European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 14, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                & ufc.,1 4. $ a Fife m3 h13 a m Krs ,5 i thursday., september 14, 1995 her Mari the stars and stripes Page 21 i la have to charge extra for that one. Atot10nal yall. I hav to is 3vsk away of my i can6uarant5s Attu Behot p4v., punic r3r uat6 dear Ann Landers i am enclosing an article i read in my local newspaper. I Hope you can explain it to me. I m totally stumped. Here it is a North Hollywood Man faces Misdemeanour charges accusing him of beating and choking his girl Friend then strangling her pet Rabbit As she watched i horror. Raphael Diaz Rodriguez 24, was charged this week with Battery in a dating relationship punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 Fine and cruelty to Ani Mals which carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $20,000  i Tell me Ann did the writer make a. Mistake a $1,000 Fine for battering a human being and a $20,000fine Tor cruelty to animals k this How Little a human life is Worth i find this incomprehensible and outrageous. What do you make of it mystified in Simi Valley Calif. Dear Simi Valley i agree with you. It is outrageous but there Are going to be some changes soon. Bet on it. Donna Shalala Secretary of health and human serv ices and attorney general Janet Reno recently formed the violence against women advisory Council. I was honoured to have been asked to join this Blue ribbon group which is composed of 40 leaders in Law enforce ment Public health victims rights social services the business Community religious organizations higher education and other Fields. You can be sure this advisory Council is not going to be just another government  this group of no nonsense men arid women is determined to help the attorney Genera and the hits Secretary implement solutions that will most certainly reduce violence against women. Dear Ann Landers you asked for letters from people who changed their minds about suicide or had at tempted suicide and failed. I Hope you will find room for one More. A. I. Ten years ago everything hit me from All sides. I became de pressed and suicidal and started to plan my Kwh death. I attempted to kill myself in March but a Motel Atten Dant Savedge. / i came out of the Hospital still determined to end my life i began saving prescription pills when i went to Church in search of answers i would look around to see if there was a Way i might hang myself from the ceiling. Ann Landers in june i headed for a Small town where i thought i would not be found and took 300 prescription pills with me. Y y. A Friend traced me to the Motel. Three other friends flew up and talked me into going to the Hospital. I walked into that Hospital with the 300 prescription pills determined to kill myself there. While seated in the lobby with. Other patients i picked up a Reader s digest and opened it without looking at the Index. Here is the unbelievable part Ann. The article i saw was titled before you Kilt your self. It gave several reasons to choose life Over suicide. I called a nurse and handed her All the pills i had hidden in my Boot toes and Luggage. You should have seen her face. God friends and that article in Reader s digest saved me. I know you can t print All of this but please shorten my letter and find space for it in your column. My reason for writing is to help others. . 1 am doing just Fine now. \ y been there and Back dear been there what a testimonial i am pleased to give it the visibility it deserves. Bravo. Letters to this column should be addressed to Ann Landers co the stars and stripes unit 29480, Apo 09211 " c creators Syndicate. Many Happy a dear Abby you could do us librarians an enormous favor if you would print this to help us retrieve some of those books that have wandered away. Summer is Over and Many school librarians like me have completed the dreaded inventory chore. This is always disheartening As we tally the books that have disappeared. Some moved with students some were honestly misplaced and others simply walked off in pockets or backpacks. Meanwhile Book prices soar school budgets plummet and replacing these books is next to impossible. Parents you can help too. If you find a Book with a Library stamp in your child s room return it. If while unpacking the moving boxes you uncover a Book from your old school mail it Back. We will be Happy to receive it no questions asked no fines imposed. Be aware that if a Book looks like a Library Book it Proba Bly is a Library Book. Please Don t sell these books at garage sales give them to friends throw them away or assume that the librarians won t care one Way or another. We do care. Books that have gone astray will be welcomed Back with open arms by the Young readers who have yet to enjoy them. Teresa Bateman Brigadoon elementary school Federal Way Wash. Dear Teresa Bateman i am certain you speak for countless librarians throughout the land. Parents children please heed this plea round up All those Library books and re turn them to their rightful own ers immediately. To keep them is tantamount to stealing. Dear Abby in View of All the serious problems in the world this May seem Small to you but to me it s a big one and it bothers me. I am a divorced woman with three grown children. My sex has remarried. I waited a Long time for grandchildren and now i have three. My sex s wife refers to herself As my grandchildren s grandmother. This woman has two daughters. She is dear Abby much younger than i and will probably have grandchildren of her own someday. I would never dream of calling myself grandmother to someone else s grandchildren. I say Don t confuse the children with All these grand mothers it s Tough enough to know the players without a scorecard. Abby Don t you agree she should think of an other name for my grandchildren to Call her. Angry grandmother dear grandmother your anger is probably justified but if you re Wise you won t quibble about what the children Call your sex Snew wife. Technically she is their step grandmother. Your energies would be better spent on being the Granny who spends Quality time with them Reading to them taking them on outings Etc. Sooner or late they la figure out who s who and what s what. Confidential to thinking of dropping out in . Abraham Lincoln said i will prepare and someday my Chance will  stay in school and get prepared so you la be ready when Opportunity knocks. Letters for this column should be addressed to Doar Abby co Tho Siars and stripes. Unit 29480, Apo 09211.c Universal prose Syndicate ,. Get More than just the scores. Read beyond this in stripes every saturday