European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 3, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes sunday july 3,1988 panel wants help for businesswomen Washington a most Federal efforts to halt discrimination against female business owners have been superficial unimaginative and lacking in Long term commitment said a bipartisan House report released saturday. The report by the Small business committee also concluded that the fed eral government has been seriously delinquent in helping female entrepreneurs gain Access to government contracts and subcontracts. Furthermore the report said women face gender related barriers that severely limit their Access to business credit. It also said that statistics on female entrepreneurs Are insufficient to help policy makers Deal with these problems. Women owned 25 percent of . Businesses in 1982 but received Only 10 percent of business receipts according to the census Bureau. Business size and Type account for some but not All of the discrepancy the report said. There Are other less defensible Rea sons namely sex stereotyping and continued discrimination the report said. Women have had to work harder wait longer manage with fewer dollars and be Content with smaller operations just to maintain their present Levels of Independence and business  the chairman of the Small business committee John j. Lafalce d-., plans to introduce an omnibus women s business ownership Bill later this month along with rep. Patricia Schroeder d colo., head of the congressional caucus on women s issues. In a statement accompanying his com Mittee s report Lafalce said that the Bill will address the four principal barriers blocking equal economic status for female entrepreneurs Lack of manage ment training and technical assistance Lack of Access to capital the virtual exclusion of women from government contracts and Lack of accurate and timely data on female owned businesses. According to the report women owned less than 5 percent of american businesses 15 years ago compared with 28 percent today. They Are starting firms at twice the rate of men and Are expected to own 50 percent of . Businesses by the year 2000. These women Are part of the most educated generation of women that has Ever existed. They Are a Gold mine of human capital the report said. It is essential that remaining barriers to women s entrepreneurship be  the committee recommended a num Ber of Steps to Correct problems that came to Light during a series of hearings on the Issue. Among them establishment of a women s Busi Ness Council with both Public and Pri vate representatives to develop an action plan that includes goals and timetables. The plan would be due at the end of 1989. Creating a guaranteed mini loan program within the Small business administration for Loans of up to $50,000. Firms in the fast growing service sector where female owned businesses Are concentrated would be targeted. Requiring the Federal Reserve to limit inquiries into marital status for commercial Loans and requiring lending institutions to notify clients of their right to learn Why they were denied Loans. Forming a Public private partnership fund to provide management training and technical assistance for female business owners. Reforming the Federal procurement system to give women greater Access to contracts and subcontracts including an Nual participation goals. Requiring Large government con tractors by statute to establish subcontracting goals for female owned businesses. Developing a High Quality computer listing of firms controlled by women. Justice department faulted for care Ess operations Washington a the Justice department failed to keep up with defense procurement fraud be cause it has a lackadaisical careless hands off management approach two senators said in releasing a critical congressional report saturday. A Justice department spokesman responded by say ing congressional critics should put their Money where their Mouths  spokesman Patrick Korten said the general accounting office report itself was  the report by the Gao the congressional watchdog Agency said that the Justice department does t know the status of Many of its Pentagon fraud investigations because it does a poor Job of keeping track of what its far Flung offices Are doing. The Gao said that attorney general Edwin Meese Iii should order a number of administrative changes to do a better Job of overseeing investigations of the de sense department. The study did not include any review of the current fraud and bribery investigation of Pentagon weapons buying that became Public when search warrants were served june 14. The probe focuses on allegations that defense contractors and consultants Many of whom Are former military men bribed Pentagon officials for contracting details that could be vital in winning con tracts Worth billions of dollars. No one has yet been charged. The Gao report was released by Sens. William Proxmire d-wis., and Charles Grassley a Iowa. Grassley Proxmire in a joint statement they said one of the most shocking aspects of the defense fraud problem is that the Law enforcement system is incapable of adequately dealing with  they added the Justice department s lackadaisical careless hands off management goes far to explain Why the government is losing the War against defense fraud. If any major private Law firm handled