European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 3, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stabs and stripes thursday september 3,1987 schools Roundup military groups paper Aid study of Constitution Washington. , to commemorate the Bicentennial of the . Constitution on sept. It five military associations have joined with the Usa today newspaper to provide educational materials on the Constitution to Stu dents in the military s overseas school system. Students in the department of defense de Pendents schools system will be Given a six week study unit titled Usa  the unit is tied to teaching guides for grades seven through 12 that will be available before sept. 15. Students will receive a 24-Page tabloid portraying events of 17, i 789 and their historical significance. Student Iso will receive one copy of special issues of la today each thursday beginning sept. 17. The issues include historic and contemporary material on the Constitution. The association of the . Army the air Force association Navy league. Retired enlisted association and retired officers association worked with Usa today on the project. The newspaper and classroom materials will be distributed to All Dodds schools in he at lactic Germany and Mediterranean regions through the stars & stripes bookstores or mailed directly to schools where Bookstore distribution is unavailable. Dodds officials in Washington d.c., and at he regions said each school will decide on How the materials will be used. Pat official to speak at european Congress Aschaffenbur Germany Ann Lynch vice president of the National Pat will be the featured speaker at the european con Gress of american parents and students leadership seminar sept. 12-13. More than 80 representatives arc expected at the meeting at the Fischer hotel in . Others interested in attending can Call Linda reach at 06021-93828. Education expert to hold seminars in Germany Wiesbaden Anita Duboer a specialist in consultative education will conduct a series of seminars in Germany aimed at incorporating special education students into regular class rooms. Debour taught at Ball stale University and the City colleges of Chicago before joining a consortium of educators who advocate a collective approach to problem solving. Her seminars will began sept. 15 in Bremer Haven and end in Karlsruhe oct. T. She plans sessions in Matin sept. 16, Frankfurt sept. 17, Augsburg sept. 22, Stuttgart sept. 23, kaisers Laviera sept. 24, Nuernberg sept. 29 and Wuerz Bur sept. 30. For specific times and locations Contact Judy Kern at 06121-88289. Reading expert to meet with teachers in Germany Wiesbaden to Stanchfield of Occidental College in los Angeles will make her third visit to the Germany Region As part of an Effort to upgrade student Reading skills in grades six through eight. Stand Fidd a professor of Reading and former supervisor of teacher education at Urcla Wilt meet with 24 Germany Region Reading specialists for a one Day seminar in october. The Date of the Wiesbaden seminar has not been determined. Civ my Thuton ural do Eric att of to Cut bad debt loss by streamlining separation   Bureau Ramstein a Germany a crackdown on air Force members who separate from the service while owing Money to the government could net l Safe Smuch As $500,000 in 1987. Accounting and finance officials project that scr  separating in Europe this year will leave behind is million in unpaid Bills from excess leave Advance salary payments and other reasons. But an Effort aimed Al improving communication Between various agencies Aims to Cut that amount in half we recognize that you can t realistically get the bad debts Down to Zero said tech. Sgt Ellen Staples pay systems analyst with Usa fets directorate of account ing and finance our objective in Safe is a 50 percent reduction in debt by Dee. 31." about 50,000 people leave the air Force annually and 8,000 of them owe Uncle Sam some Money. Those debtors slipping through cracks in the bureaucracy will Cost the service about s9 million this year. The problem results from the fact that when the person is being separated the commander knows the first sergeant knows Legal knows personnel knows but the finance office does t gel the word until the Las minute Staples said. If you walk in and say i m leaving and you begot three Days the possibility of getting any Money Back from bad debts is very  bad debts from 2,200 former service members in the first Quarter of this year totalled $2.2 million for the air Force. In Safe alone 202  Sepa rated owing a total of $273,359 during the first three months of the year. To Cut Bod debt loss guidance issued last Spring from the air Force assistant comptroller streamlined the process of spotting those who owe Money and called for closer cooperation Between base agencies i identifying the debtors. Now on the basis of a phone Call from a reliable source such As a commander or first sergeant the accounting and finance office can begin reviewing pay records to look for debts. Also All offices involved in