European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 31, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday october 31, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 5lehman claims credit for plane Price cuts b Richard Mai  Washington int in 1k. ,u., pc Vimr since John Lehman became Secretary of inc  \ lit has become known Lor cur missing an no podium in in urge c impress in put  still More Money to build .1 ,110-Slupnavy. Now Lehman is laying claim in i new of in Vivins Money on Man. A aircraft by leaning on the Penta gon bureaucracy on one hand and air plane makers on the other. A report from the Navy department shows. Tor exam ple Hal the Cost of a Grumman f-14 tomcat the Navy s Premier fighter dropped s3.9 million in to Mil lion Between i9s2 and this car. And the pee of inc Lockheed i it Orion an anti submarine patrol plane went Down $2 million in $18.4 million. Those prices Are adjusted for inflation until he took action. Lehman says aircraft prices had Pone  for three decades Al about 10 percent a year on lop of inflation because of the practice of adding on unnecessary items and contracting with Only one sup plier. The culture that Prew  in this  lie said waving his hand Al the Pentagon from his office on the fourth floor was a Goslan culture a centrally planned socialist economic Model much More than any free Enterprise  Lehman says he Sel out to break that and to negotiate contracts  would have firm prices agreement that would reduce the  Price. The sic of the Check that you verite for each air plane and  to do that he said he first had to Pel our require ment creep and a Cluj plating lusts under control and Hen put inc contracting and the suppliers into a competitive  you be got to end inc constant change orders the constant creep in requirements a faster Roll rate 50 Miles More Range More payload More Complex avionics  he said. There were so Many changes in the f 14. Lehman said that it would be Only a slight exaggeration to say that each air plane was different. A study by the congressional budget office cases double on some of Lehman s figures. And although officials in the aircraft Industry agree some grudgingly thai the Navy Secretary has brought price1, Down one hastened to add. We can Lake some of the credit for  under the plane purchasing system he has set . Lehman says the Navy s manager of an aircraft pro Gram May approve changes in the original order Only if he can show that they will Noi add to the Cost. Other than that changes can be made Only in blocks when annual contracts Are negotiated. An exception. Lehman says would be a change that would affect the safely of flight. Hul those changes can be made Only if he and the chief of naval operations approve. All told he . Changes today Are 5 percent of what they were three years ago. To induce Competition. Lehman has played inc Navy s two main air plane suppliers. Mcdonnell Douglas and Grumman against each other. First he told Mcdonnell Douglas the Navy would nol buy its new f-18 hornets for the asking Price of s2ft million apiece. They were going to sock it to  because they knew they had a. Monopoly he said. To show Hal he had options. Lehman said he ordered that a Wing of All Grumman aircraft f-14 fighters and a-6 intruder bombers be deployed on the Carrier Ken Nedy. That induced Mcdonnell Douglas and Northrop. Its partner in producing the Fik. To drop the Price to 522.5 million in i"h2. According to Lehman. When a new contract was signed earlier this month the Fly away Price on the Fik was 5 in. 7 million before  i for inflation. P f a spokesman for Mcdonnell Douglas said the Price of the Fik had come Down Al least in a it. Because of the learning curve in which technicians acquire greater skill through experience. We like to think we brought the Price Down As much As or.  the spokesman said. Watchers fear invasion of the encrypt ors satellite to tans rally to protest scrambled signals Washington a Fca no the invasion of the entry lors dealers and owners of backyard dishes rallied tuesday seeking support for legislation that would pro Hibit scrambling of satellite television signal ,. Rep. Timothy e. Wirth. D-colo., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Tel com Muni nations promised about 500 people gathered on the mall that hearings will be held Early next year. He said the hearings will focus on Bills Hal would require programmers to design a Way to License dish own ers to decode programs before icy can be encrypted. In warning of invading inc raptors. Rep. . Hilly , d-la., said satellite reception often is the Only Way Hal signal starved americans can Sec television in Rural areas and places where the in brain blocks to signals. It s unusual to have a new technology come first to the Small towns farms and Rural  sen. Albert Gore jr., d-tcnn., told the crowd and we re not going to let them take it  of the programmers. Gore said if you want to scram ble your signal you have a Legal right to do so but you have an obligation to offer to sell that signal Al a fair and reasonable  scrambling Means a dish owner would have to buy a decoder or rent one. And pay a periodic fee to have the decoder set for each desired program. Unless a single scrambling Standard is Sci separate decoders might be necessary Sands of time in the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. Oct. 31, 1945 chinese communists resent recent american actions especially the flying of Central govern ment troops to strategic areas by the air Force a communist spokesman in chunking said. Dispatches from government troops reported clashes with communist troops in 11 provinces. 