St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 116

i ST.LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 1 1 n- ft E-JVVi f. Shared Interests Page 3 I1 JJ Rocking Russia Page 9 SSHfiift) Jerry Berger I I MgpO(r 0Daiu(on) The Texan Who Became 'Sandinista Sam' And A 'Really Big Amorality' Stardust Dean Martin ACK BEFORE RONALD REAGAN'S first 1 inauguration, television reporter Sam To) Donaldson asked who he'd name to his Cabinet "They haven't told me yet," Reagan replied. The Same Old Routine Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin dined at the Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel the other night. Martin mentioned that a producer wanted him to star in a TV special and asked whether 01' Blue Eyes would be a guest. Sinatra asked about the taping date, explaining, I need to know, because I want to stand you up." To which Martin drawled, "You'd better stand me up.

Somebody has to, or I'll keel over." A Movie Reunion The life of drag racing champ Don Garlits will be immortalized on film in "Big Daddy." The movie reunites writer George Axelrod and director John Frankeneheimer, who worked on "The Manchurian Candidate." Donaldson responded: "Well, governor, you ought to see if you can't get them to start telling you what's going on." "I have one goal," Donaldson says these days: "to find out what's really going on in the White House. I need to talk to the president directly every chance I get" Donaldson, a Washington television reporter since the John F. Kennedy administration and ABC White House correspondent since the Jimmy Carter administration, has written a memoir, "Hold On, Mr. President!" a book that helps explain why Reagan supporters have dubbed him as "Sandinista Sam." But now, sitting in the ABC Washington news bureau, Donaldson insists, "Am I conventional? Sure. Am I a toughie? No.

"Once in a while," he says, "I'll bestir myself and be proud of it. "It's happened on one or two or three occasions so that people think, 'Boy, everybody but Donaldson is "Well, I'm asleep most of the time. I was asleep on Iran." Donaldson explains that he "knew that Oliver North had been coordinating aid to the Contras." "It had been printed that he'd been busy raising funds from outside. But had I done anything about it? "No. "I knew it, I felt it was kind of smelly, but had I bestirred myself to say, 'Hey, what's really going on "I didn't make the effort.

"Hey, it's a lesson every day," Donaldson says. "It went through my mind that everybody must know these people were double-dealing, and isn't that awful. Meanwhile, I'd go out and do something on the unemployment statistics something that was served up to me" at a press conference or in a news release. "Television is a great unmasker of phonies," Donaldson contends. "Whatever you are, over time, it comes through.

And I accept that, for me. "But my job lends itself to a sharp image, a fierce one. People say to me, 'What are you angry about? You always look "Well, I am not angry. But I am Intense. Dan Rather and I suffer from the same disease.

We make viewers a little tense and nervous, unlike a Walter Cronkite It's just our personalities. But people translate that into what they perceive as someone who will kick his dog and beat his wife. "I don't have power," says Donaldson. "Everyone wants me to say I have power, and they beat on me See SAM, Page It's not my job to say, "Look, you numbskulls out there, you oughta take this information and rise up against this ninny." Sam Donaldson 1 DaryT-- "A Hannah i Use rugs Eiy Some Teens By Dr. Charles Schwarzbeck Ml I ANY TEEN-AGERS WHO USE drugs are trying to self-medicate a serious social or psychological problem.

Music To Their Ears Word has it that Daryl Hannah and rock star Jackson Browne are headed for the altar. The Fear Of Flying Maureen Stapleton's aversion to flying is about as strong as her dislike for the ocean. She nixed attending the Tokyo Film Festival this fall when her film, "Sweet Lorraine," will be shown. George Burns Magic George Burns starred recently in the "Better Homes Gardens Super Picnic '87 Show," which is to be televised nationally this fall. After being complimented on his stamina during filming, Burns said, "I handled it at 91, and I'll handle it at 101 if there's another show." Ed Rhinehart, the show's producer, snapped, "If we can sign you, we'll have the contracts drawn now." Burns grinned, put another match to his cigar and offered, "At my age, I have only one piece of advice get a fast typist." ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr.

