European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 13, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes sunday april 13, 1986 athletes work out their problems by Mary Hladk education writer Heidelberg As they heard the words please begin 68 pupils picked up their pencils opened text booklets and began Quick calculations. Soon the Only sound in the Heidelberg Middle school cafeteria was the scratch ing of Pencil on paper. The seventh graders and eighth graders the Best math pupils in their schools were spending saturday taking a Tough test. But no one begrudge the lost weekend time. Solving math problems they said is a Good Way to spend a saturday. Usually All i do on saturday mornings is sit Down and watch cartoons said Randy Kimball a 12-year-old seventh grader at Lan Stuhl Middle school. The test is hard but when you think about what you get it is definitely Worth  it s fun coming Down Here said Kim Kaan a 14-year-old eighth grader at Hes Swisch Oldendorf elementary school. If you want a Job in math this is  drawing pupils away from their television sets was mat counts a . Program designed to increase pupils in Terest and ability in mathematics. The 6-year-old program was launched by engineers concerned about the Low number of pupils studying mathematics. But this is the first year pupils in the department of defense dependents schools have participated in the full pro Gram which includes taking several examinations that Lead to a final test in Washington May 17, when the nation s top athlete will be selected. Officials will select a total of four pupils from the Germany and Panama re Gions the Only two Dodds regions participating to represent Dodds in the National contest. Donations from Community organizations will finance the winners trips. Mat counts is sponsored by the National society of professional Engi neers Cna insurance companies the National Council of teachers of mathematics the National aeronautics and space administration and the . Department of education. The program is Tough pushing pupils beyond what they would normally learn in a seventh Grade or eighth Grade math class. It includes logic algebra and polynomials. But pupils said they enjoy the work which transforms math classes from a Boring review of what they already have mastered into a new Challenge. It s great said Jeff Chapman a 14 year old eighth grader from Hess Isch Oldendorf. It gives math students a Chance to compete and expand their Hori Zons. It s not just a math  it improves your skills said Yvonne Hebebrand 13, an eighth grader from Fulda High school. It gives you a Chance to meet other kids who Are interested in math. It makes you know there is some thing beyond the  not All schools participate in math counts. Only 20 of the 30 schools with seventh Grade and eighth Grade pupils in Germany Are involved said Gerald Schiele Dodds Germany elementary school math coordinator. Those 20 schools have teachers willing to spend extra time working with pupils on mathematics problems. Each participating school has implemented the program differently. Many have formed after school math clubs where mat counts material is Stu died and reviewed. Some teachers have incorporated mat counts material into regular classroom activities or set aside some time for talented math pupils to work on the special material. It s excellent said Gwendolyn Allen a math teacher for grades five through eight at Hess Isch Oldendorf. It requires the student to think logically. It makes them really ready for High  it s an excellent program because it does Challenge the better student said Bill Nicholson a mathematics teacher at Fulda. It creates an interest in mathematics that a teacher wants to see. That is what we re after. The regular curriculum is not enough for some of them he said. It in t challenging enough for the Best  it s my Way of enriching their program said Susan Burrow a sixth Grade and seventh Grade math teacher at Lan Stuhl mid dle school and sponsor of the math club. Pupils find out How Well they Are Prog Ressing in math by taking the examinations. The tests Are so difficult that a Pupil who answers half the questions correctly is considered to have done extremely Well. The test has four parts. In two sections pupils work individually on problems. In a third part a team of four pupils from each school works together on problems. In the fourth pupils try to solve a problem and then explain to a panel of judges the processes they used. It s really a hard test Hebebrand said. It took me longer to work out the problems than we had time  everyone had the same trouble. The top score 40 out a possible 60 Points was captured by Robert Wiest a Heidelberg Middle school Pupil. Second place was taken by Sean Moran Bonn High school third by Chris Sabatke Bonn High school fourth by Craig Chiaverini Ramstein Junior High fifth by Jeni Ingermanson Kaiserslautern Junior High sixth by Brian Barclay Ramstein Junior High. Bonn High and Heidelberg Middle tied for first place in the team event with a score of 30.25. A tie breaker made Bonn High the top scorer. Ramstein Junior High captured third place. Teachers oppose More Dodds budget cuts Bidav Odiehl . Bureau Raf Lakenheath England in a bid to try to defend overseas schools from further Gramm Rudman and other budget axes teachers took their Campaign to parents saturday. Members of the overseas education association distributed leaflets in England and Germany asking parents to help Stop the budget cuts from slicing deeper into the schools said Mary Margaret Mcgowan Atlantic director for the sea. We re making a direct Appeal