ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 15, 1996 TAG: 9612170010
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: 5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Cox News Service
Q: An illustration of Edvard Munch's ``The Scream'' reminded me that the original was stolen from a museum in Norway several years ago. Was it ever recovered?
A: Yes. Munch's 1893 painting of a waiflike figure on a bridge was stolen from the National Art Museum in Oslo on Feb. 12, 1994, the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. The painting, done on fragile paper, was recovered undamaged almost three months later at a hotel in Asgardstrand, Norway. Three Norwegians were arrested. Apparently they had planned to sell or ransom the work. ``The Scream'' paid a visit to the United States last summer, by the way. It was among the masterpieces shown in connection with the Olympics at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
Q: Is the ingredient oleoresin paprika in reduced-calorie mayonnaise related in any way to olestra, which I want to avoid? What products is olestra used in? Does it go by any other name?
A: Oleoresin paprika is a spice for flavoring and definitely is not olestra, said Connie Crawley, University of Georgia Extension Service nutrition and health specialist. The only products that contain olestra are salty snack foods such as corn or potato chips, mainly in light, reduced-fat or fat-free versions. The Food and Drug Administration has not approved olestra for any other use, Crawley said. And that is the only name it goes by, so if olestra is not listed among the ingredients on the label, the product is olestra- free.
Q: What was the outcome of the tax on sugar that was supposed to help clean up the Everglades? What exactly was the issue?
A: Voters in November rejected a penny-a-pound tax on sugar, resulting in a big win for the embattled sugar industry. Environmentalists blamed fertilizer running off vast sugar farms near Lake Okeechobee for polluting the Everglades, where water quality problems have sparked a precipitous drop in wildlife populations and an invasion of exotic plant species. The sugar growers already have agreed to pay up to $300 million over the next 20 years to clean up the problems and argued that the tax would put them out of business.
Q: How long have the Russian cosmonauts been on the space station Mir, and how long will they remain? All I've heard about was the time the Americans spend aboard Mir.
A: No single cosmonaut has been aboard the Mir Orbit Station since it was launched in 1986. Instead, teams of cosmonauts rotate to and from it. Under a U.S.-Russia agreement, American astronauts, including Norman Thagard and Shannon Lucid, also have taken part in the Mir mission. Over the past 10 years, the space station has been visited by 20 main expeditions. Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Polyakov set the world space flight duration record aboard Mir: 438 consecutive days. Mir's primary mission, to study the terrestrial surface, will continue until 2002, according to the Russian Embassy.
Q: Four states allow execution by hanging. What are they?
A: Hanging isn't automatic in any of the four. It's one of ``at least two'' methods of execution authorized in Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Washington, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. ``That is, it's an option,'' a spokesman said. In the case of New Hampshire, hanging is authorized only if a lethal injection cannot be administered for whatever reason, he added. Esther Green of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said a condemned person can choose between hanging or lethal injection in Delaware, Montana and Washington.
Q: Do identical twins have identical fingerprints?
A: No. Although identical twins are always of the same sex and have an identical genetic makeup, no person's prints are identical to those of another individual. .
Q: An article about the Pathfinder mission to Mars said it would be a journey of 310 million miles. But the distance from Earth to Mars varies from 49 million miles to 142 million miles. Why the discrepancy?
A: The Pathfinder's trajectory is a big loop, not a straight shot, said Mary Hardin of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. For information about Pathfinder on the Internet, check NASA's JPL website: www.jpl.nasa.gov .
Q: With all the publicity about the great superliners of the past, I wonder: What happened to the SS United States, the fastest passenger ship ever built? I attended a bon-voyage party aboard the ship many years ago and have always wondered about its fate.
A: The 900-foot-long United States is docked at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal on the Delaware River in Philadelphia. Its future is uncertain, but if developers can arrange financing, they hope to restore it as a luxury liner or a floating casino. That's a big ``if.'' Edward Cantor, a Linden, N.J., developer, and Fred Mayer, chief executive of Commodore Cruise Lines, are seeking backers for a $250 million renovation that they say would return the ship to its rightful place as the pride of the American fleet.
The United States staked its claim to fame in 1952, when its maiden voyage July 3-7 from New York to LeHavre, France, shattered the previous record set by the SS Queen Mary 14 years earlier. Over the next 17 years, it carried more than 500,000 people, but it fell victim to air travel when jets made trans-Atlantic liners virtually obsolete.
After it was decommissioned in 1969, the United States languished for 23 years in dry dock in Newport News, Va., and its furnishings and artwork were auctioned in 1984. In 1992, a Turkish-backed company bought it at auction for $2.6 million and towed it to Turkey, where a deal to restore it fell through. It then was taken to Ukraine for removal of asbestos, and last July it was towed to the United States, making a short stop in Boston before ending up in Philadelphia. What will happen next is anybody's guess.
