Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 1

Metro: The year's biggest shopping dayIB Religion: All about listening to dreamsOC Sports: Why most area high school girls -basketball teams are coached by menID Creozy Mostly sunny. High 5Q, low 3712B Volume 118 Number 78 Dayton, Ohio, Saturday, November 26, 1994 The First Cox Newspaper CCopyrigrrt 1994. Dayton Newspaper, inc. WeelcencILife: Putting on the glitz for the holidayslC IN BRIEF More, active role ahead, for. reserves 1 will send reservists.

Maj. Gen. Donald W. Shepperdi; the head of the Air National-Guard, said the guard was examining how to train its ground-based air controllers to serve aboard AW ACS radar planes, which have experienced severe crew shortages. Shepperd said, the guard could also increase its missions in Europe and in Bosnia.

In perhaps the most ambitious plan, Reserve combat brigades could be rotated a month at a time through overseas assignments like protecting Kuwait, replacing some of the active-duty combat troops now serving there. "The question is can we make smarter use of the $10 billion we're going to spend on Reserve training every year anyway," said Deborah R. Lee, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. "We want to get more bang for our buck." Many details of the Pentagon's plan still need to be worked out, but its outlines have won the blessing of Perry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several influential lawmakers. Pentagon officials say that there might be additional transportation costs to send reservists on overseas operations but that the benefit to regular forces would vastly outweigh any added SEE RESERVE13A ByEricSchmitt NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON Aiming to reduce the strain on active-duty troops, Defense Secretary William Perry has approved a plan to use reservists in many peacetime roles now performed by regular forces.

Recent military operations in Haiti, Rwanda, Cuba and the Persian Gulf have exposed cracks in the combat readiness of America's 1.6-million-member military. With the armed forces shrinking and military commitments likely to remain high in the future, the Defense Department is scrambling to avoid a crisis. Pentagon officials are proposing that many of the 1 million members of the National Guard and Reserves of the various armed services spend their annual training time performing real operations, including peacekeeping missions overseas, rather than drilling at home. Proponents of the plan say the reservists would receive valuable experience while relieving overworked regular troops. January, for instance, the Army will send a battalion of 430 reservists and 110 active-duty soldiers for a six-month rotation in a multinational observer force in the Sinai.

It will be the first time since the Army began sending troops to the Sinai in the early 1980s that it 1 jT ASSOCIATED PRESS A private moment A Palestinian boy with Muslim worshipers prays Friday outside the Palestine Mosque in Gaza City. Heavy rain canceled a planned Hamas march against the self-rule government. See story, Page 4A. OUwinsNITinOT The Ohio U. men's basketball team had to go into overtime Friday to outlast New Mexico State to win the preseason Na- tional Invitation Tournament, 84-80, at Madison Square Gar-' den.

See story, Page 2D. No more chair Only one woman has wielded a gavel as chair of a standing Committee in the Senate; five have done so in the House. When the Republican-led Congress convenes in January, two women from Kansas will have to find a suitable alterna- tive to the traditional "Mr. Chairman." See story, Page 3A. U.S.

troops to Bosnia The Clinton administration has ordered 2,000 Marines to the coast off Bosnia. See story, Page 4A. New greeting for cops Because of the heightened 'risk of violence and destruction of evidence in drug cases, I should police be excused from 1 knocking, announcing their Identity and purpose, before entering someone's home? See story, Page GA. "it v. 4 Report opens door for minivan recall MARVIN FONODAYTON DAILY NEWS Several thousand people visit Courthouse Square to watch the lighting of the 45-foot tree lighting up the darkness Grande Illumination begins monthlong Holiday Festival i.y 1 Downtown A.

a jlj Great Miami River Dayton Parade starts here 2 p.m. Sunday Nov. 27 By Janette Rodrigues DAYTON DAILY NEWS Sheltering his candle against a slight breeze, Darius Hinton waited and Watched for the moment. This was his first time at the Grande Illumination, and he didn't want to miss it. Minutes passed.