the separation process have been instructed to form base level task forces to give Advance notice of separa Tion to finance and accounting Staples said. The trick is to catch those owing Money far enough in Advance of separation so that Money owed can be taken from remaining paychecks. A month s notice would give sufficient time for accounting and finance to do the Job. Staples said. The push has been effective in reducing debts monitored or caused by the accounting office such As Advance pay. But work still is needed to catch people skipping out on Money owed from damages they have caused excess leave Telephone charges or repayment of selective re enlistment bonuses. When Servic members slip through the net the accounting and finance office first writes a letter de manding repayment. Unpaid debts Are reported to credit agencies and go on the former member s credit record and the account can be turned Over to b collection Agency Staples said. In extreme cases the air Force can take Legal action to get res Money from former members officials in the Safe office of the judge advocate said. 7 43rd signal in sergeant solves problem of covers for unit trucks by Connie Dickerstaff writer Frankfurt the look of signal trucks in the 143rd signal in is leaving soldiers from other units envious. The battalion motor Pool has been receiving Callstrom soldiers who want to know How they can get the new aluminium covers for the backs of their trucks. The battalion motor sergeant decided to replace the Canvas covers of the signal trucks after a 1985 letter from v corps directed All covers for signal trucks to be standardized in size. I started checking estimates at body shops and places where campers Are made said master  a Craven. He was looking for something along the lines of a camper but without windows another  the Canvas tops we Hod used hold water which rots out the Canvas very fast Craven said. They Are cold and there s not much Security for the radio equipment  Craven said he almost gave up Hope because the estimates were too High. He then attended the fall 1985 International Auto show in Frankfurt. The next to the last person i checked with there told me he was interested. A week later he called me with an estimate that was half As much is anyone else quoted to  the company amusing in in the town of Singen to Helweil near the Swiss Border agreed to make a prototype after looking at sketches Craven provided. After months of paperwork Craven received army approval in August 1986. The prototype was finished in october 1986, and the first truck was outfitted with the new cover in february the aluminium cover is just Over 1 feet High 8 feet Long and almost 6 feet wide and weighs 270 pounds. Sgt. Avery Smith said the aluminium covers Are warmer than the Canvas ones and offer More room to work. Smith and his partner added plywood inside their cover for extra insulation and other soldiers have added foam insulation. It gets cold in the Field so every Little bit helps he said. And there s More room now for our equipment and the two of  Craven said the switch to the aluminium covers would save the unit at least $58,000 Over 12 Yean which he called the clincher in his proposal. His estimate was based on replacing the Canvas Cov ers every two years although he said they probably would need to be replaced annually. He said the aluminium shelters will last 12 years and Cost $707 each. The Canvas cover kits Cost $493 each and a replacement Canvas costs $390. County drops plan for vote on Law that makes English official language Miami a Dade county commissioners voted unanimously tuesday to scrap a potentially divisive referendum that would have asked voters to repeal on ordinance making English the official  George Valdes asked to withdraw his proposal for a March 1988 referendum moments be fore scheduled Public hearing on the Issue tuesday , without comment then voted to kill the referendum. Valdes left without discussing the matter. Quiet but heavy lobbying had gone on by hispanic groups including the municipalities of Cuba in exile the latin chamber of Commerce the latin builder association and the kiwanis of Little Havana. The groups while opposed to the Law said a referendum would be divisive. More than 40 percent of Dade s residents now speak primarily Spanish. The ordinance was pasted in the Wake of the mine boat life in 1980. It declares English the official Lan Guage of Dade and prohibits the county from holding Public meetings or conducting its business in any Lan Guage but English except for health and safety mailers. Last month the commission refused request by Valdes 10 repeal the Law directly. He then proposed a referendum asking voters to drop the Law which the commissioners tentatively approved. Valdes said he asked for a referendum Only because his colleagues had refused to  the referendum was proposed commissioners offices were deluged by Calls from people supporting the Law. And local talk show became the forum for often bitter debate Over immigration and the use of Spanish