European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 17, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes monday March 17, 1986 of officers took shortcut probes charge Washington up officers at Kelly fab slashed by More than 8,000 a backlog of spare parts orders in 1985, but they did so by dispensing with a key Reform to curb wasteful spending congressional investigators have found. To Speed up parts procurement at the san Antonio base officers at Kelly s air logistics Center dropped a new require ment that All proposed orders with hefty Price increases be reviewed by a Directo rate of Competition advocacy aides to a House subcommittee reported. Subcommittee investigators said the move occurred even As the general accounting office was praising the Pentagon for taking initiatives to avoid past abuses such As payment of $318 for a toilet pan or $435 for a claw Hammer. The spare parts scandals Are not Over rep. John Dingell d-mich., chairman of the Energy and Commerce panel said of the disclosure. The promising rhetoric of defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger s initiatives appears to be withering in the face of the cold reality of business As usual in the  from 1983 to 1985, the office of the Competition advocate at Kelly largest of five air logistics centers performed Price analyses that identified about $21 million in potential savings on non competitive orders the Gao concluded in yet to be released reports. Col. Eddie Rhodes director of contract ing and manufacturing at Kelly who report edly made the decision to forgo the extra review process for three months last Spring declined to be interviewed on the matter. Dingell aides said the lifting of the sus pension had Little Impact Only three procurements reached the Competition advocate for the rest of fiscal 1985. Base spokeswoman Phebe Brown said it would be premature to comment until the Gao report is released. She said decisions involved in reducing the Center s backlog of 20,855 procurement orders to 12,264 last Spring were very  subcommittee investigators found the decision All but returned the base s proce dures to those of prior years when these spare parts problems occurred the logistics Center paid $318, even after receiving a $322 rebate from the Lockheed corp., for each of 70 to 80 toilet pans for c-5 military transport planes. One Prober compared the pans to oversized cafeteria trays and said they All proved unusable because they did not solve corrosion problems. The Center accepted a Price of $240 for an Assembly to hold the pan although the base s plastic shop made pne on request at a Cost of $160. It bought two nearly identical link assemblies for an engine mount but paid $16,400 for the left Side and $5,000 for the right Side. The Gao said recently the two assemblies Are very much like right and left  two fiberglas panels mounted under the Wing of an aircraft were purchased for $2,540, although two identical panels had been stored in a warehouse for More than a decade and were never needed. Muppet makes his rounds up photo Elias Flores 2, an asthma patient at St. Vincent s show on tour is currently appearing at new York s Hospital in Manhattan is pleasantly surprised by a Madison Square Garden and some of the puppets visit from fozzie one of the puppets. The muppet visited some of the kids who could t visit them. Dog drowning Experiment cancelled Gainesville Fla. A a proposal by two re searchers to nearly drown dogs in order to study a Way to help people who nearly drown has been withdrawn apparently in reaction to Public outrage Over the research. University of Florida professor Jerome Modell con firmed thursday that he and professor Richard Melker have retracted a request to the american heart association for $18,000 to conduct experiments on the use of the Heimlich Man Euver. The letter to the heart association was sent tuesday he said. Whatever Merit the Man Euver May have cannot be tested in this climate said or. Ray Olsson a University of South Florida professor and affiliate member of the heart association s research committee. Citizens joined animal rights activists in denouncing the experiments in which researchers planned to inject water into the lungs and stomachs of 22 dogs to test the useful Ness of the Heimlich Man Euver for near drowning victims. Raini Sequoya founder and president of animal rights inc., called the withdrawal of the proposal a Victory but feared the move May be a  when Public opinion Dies Down Modell and Melker will reapply to the american heart association or to an other private group to fund the Experiment Sequoya said. Or. Henry Heimlich inventor of the Man Euver widely used on choking victims proposed last year that his tech Nique also be used instead of Mouth to Mouth resuscitation As the first step in reviving near drowning victims. However he said the research using dogs was unnecessary. The Heimlich Man Euver involves squeezing sharply on a person s Abdomen to dislodge material in the person s Throat. Statewide . Catholic colleges protest proposed Vatican regulations new York a Heads of . Catholic colleges and universities have strongly protested a Vatican move to bring them under Church controls calling it contrary to american values of academic Freedom and institutional in dependence. The joint protest said imposition of the Vatican proposals would Force some of the nation s 235 Catholic institutions of higher education to close and would jeopardize continuance of the  the proposed regulations would for the first time put cer Tain Church restraints on . Catholic institutions that have been academically autonomous throughout their history. Pregnant woman pushed off Cliff saved by Landing on old Couch Santa Cruz Calif. A police say a pregnant woman who was knocked Over a 20-foot Cliff by a speeding car was saved by a one in a million Lucky break when she landed on a junked Couch. Heidi Geoghegan and Richard Schraeder of nearby Ben Lomond were strolling along the Cliff at Lighthouse Point when a careening car driven by an allegedly drunk teen Ager went off the Road struck them and plunged Over the Cliff said sgt. Tom Watson. Geoghegan s fall was cushioned by an old broken Couch on the rocks below. She was treated briefly for scrapes at a Hospital and released. Schraeder who also fell Over the Cliff was unharmed. The Driver a 17-year-old girl was arrested on suspicion of felony Drunken driving and is being held by juvenile authorities. Demand Means nurse midwives Are Here to stay official says Washington a nurse midwives have become a permanent part of american medical care despite some Resis Tance from doctors and severe difficulty obtaining malpractice insurance a group of midwives and supporters has said. A main reason they said is that Many pregnant american women want More time and attention from health care pro viders than most obstetricians Are willing to provide and Many Low income women need midwives As a lower Cost alter native to physicians before and during delivery. For All the problems i want to assure you that nurse mid wives will not go Down the tube entirely said Susan Yates president elect of the american College of nurse midwives. Millions of school pizza pieces free of contamination us a says Washington a the agriculture depart ment has released millions of pieces of Frozen pizza after examinations showed they were free of contamination by razor Blades that were found in three pizzas. Karen stuck a spokeswoman for the department s food safety and inspection service said the pizzas were exam ined by Metal detectors and that no further evidence of contamination was found. The pizzas made for the National school lunch program by Tony s pizza of Salina kan., were held from distribution Fol lowing reports that razor Blades were found in three of them. Stuck said the department s food and nutrition serv ice which ordered the pizzas to be held released the products after tests showed no health or safety hazards from Metal contamination