European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 16, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday april 16, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 hotel Doc setting new Pace at arc inns by Charlie Bowden Munich Bureau Garmisch Germany the doctor is offering his Brand of Medicine for a hotel Chain that he considers outdated. In so doing he is rattling a few cages. The doctor is Anton Gotsche hired by the army a year ago after an Independent study group suggested the army s bavarian resort hotels be turned Over to a civil Ian with a Strong background in hotel management. I m a trained hotel businessman and i m used to running hotels the modern business Way which is not exactly the Way the army has handled it said Gotsche who came to the armed forces recreation Center from a position As general manager of the Franklin Plaza hotel in Philadelphia. Although much of the direction for arc s future was set Forth for Gotsche in the seven volumes of the study that resulted in his hiring he is responsible for the Day to Day operation of arc s hotels and recreation programs and getting them to turn a profit. In private Enterprise your objective is to increase room rates increase occupancy watch costs and de crease them which then gives you the greatest amount of profit Gotsche said. Here we Are not looking for the greatest amount of profit we re looking for the greatest amount of service to our  upon his arrival last year Gotsche said he found the staff he inherited was generally untrained for their jobs. The staff failed in such common hotel practices As pro Viding service with a smile he said. Training programs were started for arc employees from hotel managers to maids. The training stressed Courtesy and service. Gotsche said he also found the 1,200 rooms under his charge lacking in amenities especially when compared to stateside standards. Sheets were ragged towels thin and worn and soap barely big enough for a Good Shower. The of was Given to buy new better products. Soon arc was awash in yellow. The hotels had More than 20,000 new yellow sheets and Pillow cases and about 45,000 thick yellow Bath and hand towels washcloths and Bath Mats. Cost $334,000. Other amenities Fol Lowed 200,000 arc emblazoned matchbooks 50,000 Shower Caps 115,000 bars of soap twice the size of the previously used soap. Cost $28,000. I m trying to build an image for arc whereby everybody will know arc As an american resort hotel Chain and if i go look for employees they would love to work for me just like they would love to work for Hil ton Gotsche said. This philosophy signals a change in personnel practices for arc he said. That change has sore employees looking elsewhere for jobs rather than Deal with the new atmosphere prevalent under the new arc regime. His plan is for a trim professional staff with hotel experience. We re going to improve the Quality of personnel Gotsche said. In some cases he said the restaurants had what he described As slobs working As Cooks. They were people with no training who had been promoted from jobs As dishwashers he said. That won t happen again not As Long As i m Here he said. Gotsche does t dispute the fact that the change is affecting employee morale in fact he expects it. That is a period11 have to go through in order to upgrade the Quality of the employees and the service of  a hiring freeze is in effect and the number of full time employees has been Cut by 100 with More planned before the end of the fiscal year. New hires or promotions require his personal approval. They the employees know that i m tightening up and some people Are getting worried. It s a situation you can t do anything about. I m going to get efficiency into this place and there will be a period of turbulence or i will never achieve it. But the objectives of a trained courteous competent management and employee team at arc is More important than a disturbance in morale for the Short period of time that it will take for me to make those  a ghz fingered guess get message Towel or Money by Charlie Bowden Munich Bureau Garmisch Germany those Fluffy yellow heavyweight towels Pur chased last year by arc to upgrade service in the hotels apparently Are popu Lar with guests. So popular that some guests Are taking the towels with them when they leave. We lose about 200 towels a month throughout the hotel Chain said Anton Gotsche executive director for the armed forces recreation Center. But the losses Are not unexpected he said. That is considered very reasonable by any standards because we expect people to take towels. We in the hotel Industry have tried everything under the Sun to reduce pilferage and we have been totally unsuccessful. It is simply accepted As part of the Cost of doing  an Effort is being made however to either recover the towels or the replace ment Cost. Hotels recently started sending out carefully worded form letters when towels Are discovered missing from a room after a guest checks out. Because we have a kind of closed Loop clientele in the theater the Opportunity is there to approach the individual and ask if he would like to return the Towel or the Money said it. Col. Dal Bailey chief of the construction and facilities Branch in the office of the Deputy chief of staff for personnel at Usa eur Headquarters in Heidelberg. The letters Are used Only when the hotel manager is sure the Towel disappeared at about the same time the guest checked out Gotsche said. If there is any doubt such As the room being empty for several hours before a maid discovers the loss no letter is sent he said. I think the letter is not offensive but we Don t make a big fuss about it the missing