European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 4, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 stars and stripes wednesday april 4 2007 up to a Quarter of depression cases May be Normal stress by Shankar Vedanta the Washington Post to 25 per cent of people whom Psychia would currently diagnose As depressed Yonly be reacting normally to stressful events like divorces or losing a Job Accord ing to a new analysis that reexamined How the Standard diagnostic criteria Are used the finding could have far reaching consequences for the diagnosis of depression the grow ing use of symptom checklists in identifying people who might be depressed and the billion a year us Market for antidepressant drugs patients Are currently diag nosed on the basis of a Constella Tion of symptoms that include sad Ness fatigue insomnia and suicidal thoughts the diagnostic Manu Al used by psychiatrists says that anyone who suffers from at least five such symptoms for As Little As two weeks May be clinically de pressed Only in the Case of some one grieving Over the death of a loved one is it Normal for symptoms to last As Long As two months the manual says the new study however found that extended periods of Depres Sion like symptoms Are common in people who have been through other life stresses such As divorce or a natural disaster and dont necessarily constitute illness us catching up to Rush on passports Washington the us state department says it is Crank ing out us passports in historically High numbers to meet an unprecedented surge in demand caused by Tough new immigration rules last week it issued a record 412000 of the travel documents the most Ever Over a seven Day period easily besting the week old previous High Mark of 379000 the department said in a state ment on monday a boost in staffing and Over time and weekend hours at the 17 passport agencies has succeeded in reducing some processing de lays from the associated press Alex new Orleans mayor Ray Nagin stands with police As they investigate the scene where a 29yearold Man was found dead monday it was the fourth murder in the City since Midnight police spokesman Garry plot said bloody weekend in big easy by Mary Foster the associated press new Orleans four new murders on Mon Day added to four Over the weekend pushed the cites murder count this year to 55 people so far this is the worst weve had in a while said police spokesman sgt Joseph Narcisse included in the eight deaths is a victim who was shot Over the weekend but died on monday Many of the shootings appeared linked to drugs Narcisse said on sunday he said a 20yearold new Orleans Man was fatally shot in a Fem issued trailer after what appeared to be a drug Deal gone bad drugs and Cash were found in the trailer Narcisse said new Orleans has watched violent crime escalate in the Wake of Hurricane katrina although the latest census Bureau estimate said the City had slightly less than half the people it did before the storm a study by Tulane University demographer Mark Van Landingham put new Orleans per capita murder rate at 96 per 100000 people last highest in the nation with All the efforts being made by the City and the feds you have not seen a Down turn said criminologist Peter Scharf nothing has had any Impact in fact things Are getting measurably worse there were 17 murders in the first three months of 2006 Scharf said in that same time period this year there were 49 he said and that s generally the slow part of the year Scharf said the rough months Are the summer months mayor Ray Nagin has asked gov Kathleen Blan co to keep the 60 state troopers and 300 National guardsmen currently in the City through the sum Mer Nagin said they Are needed to help the depleted police department patrol the streets of new or leans Active storm season forecast the associated press Denver the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane season should be very Active with nine hurricanes and a Good Chance that at least one major Hurricane will hit the ils coast a top researcher said tuesday forecaster William Gray said he expects 17 named storms in All this year five of them major Hurri canes with sustained winds of 111 Mph or greater the probability of a major Hurricane making land fall on the us coast this Yean 74 percent compared with the aver age of 52 percent Over the past Century he said last year Grays forecast and government forecasts were higher than what the Atlantic Hurri Cane season produced there were 10 named Atlantic storms in 2006 and five Hurri canes two of them major in what was considered a near Normal season none of those hurricanes hit the us Atlantic the Lith time that has occurred since 1945 the National Hurricane Center in Miami originally reported nine storms but upgraded one storm after a postseason review Grays research team at Colo Rado state University said an unexpected late Al Nino contributed to the Calmer season last year supreme court gives boost to environmentalists by Mark Sherman the associated press us supreme court rebuked the administration of president Bush for its inaction on global warming in a decision that could encourage faster action in Congress on Cli mate change and Lead to More fuel efficient cars As Early As next year the court in a 54 ruling Mon Day in its first Case on climate change declared that Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases Are air pollutants under the clean air act Carbon dioxide is produced when Fossil fuels such As Oil and natural Gas Are burned the environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regu late those emissions from new cars and trucks under the land Mark environment Law and the laundry list of reasons it has Given for declining to do so Are in sufficient the court said a reduction in Domestic emis Sions would slow the Pace of Glo bal emissions increases no mat Ter what happens elsewhere jus Tice John Paul Stevens said in the majority opinion Epa has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or con tribute to climate change the politics of global warming have changed dramatically since the court agreed last year to hear its first Case on the subject with Many republicans As Well As democrats now pressing for action however the administration has argued for a voluntary approach rather than new Regula Tion r in the Short term the decision boosts californian and 11 other states prospects for gaining Epa approval of then own programs to limit tailpipe emissions begin Ning with the 2009 Model year those cars begin appearing in showrooms next year emission limits would become stricter each year until 2016 automobile makers have said stricter emission limits would be accomplished by increasing fuel Economy standards reacting to the court ruling the automakers called for an econ omy wide approach to global warming cautioning that no sin Gle Industry could Bear the Bur Den alone mothers Bay Ismay 1itti Send a message for free at Stipe com win accept mothers Day messages at Stripe com from March 30 to april 23 be published in the european and Pacific on May 12 111 also be online for