to parents Mcgowan said. We believe that parents Are our strongest allies in this  some 200 Atlantic Region teachers handed out leaflets saturday at exchanges and commissaries at bases in England and planned to repeat their Effort sunday. Teachers also distributed leaflets at american shopping areas in Heidelberg Nuernberg and Karlsruhe Germany. Teachers in other cities plan to follow suit during the rest of the month said Joyce Holland an sea spokeswoman in Ger Many. The sea represents teachers in the at lactic Region and the Germany Region of the department of defense dependents schools. Cutbacks this fiscal year will total about $45 million or about 10 percent of the Dodds budget according to Dodds officials. Belt tightening measures include opening schools on sept. 15, three weeks later than usual. In addition Dodds officials have Frozen the hiring of new teachers for the rest of the school year eliminated summer school suspended outdoor Educa Tion programs and Cut Back sharply on conferences and teacher raining programs. Mcgowan said she fears class sizes will Start to grow if cuts continue. Jim Labaw an Industrial arts teacher at Lakenheath High school said parents Are reacting positively to the leafleting Campaign. They re interested he said. They know the cuts Are coming and i think they want to know How it s going to affect their  Trish Traweek a Parent of two Dodds Middle school children and school advisory committee member at Raf Croughton said she doubts enough parents will get involved. Parents on the whole Are not interested in schools these Days she said. Traweek said she is very concerned about the cuts and How they will Impact on teachers and children. Mcgowan said the 4.9 percent cuts that followed the Gramm Rudman balanced budget Law combined with another 5 per cent budget slashing to meet congressional requirements and to cover the Cost of inflation and foreign currency fluctuations will have a significant and detrimental effect on Dodds schools. She said the sea will fight future cuts. The thing we continue to be worried about is that this will be a progressive thing Mcgowan said. We Are going to take additional cuts under Gramm Rud Man in the coming years. It s those cuts we think parents can help us  teachers in Germany also asked parents to join the fight against budget cuts. We really Are concerned about the Edu cation programs that Are being affected said Jane Staley a first Grade teacher in Heidelberg s Patrick Henry Village Elemen tary school. We re trying to get across to parents the effects of the delay in starting the school  teachers said starting the school year late probably will cause Sharp reductions in school vacation schedules and a later ending Date for the school year. Students and teachers both need the vacation time and a later running school year will cause prob lems for families who move in the summer teachers said. Teachers in England and Germany urged parents to write their congressmen about the need for better Dodds funding. Vietnam returns remains of 21 . Servicemen Hickam fab Hawaii up car ried in Flag dropped caskets 21 . Servicemen finally came Home from Southeast Asia bringing to 54 the number of remains returned by Vietnam in a new spirit of co operation. The remains believed to be those of servicemen listed As missing in action were taken to the army civilian identification Laboratory. The return was the latest gesture by the vietnamese since they announced their de sire in 1985 to resolve the Mia pow Issue within two years. Before the repatriation there were 2,436 . Servicemen unaccounted for in indo China 1,792 of whom were lost in Vietnam. The . Government greatly appreciates this humanitarian gesture on the part of the vietnamese government and Hopes this repatriation is just one of Many More such efforts to resolve the Fate of those americans still missing or otherwise Unac counted for in Vietnam it. Col. Paul Mather who headed a 20-member joint re covery team said. He said that As further evidence of the growing level of cooperation Between the two countries the socialist Republic of Vietnam has volunteered to hold the next technical meetings on the pow Mia Issue in Hanoi later this month. Afghan says he holds reporter s body for Ransom Phoenix Ariz. A an afghan religious Leader says he has the body of a Phoenix newspaper reporter who was killed in a soviet attack and will not release it until a promised medical clinic is built by a . Group. Hajji a Hond Habibullah head of the it had Luluma Al Mujahideen Al Suhaj Reen told reporters for the Arizona Republic that he is holding the remains of Republic reporter Charles Thornton the newspaper reported saturday. Thornton and Republic photographer Peter Schlueter went to Afghanistan in september to report on efforts by american medical personnel to care for afghans in their struggle against soviet and communist afghan forces. Thornton was killed sept. 19 when he was hit by soviet machine gun fire during a night ambush. His body reportedly was taken to a Village a few Miles from the scene of the am Bush and buried the newspaper said. A Hond maintains that the International medical corps based in los Angeles promised to build a clinic in Southeastern Afghanistan to treat his followers but has failed to do so. A medical corps official confirmed the pledge but said it was withdrawn after the organization found that claims by a Hond that he controlled the area were untrue. Or. Robert Simon who founded International medical corps said the corps told a Hond it would be impractical to build a Hospi Tal in the Kandahar Afghanistan area