Banner Graphic, Volume 19, Number 8, Greencastle, Putnam County, 14 September 1988 — Page 2

THE BANNERGRAPHIC September 14,1988

Officials encourage cautious reaction to EPA’s radon gas health advisory

By The Associated Press Health, legal and industry experts are cautioning Hoosiers not to overreact to a federal report that said every house in the United States should be tested for possibly dangerous levels of radon. A national health advisory issued Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency said high levels of the radioactive gas are more widespread than originally thought and could affect as many as 8 million homes nationwide. IN INDIANA, 26 percent of the 1,217 homes surveyed had levels that exceeded the EPA’s “action level.” However, Attorney General Lin-

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ley E. Pearson said consumers should question *anyone offering expensive tests to detect the gas and even more costly solutions. “People shouldn’t be frightened into spending thousands of dollars,” Pearson said Tuesday. Paul Ziemer, head of Purdue University’s School of Health Sciences said the EPA announcement might have been a “bit of an overreaction.” ‘‘SINCE THEY GOT unexpected results they wanted to ensure that home dwellers have some assurance. The only way is to test everybody,” Ziemer said. “Radon gas is everywhere the question is at what level.” Experts disagree on what concentrations of the gas might pose a health danger. The EPA guideline of 4 picocuries per liter is considered conservative by some groups. The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements indicates a measurement of 8 picocuries is more realistic. “People shouldn’t panic if they are over 4. That’s not really that high,” Ziemer said. RADON IS produced by the natural decay of radioactive materials in soil and rock. It seeps into basements and crawl spaces and becomes dangerous when it

LINLEY PEARSON

Discourages radon panic breaks down into particles that are inhaled into the lungs and damage sensitive bronchial tissue. That condition increases the risk of developing lung cancer, health officials have warned. Radon first became an environmental concern after tests in 1984 revealed some East Coast homes had levels of more than 200 picocuries. However, levels of the gas can differ from home to home and from hour to hour. “IT IS A HEALTH hazard, but it’s not like AIDS, where you get it and can’t do anything about it,” said Eurie J. Morris, customer service manager at a Glenwood, 111. manufacturer of radon testing kits. Lorand Magyar, owner of Radon

Teen-aged male prostitute cleared in lawyer’s death

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) A jury acquitted a teen-age male prostitute in the fatal stabbing of a prominent Indianapolis attorney, whom the teen’s lawyer said “got what he deserved.” Herb Robbins, 17, while innocent of a murder charge,, was convicted Tuesday on charges of robbing Donald , L r . Jackson, the vice president of the Indiana Bar Association, and of stealing the attorney’s car after the stabbing. DEFENSE ATTORNEY Christopher C. Zoeller criticized Jackson for his homosexual relationship with the teen-ager, an admitted prostitute. “Who promoted prostitution?” Zoeller asked the jury in his closing argument. “Who contributed to the delinquency of a minor? Who should have known better? Who got what he deserved? Donald Jackson did. “There was a dark side to this man’s character. It was unknown by his wife but it was known to the defendant,” Zoeller said. The seven-man, five-woman Marion Superior Court jury deliberated about six hours Tuesday night before finding Robbins innocent of two murder charges but guilty of the other two counts. Judge John J. Tranbcrg set sentencing for Sept. 29. Robbins faces a maximum possible sentence of 55

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Testing and Mitigation Systems in Indianapolis, said a level up to 10 shouldn’t concern a homeowner unless there are children or a smoker in the residence. He recommended that radon testing and radon reduction not be done by the same company. IN MANY CASES, radon levels can be inexpensively reduced by sealing leaks in basements and crawl spaces and by creating better ventilation, experts said. Attorney General Pearson said no radon project should exceed SI,OOO, but Magyar said the maximum for a difficult job could be about $2,500. Ball State University’s energy center offers a 48-hour test for sls. The number in Muncie is (317) 285-1135. Indiana State Board of Health spokesman David McCarty said his agency has lists of both commercial and non-commercial testers. “WE ENCOURAGE everyone to do charcoal testing first and not let anyone use the results of just one test as conclusive,” McCarty said. The charcoal canister test gives the homeowner a snapshot of his radon level, a measurement of the gas at one point in time. It is used for about three days, and if the laboratory results show a level of 4 picocuries per liter, additional tests should be done, McCarty said. The second test, called alpha track, takes from three months to a year and is more conclusive, he added.

