pieces and stuffed into a Ward Robe Box. The total for our damages was in the thousands of dollars for those items that Are replaceable. However How does one replace the Many hours spent refinishing an old piece of furniture try replacing that Blob of Clay that your 6-year-old son says is a paper weight made just for you,pad." try to get the government to Rev i Burse you for the Only photo of you great great grandmother or the Tea cups your wife s grandmother gave her. My wife acquired Many of her things before we Ever met. It is difficult for me to explain to her that most military families Nave had to adopt the philosophy that you never buy anything Good until you retire. We try not to think about the condition of the items we have in storage. My new neighbors were nervously waiting the arrival of their Home. I say Home because i feel that it is not the four Walls that make up your Home but what you put in it that makes it your Home. I am sad to say my neighbors were devastated when their things finally  Odd boxes Are apparently lost for Ever. The furniture that they Are still pay ing on was badly damaged. I wish i could say that this was negligence on the Parton the movers but it is not even the most casual observer will realize that this was a Case of pure maliciousness. In one Box my neighbor discovered a Brush that had its handle broken in half to make it fit in the Box that it was packed in. They estimate replacement costs at be tween $9,000 and $10,000. We All have our horror stories about military moves which make it harder for me to understand Why the most powerful government on the planet cannot bring a problem like this under control. As members of the military we Are expected to adhere to a very strict and rigid code of ethics arid Laws. It is my Conten Tion that companies who wish to make Money contracting their services to the military be forced to abide by the same standards. If these persons or companies feel that they cannot do this then have them step aside and allow others who will. It is about time the . Government recognizes the human and not just the monetary Impact that this problem has on the morale and welfare of All of the members of its armed forces. The time has come for us to let the Long Arm of the judge advocate general s office reach out and touch  master sgt. Dudley s. Hurley Gic Belstadt Germany to our readers let us know what you think 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. 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 a political shot in the Arm for France by the new York times. Jacques Delors who has spent the past decade presiding Over construction of the european Union had a Good Hance of moving on to an even More prestigious Job next Spring president of France. Despite Public disenchantment with his socialist party polls showed him the front runner to succeed his Friend an fellow socialist Francois Mitterrand but last week deters announced that he would not be a candidate shocking Polit ical insiders and scrambling the presiden tial race. Delors will be missed especially bythe socialists and those favouring a More Federal Europe two causes now bereft of a popular Champion. But his departure could administer a healthy Jolt to French political culture Ata time when cynicism corruption and displays of raw ambition have dangerously alienated voters across the spectrum. Delors cited political and personal Rea sons for declining to make the race. Despite his personal popularity he reasonably Felt that voters would not be prepared to give him a political mandate to deliver on his Center left europeans ideals. ". His concept of activist government combining Market economics with a Strong social policy and his vision of federalist Europe Are now out of favor with mos French voters. The political party situation is evenness congenial to Delors s intellectual approach. The socialist party leadership stands Well to his left while the current legis lature stands Well to his right. Conservatives now hold 480 out of 577seats. " -. New legislative elections could change that arithmetic but not enough to allow Delors to put his ideas into practice. Personally Delors is no known for humility and the Prospect of going from unchallenged head of bureaucratic Europe to the rough and Tum ble of governmental Compromise Proba Bly did not Appeal to him. Already 69, he Felt he had done his duty to his party and did not want to end up like his Friend Mitterrand isolated in the presidency and forced to cohabit with conservative cabinets. Delors then had the honesty to recognize that the temper of the times  allow him to govern according to his convictions and the dignity to resist deceiving himself and the voters on that score. In an age of cynicism and disillusion with politics he stands out As the inter Esting exception a politician of ideas who preferred to retire with his dignity and legacy intact. His decision was the right one. His kind of inflexibility while admirable is ill suited for democratic governance. But if the examples of his Early Appesland dramatic withdrawal lift the sights of the More conventional politicians who re main in the running Delors will have made an especially valuable contribution to the presidential race.