European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 17, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday january 17, 1968 the stars and stripes Page 3 Dod tightening up on housing benefits failure to Fie report could mean loss of of a beginning in apr by Betty Bell stiff writer Heidelberg Scricc members could find them selves Short on Cash in april if they fail to report housing information to finance offices a spokesman said. All service members currently receiving of a Over seas housing allowance Are required to Complete an individual of a report to certify is or her entitlement to benefits said . Ii Chanel f. Donohuk finance policy action officer in the office of the Deputy chief of staff for resource management us a r eur. The report do form 2367, is available from local commanders. Donohuk said More than 85,000 army and air Force members in Europe will be affected by the change. If you do no Complete the form your april paycheck will not contain your overseas housing  do Nhuc said. The reporting deadline for army personnel is feb. 21. Members of the air Force Navy and Marine corps should Contact their local commanders for Cut off dates. Everybody is concerned about the workload and gel Ling it done in time Donohuk said. It s one of the personnel actions we re going to do this year. If we Don t get of a under control Congress May take it Nway from  Oha replaced rent plus housing allowance on oct. 1. Major changes including yearly certification and random audits Ducomb effective april i. Donohuk said audits in Hawaii and Alaska and in creasing costs caused rent plus la be criticized As out of control too expensive and susceptible to fraud waste and  the change thai affects service members most is the expanded definition of Sharer under the joint travel regulation. Presently the term Sharer is defined As a member of the uniformed services or a Federal civilian employee entitled to living quarters  Donohuk s Iid. Under the new program All  currently receiving Oha and living with either another individual who is not a dependent or Ullh a federally employed dependent entitled to a quarters living allowance will be classed As a Sharer " the amount of rent allowance is divided by Ilic num Ber of sharers who contribute to rent Anil utilities Donahue explained. In other words if two or More persons Ore sharing a living space the system will Divide your rent by he number of sharers. Thai reduces your rent which is used to compute your Oli which also reduces your Oha he said. Same soldiers May lose Money he said. Overpayment on via of be reduced As of March by Betty Bell staff writer Heidelberg Windfall profits no longer apply just o big corporations. Serv ice members who make profits from the variable housing allowance via Benefit also have come under the watchful Eye of Congress. All Servic members of the same pay Grade whose dependents live in the same zip code area receive the same via regardless of the Cost of housing said . Michael f. Donohuk finance policy action officer in the office of the Deputy chief of staff for resource management usar eur. If the Cost of housing exceeds via the service member pays the difference. If the Cost of housing is less than via the service member has made a profit. Congress Call that profit a Windfall and wants it  department of defense compensation officials say one third of Scricc members receiving via will receive less Money be ginning in March. Donohuk said service members in Europe whose families remained in the United states must submit a copy of their stateside lease or mortgage agreement by March i through their commander to local finance offices. Scricc members who fail to submit the information will not receive via in their March pay. Finance will input that data through the computer and add a Utility allow Ance Donohuk said. That sum will be subtracted from the Basic allowance for Quarisa bad plus via. If there is a Windfall one half of it not to exceed the amount of via will be collected  for example if bad and via together total Jisoo and the stateside expense totals s300, that leaves a Windfall of $200. Finance will collect Back half of that amount �100. Donahue advised sponsors to notify service members. Headed for Europe of the changes so they can bring the documents for in processing. More than 500 journalists apply for shuttle flight Columbia . A More than 500 peo ple beat the deadline to apply Tor the Chance of being the first journalist in space officials say. Among them to Farmer lbs Anchorman Wal Ter Cornute who said in his application that the first journalist to go on a space Mission will perform the role Assignor to him by our concept of a free  the principal thing the journalist can offer is to free the Public of the last lingering suspicion re Garding report from those who Are Par of the program to guarantee that what is reported is free from control or pressure or even self interest his application Laid. The deadline to apply for the Nasa program Wai Midnight wednesday. Officials the association of school of journalism and Mast communications Laid it will take a few weeks to determine the precise number of applicant. Director of the