The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 1

TTT) tie a inre SCRIPPS HOWARD Vol. 106, No. 145 Twenty Five Cents THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1989 Latest Stocks 11-16 Just what the doctor ordered lots of confusion MJ 1 Ti reseurgj By Ramona Smith good for you, or getting up quickly isn't good for you, or shoveling snow isn't bad for you, isn't going to change my approach to how I live my own life." If that makes Sharrar sound carefree, consider his practices and his advice: A balanced diet, including plenty of fluids and vegetables; no smoking; regular exercise; weight-watching. Well, yes, a bit of caffeine. "You should not change your lifestyle based on something that you hear from a meeting like that," agrees cardiologist Dr.

Marie Lindner of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, "because people still have not had an adequate chance to evaluate it." Not only are there statistical pitfalls in some medical studies, she said, but people are vulnerable to hype about health products. Witness, she said, the much-touted oat bran. Bran may Low-salt diet could be harmful. Page A4. Association meeting in New Orleans is enough to send the health-conscious into a frenzy of indecision.

Should we toss out the decaf and reach for full-strength caffeine? The coffee claims, along with the research on snow shoveling and middle-of-the-night rising, were among thousands of reports unveiled at the annual meeting. But the best reaction, say health advisers, is not to overreact. "One study does not a conclusion make," said Dr. Robert Sharrar, Philadelphia's assistant health commissioner. "Meaning that just because one group of researchers out of New Orleans today said that decaf isn't Press news services PHILADELPHIA It's happening again.

The medical messages are flying fast and furious. First it was oat bran, discredited as a magic bullet against clogged arteries. Now it's decaffeinated coffee that's right, decaf accused this week of boosting blood cholesterol. Exercise is good for you. Getting up suddenly in the middle of the night may be bad for you.

Shoveling snow may be no worse than other exercise. Welcome to confusion over some of the major medical issues of our lives. The flurry of dispatches out of the American Heart IT m. jr WfS. I i fuV ill Ir iS I- iti a1 n.

k.JH"Vtt Vu v. help the gastro-intestinal system, but the feds have begun targeting cereal makers' claims that oat bran cuts cholesterol. Dr. Robert M. MacMillan, a cardiologist at Hahnemann University, doesn't believe everyone should be gulping aspirin every other day to prevent heart attacks, as suggested by large-scale studies in the past two years.

The Food and Drug Administration has warned of potential problems with aspirin, including hemorrhagic strokes. He does, however, say a daily aspirin is a must for coronary bypass patients, and he recommends it for other coronary heart disease patients as well. But the bottom line, both MacMillan and the American Medical Association say, is that patients should discuss any health claims with their doctors. (Distributed by Knight-News-Tribune) pay plana by HkDisas WASHINGTON (AP) Armed with an endorsement from President Bush and a fast-track schedule, Democratic and Republican leaders smell victory for their plan to raise House salaries above $120,000 in just over a year and to tighten ethics rules. "I believe that it will receive a strong majority in the Congress from both parties," House Speaker Thomas S.

Foley, D-Wash, said yesterday. He set a vote for today with no amendments allowed. "This is truly an ethics package," said House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich, citing a series of reforms that would accompany the salary increases spread over the next 14 months. The plan does not include a raise for the Senate, where Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, said lawmakers might go for a more gradual pay plan and elimination of honoraria. Under the plan, House members, federal judges and top executive branch officials would receive 7.9 percent in cost-of-living raises by January, making up for inflation since the last congressional pay raise in 1987.

On Jan. 1, 1991, those officials would receive another as-yet-unde-termined cost-of-living increase whatever rank and file civil servants are given then plus a 25 percent pay boost. At that time, new rules would require House members to stop pocketing money from speeches and limit other outside earned income to 15 percent of their congressional salaries. The total pay increase would be about 35 percent if there was no 1991 cost-of-living raise. If it followed the Please see Salaries, A6 S.

Africa ends whites-only' beach policy CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) The government has declared all whites-only beaches open to black people and will repeal the law that allows local officials to segregate public facilities, President F.W. de Klerk announced today. "The time has arrived to repeal this act," he said, referring the Separate Amenities Act that his National Party enacted in 1953. Since then, the act has been used by white local governments across the country to bar black people from parks, libraries, swimming pools, civic centers, buses and a range of other amenities. In many communities, most or all of these amenities are now opened to all races.

But whites-only facilities persist in the capital, Pretoria, in many rural towns, and in several small industrial cities where the far-right Conservative Party took power in municipal elections last year and re-introduced segregation laws. De Klerk, addressing a high-level advisory group Associated Press Tornado left these two women homeless after it leveled an apartment complex in Hunts ville, Ala. TENNESSEE Tcioiaci kills 17 In AlaMma Huntsville Tornado Atlanta ALABAMA jo Montgomery 1 "It was fast," said Lucy Lee Rusk, whose apartment was battered by debris. "It was like one big pop and that's when everything went." Huntsville Police Maj. Robert Moder said this morning that 463 people were injured by the twister, which plowed through a school and rural areas as well as a shopping mall and adjacent apartments.

Police Chief Richard Ottman initially put the number of dead at 19, but his clerk, Kitty Whitworth, later said the death toll was lowered to 17 after police confirmed the count of bodies. Most of the dead were in apartments, Please see Tornado, A4 HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) Rescuers crawled through collapsed homes and shops today looking for more victims of a tornado that carved a 3-mile stretch of destruction, killing 17 people, injuring 463 and leaving 1,000 homeless. "It's like taking six to 10 city blocks and putting them in a blender and putting it on liquefy," said rescue worker Bob Caraway, whose specialty is cave rescues. He was among those called out to help dig through rubble for survivors or the bodies of the dead.