The people around him grew restless and began to chant, "Light the tree!" But the 6-year-old Middletown boy stood quietly, patiently as he anticipated the coming of the light. Between one breath and the next, the moment came, and the dark silhouette of the 45-foot Christmas tree suddenly glowed with light as did Darius' eyes. Friday's Grande Illumination on Courthouse Square kicked off the 1994 Dayton Holiday Festival, a month of, family-oriented activi- SEE H0LIDAY13A WASHINGTON (AP) The rear hatch doors in Chrysler Corp. minivans have popped open in 51 accidents, with 74 passengers being thrown out and 25 deaths reported, the government said Friday. The National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration announced in March that it had received reports of 13 accidents involving eight fatalities.

At that time NHTSA said it was investigating whether the alleged defect warranted a recall. NHTSA's Friday announcement brought the total number of such accidents in the 1984-94 Voyager, Caravan and Town and Country minivans to more than four times the number announced previously, with three times the number ol deaths. The minivans are "the safest minivans in the world," Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau said. "We have the utmost confidence in their safety and capability." There are about 4 million of the minivans on the road. Federal regulators have not ordered a recall of the minivans to replace the rear door latches.

But The Detroit News reported Friday that regulators are leaning toward asking Chrysler for a recall and have shown Chrysler officials evi- runs on USA Network, pits three contestants whose correct answers earn a spin on an illuminated game board. The lights flash around the board as each player hits a plunger to stop on a particular square. Most squares hold cash or a prize. If a player stops on a "wham-my," he loses all accumulated earnings. But if a player can get control of the board, he can ride it SEE luck1 3A Highway disaster GM pickup involved in fiery crash that kills 66A dence they believe justifies one.

NHTSA declined to comment on the story. There is no government stan? dard for the strength of rear latch; es in minivans. Secondary safety latches, like those on side doorsj are not required. In 1990, a highway safety group petitioned NHTSA to extend its latch requirements for side doors; to the rear latches of vans, station wagons and sports utility vehicles. "Each year, there are up to 150 fatalities associated with rear door ejections," the government wrote.

"It is important to note that 95 percent of the people killed were not using their safety belts." GM, Ford, Nissan and Toyota all have secondary latches on their minivan rear hatch doors. Friday's release of information on rear liftgate accidents was prompted in part by a weeks-long examination of documents by Ralph Hoar Associates, a Virgin-. ia consulting firm that researches auto safety and has among its cli-' ents lawyers who sue auto: companies. Paul Larson Parade ends here I A 1 i. i.

I "I Aulton Morita Renee Aulton: Neighbors weren't surprised when she confessed to killing her two children. Page 6A. Akio Morita: Sony chairman, last Japanese industrial pioneer, retires. Page 4B. Call 463-4636 and enter 9000 or these codes for news updates: Nation lOOO Digest 1002 World 1001 Headlines 1003 Ann Landers 2C Horoscope 11 Lottery 12B Bridge 11C Business 4B Movies 4C Classified 7D Religion 8C Comics IOC Sports ID Crossword 11C Stocks SB Deaths 2B Television 11B Weekend Life 1C Editorial 14A PIIIIlllillllll l63259ll6937111 The Daily News is printed in part on recycled paper and is recyclable.

For recycling locations call NewsLine: 4634636, 6349 man pressed his luck to limit DAYTON DAILY NEWS Now 45, he was driving a Mister Softee truck around Lebanon in the winter of 1983-84 when ice cream sales slowed to a standstill. He had plenty of time to watch TV game shows, and he loved them. "I watched 'em all," he said. "But on most of them, you win washers and dryers and cars. I picked a show where I could win cash.

I figured if I could win all cash, I could buy anything I wanted." The show, still airing in re- Lebanon By Tom Hopkins DAYTON DAILY NEWS A lot of contestants have won a lot of money on television game shows, but it took an ice cream vendor from Ohio to beat 'em all. It happened 10 years ago, but Lebanon resident Paul Larson can't forget how he brought a big-time TV game show to its knees. The program, Press Your Luck, aired on CBS from 1983 to 1986 with Peter Tomarken as host. Larson figured out how to beat the system and came home with $110,237. The movie Quiz Show dramatizes how Charles Van Doren took home $129,000 by cheating on Twenty-One in 1958, but it took Van Doren 15 weeks to do it.

Larson did it in an hour. "I just memorized the patterns," he said. Larson's feat is the subject of a four-page article this week in TV Guide. 1 it.