years in prison. THE ATTORNEY’S nude body was found June 30 in a room at the Chariot House Motel, which charges hourly rates. Robbins confessed he met with Jackson, 49, that night for their second sexual encounter. He testified the two argued and he stabbed Jackson when Jackson attempted to force him to participate in anal intercourse. The teen said he refused, fearing he could contract AIDS. In her closing statements, deputy prosecutor Barbara J. Trathen acknowledged the dual lifestyle of Jackson, a partner in the law firm of Bingham Summers Welsh and Spilman. She added, “AIDS becomes a scare word, a powerful diversion, a smokescreen from the reality of what he (Robbins) did. Whatever you think of Donald Jackson’s action, he was a human being with a right to life.” The day after the killing, Robbins used Jackson’s car to take a 14-year-old girl to the Kings Island amusement park near Cincinnati. He was later arrested during a routine prostitution sweep on Monument Circle and was found to have one of Jackson’s credit cards.

Mutz wants to face Bayh in front of Hoosier editors INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Republican gubernatorial nominee John M. Mutz wants to go before the top editors of Indiana’s 10 largest newspapers to discuss issues with Democrat Evan Bayh. Mutz challenged Bayh on Tuesday to make the joint appearances. The GOP lieutenant governor said his challenge was prompted by the Bayh campaign’s refusal to this point to schedule a debate during October and early November. “I believe this will force Evan to finally be specific about how he would deal with the issues,” Mutz said. The Bayh campaign said there was little need to appear before editors of the state’s largest newspapers. “I talked with Evan and his response was, ‘Gee, we’ve already done that,”’ said Fred Nation, Bayh’s campaign press secretary. Nation noted that the editors of the 10 largest newspapers are members of the Associated Press Managing Editors group that co-sponsored the Sept. 7 debate between Bayh and Mutz. Nation said discussions about another debate between the two candidates “are still very much alive.”

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EVAN BAYH

To debate or not to debate seems to be the issue

U.S. trade deficit falls to lowest level since 1948

WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. merchandise trade deficit shrank to $9.5 billion in July, the lowest monthly imbalance since . December 1984, the government reported today. The Commerce Department said the dramatic 28 percent improvement in the trade deficit reflected a small increase in exports and a big decline in imports. THE LATEST TRADE deficit was certain to cheer Republican presidential candidate George Bush, who has been trying to deflect charges from Democrat Michael Dukakis that the country’s soaring trade deficits demonstrate a major flaw in the Reagan economic program. The July deficit was substantially better than economists had expected. The government did, however, boost the June deficit to $13.2 billion from the originally reported $12.5 billion. The June deficit was the biggest trade shortfall since a $14.4 billion deficit in February, a figure that had sent the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling by 100 points. THE JULY DEFICIT was likely to have an opposite effect. Indeed, even before the number was reported, optimistic remarks by Treasury Secretary-designate Nicholas F. Brady set off a lastminute Wall Street buying spree Tuesday. He said he expected the trade deficit will decline at a “surprisingly fast” pace over the next few months, a remark investors interpreted as a hint that today’s report would be encouraging. For the first seven months of this

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JOHN MUTZ

year, the U.S. trade deficit has been running at an annual average of $137.5 billion, down 19.3 percent from the record $170.3 billion deficit suffered in 1987. THE SIGNIFICANT narrowing in the trade deficit this year has been a major factor behind the economy’s better-than-expected economic performance. Analysts said that more than half of all economic growth this year is coming from the narrowing trade gap. U.S. exports are booming as the weaker dollar has made American goods competitive once again on world markets, a factor that has helped push factory operating rates to the highest level in eight years. The $9.5 billion July imbalance between exports and imports was only the second single-digit deficit in the last three years and was the lowest since a $8.03 billion deficit in December 1984. The deficit had declined to $9.76 billion in May. THE JULY improvement reflected a big 8.9 percent drop in, imports, which declined to $35.99 billion from a record June figure of $39.50 billion. Exports were up by a smaller 0.7 percent to $26.5 billion, keeping them near the record levels they have been at for the last several months. The big drop in imports came primarily in big-ticket capital goods, which dropped by $1.2 billion to $8 billion. This category had risen sharply the previous month as U.S. companies had looked abroad for the equipment needed to expand their own production facilities. ALSO DROPPING sharply in July were car imports, which fell by SBO3 million with almost all of that decline coming from a drop in shipments of cars from Canada. As usual, the country suffered its biggest deficit with Japan, a $4.4 billion imbalance, which was unchanged from June. The deficit with Western Europe rose to $2.3 billion from $1.9 billion in June. The deficits with Taiwan and Canada were unchanged at $1.2 billion and sl.l billion, respectively.

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