30 years ago today. Oct. 31.1955 in Oyster Bay. N.y., William Wood Ward jr., 35, millionaire and owner of the great 3-year-old Racehorse Nashua was killed by a Shotgun blast fired by his wife. Police said she thought he was a prowler. 20 years ago today. Oct. 31. 1965 president Johnson s daughter Luci 18, flew to the lbs ranch in Texas to win her parents consent to be married to Pat Nugent her Waukegan iii., Boyfriend friends said. 10 years ago today oct. 31, 1975 ignoring president Ford s threatened veto inc Senate banking committee voted a $4 billion pc  loan guarantee to enable new York cily to avoid default. There Are no Federal limits on decoder charges which arc Selling for $400 each. Home Box office and cinemas have offered decoding privileges for $12.95 a month. Advertiser supported Cable news network wants $25 a year. The Cable Industry says scrambling satellite signals is not a result of Small town residents using the new technology of backyard dishes these Are nol just a Factor of Rural America anymore icy arc coming into the suburbs where Cable is already available said Sieve tunic communications vice presi Dent for the National Cable television association. It s the High number of commercial operators. Using our services without  said Tola Murplay Haran. Public relations director for Showtime the movie Chan Nel. She estimated that programmers and Cable companies lose $500 million a year because of piracy by bars apart ment complexes trailer Parks and holds. Tau in criticized to network plans to scramble their signals. About 3 million americans Are beyond the Range of one or More of the three com Mereial broadcast networks. These americans Are already paying for that program Ming at the supermarkets in the form of advertising costs passed along to Consumers in the retail prices they pay Tauzin said. An estimated 1.7 million satellite to dishes arc used in the United Stales and Aboul one third of inc 40,000 to 60,000 sold monthly arc erected in areas served by cab let. The dishes Cost Between $600 and $3,000. Depending on their size and complexity and whether the dealer installs it. The right to watch any of inc More than 100 available channels direct from satellite was written into Law a year ago. The same Law also removed Price regulation on most Cable to franchises. Consumers on the Cable ought to have the ability to get off the Cable and go with an Earth station Tauzin said which would give the Consumers a Way to control  satellite dishes Are Sci  near inc Capitol. Irs auditor convicted in fraud scheme Salt Lake City a a Veteran internal reve nue service auditor was sentenced in Federal court tues Day to a year and a Day in prison for filing bogus tax returns As part of a scheme to defraud the government of $115,000. . District judge j. Thomas Greene ordered Gerald a. Hasz to serve the time concurrently on three of 48 counts of filing false lax returns and one count of mail fraud. He fined Hasz 54,000 to be paid to the iks to defray the Cost of its incs ligation. Hasz also was sentenced to five years on each of the remaining 45 counts of false filing but Greene suspended those terms on the condition that has Complete five years probation Afler he is released from Federal custody. Greene also ordered has to pay $50 to the state s victim restitution fund on each of the 49 total counts a total of $2.450 Over five years. Has who must surrender to Federal authorities by nov. 12. Could have been sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison and fined $250,000 on each of the charges. Defense attorney g. Gilbert Alhay said he had nol decided whether to Appeal Hasz s conviction. The 25-year irs employee was convicted sept. 12 after a three Day non jury trial. Prosecutors said has 48, had become disgruntled with his Job and wanted to leave the irs and was trying to raise Money to buy out an account ing firm. During inc trial. Assistant s. A Linney Tena Camp Bell said has devised a scheme to Cpl Oil what he thought was a flaw in the irs system and filed fake returns seek ing tax refunds ranging from $1.973 to $3,158. However. Alhay stressed Hal none of the checks had been cashed and also contended the government had failed to prove has had intended to do so