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Show Reflections, June 14, 1984, Page 4 Secretary of Defense Gives His Side Dear Readers: Ive put on my steel helmet in anticipation of the flying objects that are sure to be hurled by those who will accuse me of using this space for political purposes. Recently printed a letter critical of the I Defense Department for recklessly spending $1,280 for a diode. (A diode is a device about the size of a grain of rice. It is used to control electrical rent.) Two cursen- ior Navy officers, who were in charge of a project Hornet, thought involving the $1,280 was excessive. They hunted around and found a diode in a hardware store for 34 cents. I checked the facts and they were precisely as the reader presented them. 8 felt he was justifiably outraged, and said so. Shortly after that letter appeared received a rebuttal from Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of Defense. I feel in all fairness I should make available to the secretary the opportunity to tell his side of the story to my 70 million daily reades. Here it is. Dear Ann Landers: I read, with considerable interest, your column in the Washington Post concerning the two Navy officers who refused to order an overpriced spare part through the military supply system and found one in a local store for much less. The fact that we are reading about these cases in the press is a tribute to the efforts of our investigators and to the common sense and of our military service members and civilian employees. When this administration took office, we found that many existing contracts and procedures could at times cause ridiculous spare parts overpricing. I instructed my staff to change those contracts and procedures as soon as possi I I ble and root out the examples of waste. The Navy subsequently recovered a re- fund of $76,000 from the supplier of the spare part referred to in your column. In your reply, you cited statistics that show the world spends more on arms" than on social programs. People tend to forget that a government's most vital social program is to keep its people alive and free. It is to bad that our defenses were so badly neglected during the 1970s. We must now recover from that neglect during difficult econ- modernizing our forces and improving combat readiness, and thus, because our deterrent strength is increasing, we are also reducing the possibility of ever having to use these forces in war. We shall continue to try to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse, whether we find it in the defense establishment or in our civilian suppliers. The public needs to have all the facts if they are going to be able to judge our efforts fairly. Thanks for this chance to get my two cents in. times, and simultaneously improve our forces to counter a massive Soviet buildup that shows no sign of There should be a Hall of Fame set aside for parents who survive teen- agers. I wonder if will qualify. . . wakes up snarling, Our attacks her day for the most part snarling and goes to bed snarling. She is not alone; the parents of her friends tell me their daughters do the same. Constantly dissatisfied with her world, our teen places parents at the head of her list of unacceptable quantities, followed closely by brothers and sisters, her "boring" home and a constant lack of money. Her home town doesn't escape there is never anything to do within its boundaries. The opposite sex is out of the right boys never call. The favor contents of her closet have no merit everything is out of style. Teachers are out to get her (or else are boring"). She always wants to live with someone elses family, where, she imagines, there are no rules or chores or set hours I Mary S. Thornton, Grantsville, is the mother of seven, four of them teens, one on the verge. She writes to record; when something happens that impresses her, she must get it down on paper, or the moment will be gone. to be in at night. Crack Under Pressure If a mother did not develop a strong when she was young, she could easily crack under the pressure of a teen age daughter. The constant criticism eats away until she believes she is, after all, a failure at her work. She wonders if it might be better if she just quietly walked out the door and left the raising of the family to her teen, who obviously has all the answers. Buffeted, torn, humbled and wiser, I nevertheless stick to my job, trying to see my daughters side of questions, giving in on disputes, not which standards giving up the deepest seem to me the basis of moral life. Per self-imag- e life-lon- g non-essenti- Earn College Credit At Home With Telecourses On KUED 7 This summer KUED 7 in conjunction with Southern Utah State College and Utah Technical College at Salt Lake will offer three college credit telecourses Programming For The Gifted: Models and Methods, a t series dealing with program models for educating gifted, talented and creative students; The New Literacy: An Introduction To Computers, a beginners guide to the use and function of computers; and Understanding Human Behavior, an introduction to psychology. Courses begin Saturday, June 16 on KUED 7. Teachers, high school students 12-par- anyone desiring college credit may find the convenience of tele- courses an added benefit during busy summer months. Courses are repeated during the week in case studnets miss the initial airing. Those with home video tape recording equipment may also find it extremely useful to record the lessons for later study and review. Teachers, KUED 7 telecourses can be counted toward certification and re certification if "it is related and beneficial to your teaching specialty or current teaching assignment." If you are uncertain, or have questions Caspar COPYRIGHT 1984 NEWS GROUP CHICAGO, INC. NEWS AMERICA SYNDICATE slackening. No one least of all President Reawishes to spend one cent gan more than is necessary to maintain adequate defense for our country. We are fully aware of Americas domestic needs, inflation, the cruelest tax of all, has been greatly reduced and unemployment is coming down. But we still have a massive deficit. We believe we are doing a good job of and I SATELLITE SYSTEM SALES Satellite Systems Include Over 108 dreeaeh 10 Merit Orennels PWyfcey end ether $ (perMtd letkeut ereS.) QuMrans Ownti Hedth end tdecetienel Otennefs 14 hr. NewsWeether 14 hr. live Sports Uw Notworfc feeds How About Hall Of Fame For Teenage Survival? by Mary S. Thornton Sincerely, Weinberger, Secretary of Defense. omic Rnaodi'fNo Doom Peyiuent Systems you can rent for the week or weekend (Rental fee refundable! Coll for details) haps rebellion imagined, must 1882-5781 It All! against wrong, real or come before sensitivity develops. Dearer Than Life teen, is dearer to me than life itself. loved her from the moment she was conceived and will cherish the beauty of her individuality when this baffling stage of life has passed and she one day chooses parenthood as her own way of life. She will forget these She, TrimTonei my I The Super Reducer Lose Weight and Improve Muscle Tone years; she will never suspect what caused the sudden white in her mothers coiffure or know why we, her look parents, Fast strangely older and lack the spunk we once had. She will emerge confident, poised and beautiful when the tremors of are shaken off. 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