Towel Gotsche said. However the letter seems to be having some effect. Since the letter program began Gotsche said hardly a Day goes by that the hotels Don t receive a returned Towel in the mail. Cha apus director commends benefits advisers by Judy Sarasohn medical writer bad Kissinger Germany the champs director tuesday praised health benefits advisers for doing a critical Job but warned that pressure on them will continue As claims for medical Bills from local doctors in Europe increase. Claims have increased 81 percent during the past five years and 37 percent in the first two quarters of fiscal 1986, said Teresa Hawkes director of the civilian health and medical program of the uniformed services. The benefits advisers and champs Europe officials must continue their efforts to educate service members their families and commanders about How to make the champs program work she said. Champs is a Cost sharing program for military family members and military retirees not entitled to medicare who seek outpatient medical care from Pri vate physicians and private inpatient treatment when inpatient care is unavailable from military facilities. Active duty service members Are eligible Only under limited circumstances. Beneficiaries usually come in after they should have and done the wrong thing. And you have to fix it and make it right Hawkes told More than 100 benefits advis ers gathered for a three Day training conference. It can be frustrating. It s hard to be focused in what your Job is and who your enemies Are. You Are literally being assaulted on All sides by beneficiaries who Are scared sponsors who Are angry command ing officers who Are demanding doctors who want their payment soldiers who Don t want to make their  if the beneficiaries Don t fill out their claim forms champs can t process the claims to reimburse doctors. If doctors Don t receive their entire payments they May refuse to continue to treat americans Hawkes said. The main enemies she said Are ignorance and irresponsibility. And while the benefits advisers Are doing their jobs of helping people with their claims and informing them of their benefits they have to give extra to help make the medical system work she said. You have to give More emotionally to make up for those things falling off the Wall she said referring to old military medical facilities in Europe. Military members urged of buy savings Bonds by j. King Cruger . Bureau London the treasurer of the United states is touring major military com mands in Europe in an attempt to increase the Sale of . Savings Bonds to military members. Katherine Davalos Ortega interviewed at the Headquarters of the Navy in Europe said she is concerned that the . Mili tary s participation rate in the savings Bonds program has dropped substantially in recent years. She said she would 4ike to see the level of participation come up to a com parable level with All other Federal agencies. Currently 19 percent of department of defense employees buy Bonds regularly through payroll deduction compared to 43 percent participation by other government employees. She said the goal for this year s Federal savings Bonds Campaign now under Way is to double the number of Dod employees participating in the payroll savings plan. The 1986 Campaign is especially important said Ortega who also has met with major command leaders at Stuttgart Frankfurt Heidelberg and Ramstein a Germany. She was scheduled to visit Munich Northern Italy and Naples Italy be fore flying Back to Washington wednesday. With the Federal government facing Strong pressures to reduce the Federal Bud get deficit and ultimately the size of the National debt the savings Bonds Campaign takes on added significance because Bonds help reduce interest on the debt she said. Ortega who was sworn in As treasurer in late 1983, said the Bonds program is unique because it is a Revenue producing program which in turn creates substantial savings to the . Government and the american tax payer. For every billion dollars Worth of Sav Ings Bonds sold directly to individuals $54 million is saved in discount and interest costs on the National debt which would otherwise be paid to Banks and lending institutions. In fiscal year 1985, Bond sales of $5 billion saved taxpayers Over $270 Mil lion she said. Ortega said the average per capita Pur Chase of . Savings Bonds by Bond buyers in the Federal sector was More than $300 last year with total sales surpassing $400 million. This amount alone saved the government More than $20 million in debt financing costs. The treasurer said it in t hard to get people to buy savings Bonds. The Tough part is in getting the message out. The Bonds sell themselves once people Are made aware that the Bonds Are a Good investment in that they offer Market based variable interest rates the convenience of automatic savings and tax advantages plus the safety of both principal and interest being guaranteed by the .  with the Market based variable interest rate there is no ceiling on How High the rate can go but there is a built in guarantee that interest can t go below 7.5 percent she said. The current interest rate is 8.36 per cent. Even though this is Down from the 10.94 percent of a year ago it is still higher than most other comparable forms of Sav ing she said. Ortega who also Heads the Bureau of engraving and printing and the . Mint also said two of the three new statue of Liberty commemorative coins will go on Sale soon in base and Post exchanges in Europe. They should be arriving any Day now. The Silver Dollar will sell for $24 and the half Dollar for $7.50." the third Coin an uncirculated $5 Gold piece has been Selling for around $165