Q: Do you have any information about the launch vehicle used for the Mars Pathfinder?
A: When it thundered away from Cape Canaveral, Fla., Dec. 4, Pathfinder was atop a McDonald-Douglas three-stage Delta II rocket with nine solid fuel strap-on boosters. A spokeswoman for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said six of the nine rockets were ignited on liftoff, with the remaining three kicking in after the fuel in the first six was expended.
Q: Who makes up the list of endangered species? How many species are on it? How is it determined what species will be included? How can I get a copy of the list?
A: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the Department of the Interior, compiles it. As of Sept. 30, these were the numbers listed as endangered or threatened: 529 species of plants listed and 192 species of plants proposed for listing; 432 species of animals listed and 40 species of animals proposed for listing. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Linda Taylor said the agency had developed a priority system designed to direct its efforts toward the plants and animals in greatest need of protection. The magnitude of threat is the most important consideration, she said, followed by the immediacy of the threat and the ``taxonomic distinctiveness'' of the species (taxonomy is the system of arranging animals and plants into natural, related groups based on some factor common to each).
For a copy of the list, write: Publications Unit, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 113 WEBB, Washington, D.C. 20240.
Q: Do you have any information about the Titanic exhibit to be held in Memphis next year?
A: The world premiere of the splashy Titanic exhibit will be April 3-Sept. 30 at the Pyramid in Memphis. Part of the continuing ``Wonders: The Memphis International Cultural Series'' - remember ``Catherine the Great'' and ``Napoleon''? - it will include more than 300 items from the ill-fated vessel. Information: 800-263-6744.
Q: Please settle a bet between a friend and me. Is that the voice of actress Kathleen Turner on the new BellSouth TV commercials?
A: If you said it's Turner, you win.
Q: What is the procedure for an 18-year-old man to register for the draft? Is there a time limit to get something in the mail?
A: There are many ways to register. Probably the easiest is to fill out a Selective Service System registration form available at any post office. High school students applying for Pell Grants or other financial aid for college admission also can check a box on the forms to be registered automatically. Selective Service also is experimenting with a way for Internet users to register via CompuServe, with information listed under All Things Military. Selective Service allows a 60-day registration window: 30 days before and 30 days after a male's 18th birthday. And it accepts late registrations. For more information, call 847-688-6888 or check the Internet: http://www.sss.gov .
Q: What has become of the aircraft carrier Enterprise? The Yorktown and the Lexington have been preserved as monuments, but we never hear about the Enterprise. Also, what was its record?
A: The Enterprise - the first one, the CV6 - is long gone. It was commissioned May 12, 1938, in Newport News, Va., and, along with the Yorktown and Hornet, played a key role in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. In the battle, three of four Japanese carriers were sunk. And the Enterprise inflicted such severe damage on the Japanese carrier Hiryu that it had to be scuttled the next day. The Battle of Midway is credited with marking the end of Japanese naval supremacy in the Pacific. The Enterprise was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, received the Navy Unit Citation, and won 20 battle stars for its World War II service, a Navy historian said. The vessel was decommissioned Feb. 17, 1947, and was sold for scrap July 1, 1958. A newer aircraft carrier, also named Enterprise, was commissioned Nov. 21, 1961. Designated CVN 65, it is nuclear-powered and is based in Norfolk, Va. And by the way, the Yorktown and the Lexington that still exist aren't the original ones from World War II. Both were lost in battles in the Pacific.
Q: Where can I get a list of all the passengers aboard the Titanic?
A: Send $13 ($10 plus $3 postage) to Titanic Historical Society, P.O. Box 51053, Indian Orchard, Mass. 01151, and request a copy of the U.S. Senate Inquiry. It's a booklet reprinting a condensation of the findings of a Senate inquiry into the ship's sinking. Karen Kamuda of the Titanic Historical Society said it contains a list of all the Titanic crew members and passengers and tells what class the passengers were traveling in and if they survived or died.
Q: Entrance fees are being increased at national parks, but what about those Golden Age Passports, which are supposed to provide lifetime admission to national parks for senior citizens. Are they no longer being honored?
A: They're still being honored, but future purchasers may have to pay more than the current onetime cost of $10 for the Golden Age, which is restricted to people 62 and older. Another popular option, the Golden Eagle Passport, also is staying the same price for now ($25 a year for a family), but it may be changed in the future.
Q: My family would like to attend the presidential inauguration. We haven't been able to find the exact date.
A: It's Jan. 20 (at noon), as prescribed by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.
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