program mailed 4,000 applications to would be space journalists. With time running out wednesday workers dug through stack of paperwork and fielded phone Calls from procrastinating journalists who wanted application forms and More information. Jack Bass a spokesman for the program said 350 applications came in Between monday and wednesday. Most of the last a mute Calls were from people who wanted to know what kind of information to include on the forms. Bass said. One Man called to corrects misspelling. A said applicants have Given a variety of reasons for wanting to be the tint journalist in space. Some Are Veteran Tience reporters who have covered the space program for years while others work for weekly news papers and have never seen a shuttle launch he said. One journalist said he thought he could Best de scribe the feeling of liftoff. Another said he could Tell the world about his experience in two languages. Cronkite a Veteran of space coverage and former Abc correspondent Veraldo Rivera were two of the better known applicants. Program officials were Light lipped about what other Well known reporters had applied. Of pals help couple after fire by Dave d1ehl . Bureau Raf Lakenheath England , Joe Banda stood in what was his bedroom and peered through the charred floorboards into his living room. Nearby a fingered Streak running Down a Gold Mirror in the hallway was one of the few Unstack Ned reminders of the horror of a week ago. Joe and Carrie Banda say sunday will figure to be one of the worst Days of their i Ives. The Davenport Iowa couple had returned at about noon to their three bedroom cottage in the Village of Wicken near Cambridge. Bundu stoked the Coal fires to gel the House warm while they took a sunday afternoon Nap. Benda 25, did t know that soon after he climbed the stairs to his bedroom he d have to return to tend another fire. That one however would destroy just about every material Possession the couple had. Mrs. Benda 23, said they re thankful to be alive. A fire official told them they might have died had they wailed a few More minutes. With no place to live no insurance to pay the Bills and a child expected in three months the Bendus had Little to look Forward to by sunday evening. It s a feeling you be lost everything said Benda a refuelling truck Mechanic. We have less now than when we got married five years  the Bend did t know it but the Call they Mude after the fire to Banda s first shirt would be the Solu Tion to a lot of i heir problems. What happened in the following few Days thanks to what his first sergeant Calls a Light knit unit and a few other people and agencies on base made the week fal lowing the disaster a Little easier. The first think i told him was not 10 report for work the next Day said master sgt Jopha Hindrickson first sergeant for the 48th transportation so. I told him i d take care of  the following morning Hindrickson had the word out on the base and in his Squadron. By that afternoon there was a fund of More than $850. Including a $500 Grant from the red Cross and 1100 from a masonic Lodge by the end of the week the Bendas had More than 11.100 to help them. Hendrickson said it s a Good example of inc air Force taking care of it s  besides the Money the Bendas were put in base hous ing and loaned air Force furniture. One of the couple s biggest regrets is that they did t have any insurance. Benda figures they lost about $4,000 Worth of property and a lot Mure in sentiment. Donations to help Joe and Carrie Benda can be sent to 48 to rasps Kcf. Apo 09179. Insurance lessens Impact of disasters for about j35, Joe and Carrie Benda could be sending the Bills for their fire loss to o to insurance company. Instead what they meant to do and did t is costing them thousands. The couple lost just about everything they d accumulated in five years of marriage right Down to the Mem ories in the photo albums ruined by the fire that gutted their rented House. They always intended to buy renters insurance but never did. We talked about it and talked about it. But never bought it said Carrie whose father is a fire marshal in her Home town. For a Standard House in England insurance from most major companies costs about 3 pounds about s4.35 for every 1,000 pounds about 11,450 of coverage according to Geoff Adams an insurance agent who works out of an office at Raf Milden Haji. Adams said few of the eligible families stationed at the base buy insurance against loss for their properly in rented or base housing. It would appear that Only a fraction of the people Are taking Oullis Type of coverage Adams said. His office handles several thousand Auto insurance poli cies bul Only 400 to 500 policies covering household con tents. The amount spent on the average Auto insurance policy ironically would buy about $94,000 Worth of renters insurance Adams said. Most of the policies issued by Adams Are for about $14.000 to 120.000 and cast an average of $43 to 165 annually. This Type of insurance he said is typical of most major insurance companies in England and covers most types of disasters. If someone buys this Type of policy Here in t much they will have to worry about he said. Dave Diehl