Charles Schwarzbeck Is a clinical psychologist specializing in children's problems. He is on the faculty of the Washington School of Psychiatry and the Georgetown University School of Medicine; is a visiting lecturer at University College in London, and has a private practice in Washington, D.C. Schwarzbeck earned his doctorate at the University of Texas and trained at the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, and the Tavistock Centre In London. Earlier this year, the International Society of Child Psychiatry awarded Schwarzbeck its annual award for clinical research In child and family therapy. Drug users frequently suffer from misdiagnosed and misunderstood problems persistent problems that frequently started in early childhood.

Concerned and angry adults might continue to ignore the real difficulty, and there is no treatment. For example, over the last three years, 16-year-old Laurlenne has grown increasingly irresponsible. Her grades have gone down, she is secretive about her activities, and she recently shocked her parents by stealing money to pay for drugs. She has been using marijuana regularly since age 13 and thereafter found that cocaine "gives me happiness that I never had before." Without drugs, Laurienne contends, her social life wouldn't be fun. She has mostly sad memories of life before age 13, recalling that children made fun of her and she always felt clumsy.

In spite of her good grades in school, her teachers See SCHWARZBECK, Page 2 Family fin Lead Poisoning: A Growing Threat Escapes Economic Boundaries lull ihi.ii.i i in mi in inn in i. in. m. i- in 3 'f 'v -V. i HZ TTW1 It's too important to the nation to let children slip intellectually any more than they have.

CCORDING TO A NATIONAL survey between A 1976 and 1980, 780,000 preschool children had I 3 I haven't seen any other problem that has the same measurable public health effect The situation is practically epidemic. I wr-ri uexcess levels of lead in their blood. The children were mostly from low-income families living in densely populated urban areas. About 12 percent of black children tested and 2 percent of whites had high levels. Since then, however The Reagan administration has scrapped lead-poisoning screening programs.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has lowered its guideline on the amount of blood-level lead that's harmful to children. Indeed, the CDC has dropped its guideline by more than 50 percent since the 1960s, and some scientists contend that the danger guideline should be further reduced. Health and environmental experts have increasingly expressed fear that the lead content of soil is a greater hazard than previously thought a fear that if founded, would Indicate a greater risk for the children of middle and upper income families, especially those who are refurbishing older homes, an estimated 27 million of which have lead-based paint. Research studies have shown that urban soil frequently exceeds 500 parts per million (ppm) of lead; other studies have cited soil as the principle cause of lead poisoning in rural and suburban areas, and some scientists contend that the danger guideline water, but we missed soil, one of the key elements in the environment "Soil Is a lot more available to kids than paint That's the tragedy of the whole thing," Mielke says. "It's too big a problem not to work on now.

It's too Important to the nation to let children slip intellectually any more than they have." Researchers have linked lead to: Lower birth weights Stunted growth Impaired mental development including learning disabilities and lower I.Q. impairments that are sometimes Irreversible. Health and environmental officials explain that children absorb lead into their systems more readily than adults; they Inhale or ingest tiny particles of lead deposited in yards from peeling, scraped and sandblasted paint, from auto exhausts and industrial plants. For Instance, a 1985 report by the Boston Office of See LEAD, page 4 -pO i 1----' for leaded soil should be reduced to 150 ppm from the present 500 to 1,000 ppm. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conducting a $15-million, three-city study this summer to identify urban soil hazards and measure their impact on children "Some believe lead in soil doesn't contribute to anything," says Sandra Lee of the EPA's Office of Toxic Substances in Washington.

"We don't know, but we're going to try to find out" Tom Spittler, an EPA scientist who's studied leaded soils for 10 years, disagrees: "This is the most serious environmental issue in the country. I haven't seen any other problem that has the same measurable public health effect The situation is practically epidemic." Illustration by Joe Crouch Howard Mielke, a soils expert with the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, says: "We have laws regulating lead in paint air and.