its affairs the Way Justice handles the defense fraud program it would be out of business within a  the Gao proposed a number of administrative Steps to Correct the problem including development of some Type of recording and tracking system and writ ten management plans for effective use of staff time. Korten suggested that if Grassley and Proxmire want the Justice department to gather statistics they should push for More Money when its budget comes up for consideration. In Short put their Money where their Mouths Are he said. Korten said a staff turnover problem cited in the report is part of a larger pay scale problem in the Federal government because of Low government Sala Ries. Victoria Toensing Deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division said . Attorneys offices around the country Don t have enough staff members to engage in both prosecution and the gathering of statistics. The Gao study reviewed 680 fraud allegations involving charges of bribery corruption conflicts of in Terest and antitrust violations. They ranged from october 1983 through May 1987 and were All cases that were referred to local . Attorneys for action. As of last september the Gao said no action had been taken on 286 of the referrals. The majority of the 286 pending referrals had been with the Justice components for a year or More and Justice does not know whether these cases have been accepted declined or Are still pending the Gao said. The Justice department did t even know How Many attorneys were assigned to Pentagon fraud cases around the nation the Gao said. Spare that Woodman tree defenders say no Redding Conn. A indignant letters of support Are pouring in from around the country for a Man who lost a 50-foot Oak tree when a neighbor Cut it Down to improve reception for his television satellite dish. This despicable act demands re dress a Seattle Man wrote to Charles Marriner. This was a mean and horrible act Best Sellers wrote a resident of Long Island . To discourage others i urge that you pursue Steps to apply the most severe penalties against him which the Law pro  Arthur Anderson the neighbor who has admitted Felling the 84-year-old tree reportedly told police after the incident now i can get the Disney  Anderson was charged with second degree criminal mischief and third de Gree criminal trespass and is due Back in court july 22. He has offered Marriner $500 in compensation but Marriner said he has t accepted the tree is irreplaceable said mar Riner who discovered the felled tree on june 12. He said he got one estimate of More than $9,000 to remove and replace it along with others that were damaged by the falling Oak. Hea Chicago Man suggested what thought would be fair punishment. I have no television in Chicago and am not particularly fond of the dishes that have ruined Many a backyard the Man wrote. Proper retribution i think would be to revoke Anderson s right to have a satellite  Calls to Anderson s Home for com ment saturday were answered by a machine. Compiled by the new York times fiction 1alaska by James a. Mtchener 2the icarus Agenda by Robert Ludlum 3zoya by Danielle steel 4the Bonfire of the vanities by Tom Wolfe 5love in the time of cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 6crimson Joy by Robert b. Parker 7people like us by Dominick Dunne 8rock Star by Jackie Collins 9freaky Deaky by Elmore Leonard 10treasure by Clive Cussler 11the Shell seekers by Rosamunde Pitcher 12prelude to foundation by Isaac Asimov 13scorpius by John Gardner 14the Charm school by Nelson Demolle 15tapestry by Belva Plain non fiction 1talking straight by Lee Iacocca with Sonny Kleinfield 2a Brief history of time by Stephen w. Hawking 3for the record by Donald t. Regan 4trump the Art of the Deal by Donald j. Trump with Tony Schwartz 5a Trail of memories edited by Angelique l amour 6-Washington goes to War by David Brinkley 7-Riding the Iron rooster by Paul Theroux 8capote by Gerald Clarke 9picasso by Arlanna Stas Sinopoulos Huffington 10-show time by Pat Riley 11 the Rise and fall of the great Powers by Paul Kennedy 12moonwalk by Michael Jackson 13tell it to the King by Larry King with Peter Occhiogrosso 14-1999 by Richard Nixon 15robert Kennedy in his own words edited by Edwin o. Guthman and Jeffrey Shulman paperback fiction 1-the Timothy files by Lawrence Sanders 2presumed innocent by Scott Turow 3-misery by Stephen King 4-heiress by Janet Dalley 6-first born by Doris Mortman 6-the haunted Mesa by Louis l amour 7the Awakening by Jude Deveraux 8-tender rebel by Johanna Lundsey 9-Fine things by Danielle steel 10to sail beyond the Sunset Hyb to a Heine a 11dirk gently s holistic detective Agency by Douglas Adams 12the unloved by John Saul 13timetrap by David Dvorkin 14gone to soldiers by Marge Percy 15new Orleans legacy by Alexandra Ripley advice How to and miscellaneous 1-the 8-week cholesterol cure by Robert e. Kowalsky 2swim with the Sharks without being eaten alive by Harve Mackay 3webster s ninth new collegiate dictionary 4what your doctor did t learn in medical school by Stuart. Berger 5webster s new world dictionary paperback non fiction general 1-love, Medicine & miracles by Berle s. Seigel 2-something under the bed is drooling by Bill Watterson 3rand Mcnally Road Atlas 4-you can heal your life by Louise l. Hay 5dianetics by l. Ron Hubbard 6codependent no More by Melody Seattle