The tornado was one of a series that touched down yesterday in an arc spanning at least seven states from the Deep South to the Midwest. The other torna does caused at least 19 injuries and far-flung property damage. In Huntsville, teams with cranes and floodlights searched for the injured or dead, hampered by wind-whipped rain and temperatures that plummeted overnight from 73 degrees into the 30s. Gov. Guy Hunt sent 50 National Guardsmen to help.

The tornado struck Huntsville with virtually no warning yesterday afternoon as the city's streets grew busy with the approach of rush hour. In a matter of seconds, cars were hurled through the air and crushed, and apartments and stores looked as if they had been bombed. miles 100 Please see Beaches, A 10 U.S. reported taking high-risk tactics to oust Noriega effort to get Noriega out, Quayle said: "The policy on Panama and other issues are very closely coordinated with the Congress. This president insists on consultation and he has gone out of his way to consult with Congress on this and other matters." The CIA covert operation, dubbed Panama-5, centers on an effort to recruit officers within the Panama Defense Forces and exiled opposition figures to overthrow Noriega.

The operation, described as the Please see JVoriega, A6 Vice President Dan Quayle also declined to comment directly on the report today. But when asked if it was proper for the United States to try to get involved in an effort to oust Noriega, he replied: "It's certainly proper for the United States to state the policy very clearly, and that policy is that the sooner Noriega leaves power, the better off the people of Panama are going to be, the better off the people of Central America are going to be. Asked if the administration and Congress were still coordinated on the "It is an unimpeded effort to try to topple Noriega," one source told the Los Angeles Times yesterday. "We're going into it with the understanding that there may be loss of life, though the effort will be not to kill anyone." The administration, criticized for its restrained response to a failed coup attempt against Noriega Oct. 3, is now including use of U.S.

troops as a possible option. "Given the same set of circumstances (as the October attempt), the next time, I think, we will react differently," said a senior administration official. President Bush said at Andrews Air Force Base, before leaving for Houston today that he would neither confirm nor deny the report, which appeared in today's editions of the Los Angeles Times. "If there was a covert operation, would I discuss it, ever? It wouldn't be covert if I even referred to it, so there will be no such discussion of anything, which means I am not confirming nor denying," he told reporters on Air Force One. Press news services WASHINGTON The Bush administration, with secret congressional approval, has launched a new covert attempt to oust Panamanian strongman Manuel A.

Noriega, including "high-risk" tactics that might lead to his injury or death, informed sources said. The Central Intelligence Agency has been authorized to spend $3 million initially to recruit Panamanian military officers or other dissidents to mount a coup. Pro-abortion lawmaker gets church penalty SAN DIEGO (AP) A state assemblywoman has been barred from receiving Communion in the Roman Catholic Church because of her pro-abortion stand in her campaign for the state Senate. Assemblywoman Lucy Kil-lea was notified yesterday of Bishop Leo T. Maher's order Limited abortion measure advances.

Page A12. that she refrain from receiving Communion until she rescinds her advocacy of abortion rights, which she says she will not do. Maher's action is the first such sanction imposed on a Roman Catholic elected official in the United States over the abortion issue, said Frances Kissling, who heads the Washington-based Catholics for a Free Choice. Killea, a Democrat from San Diego, said she will abide by the order and not take Communion, but will continue attending mass. She said Maher's letter was "a little uncalled-for." "He's telling me as a public official what I should be doing," she said.

"I'll accept his restrictions if he can tell me Please see Bishop, A 10 Jewelry store chain robbed for the 4th time since May Index Local Finance Royko Bad vibrations Saving bucks Budget plan County commissioners are pleased with Controller Luc-chino's 1990 budget, but can't promise to pass it without a tax increase. Page CI. If you want to pay less in taxes, plan ahead. Accelerating or delaying payments at the end of the year can save a bundle. PageC13.

Author Shintaro Ishihara says Japan is equal to or better than the U.S. Mike Royko says that reminds him why he doesn't like Japan. Page C3. crowd of bystanders to a car waiting at a mall entrance about 100 yards from the store. Zotter said one of the bandits was armed with a semi-automatic pistol, and that both men pulled claw hammers from duffle bags to shatter the display cases and grab the watches and rings.

A late model, gold-colored car, believed to be the escape vehicle, was found about an hour later with its engine running in a nearby parking lot on McKnight Road. The car, which had Ohio license plates, had been stolen, police said. Zotter said other holdups attributed to the same group of robbers occurred at Bailey Banks Biddle Please see Jobbery. A5 By Rich Gigler The Pittsburgh Press The Bailey Banks Biddle jewelry store in Ross Park Mall was robbed of more than $15,000 in watches and rings in what police say was the fourth holdup at that firm's area stores since May. The total value of the merchandise taken in the robberies was over $415,000, according to Ross Sgt.

Frank Zotter. The latest robbery occurred about 7:10 last night when two robbers fled with seven Gucci watches valued at $12,000 and six ruby rings worth $3,865. Police said the bandits r.y past a Sports Dl-8 TV M. 11 Vital statistics C8 Want Ads I3 14 Weekender Comics B13 Death notices D8 Kditonals C2 Finance C12-15 Football contest D4 Lottery numbers C'8 Movies B2.5.8-9 Obituaries CIO People A2 Press phones AT) Today, light snow. Tomorrow, briskPage A2 4 4- itfi Ti ft wf rf.rt p.t fc 0tt uUti miamimk,.