European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 3, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes Page 11 Ann Landers letters dear Ann Landers i am a heart transplant recipient the 38th done at Urcla medical Center. Eighteen months after the surgery i am 41 years old healthy Happy and leading a completely Normal life. It is like a Miracle. I feel so blessed. I owe this life to someone i have never met some healthy Young person who died unexpectedly. And i will be eternally grateful to the family who al Lowed their loved one s heart to be donated. My message is to that unknown donor and family there is no Way i can adequately thank you. I think of you every Day and Pray for you every night and i shall do so for the rest of my life. Robert f., Riverside Calif. Dear Robert thank you for providing me with the Opportunity to Tell my readers How they too can give a precious gift that keeps on giving. There Are Organ donor Blanks on the backs of almost All Driver s licenses. Forty three states have request Laws. This Means when a person Dies in a Hospital after an Accident the doctor or nurse or Clergyman is obligated to ask the family members if they will permit a transplant. If you wish to be a donor you must let your family know it. If family members Are not aware of your wishes they May refuse to allow it. Without the Permis Sion of the next of Kin no transplant can be done. If you have no Driver s License and want a donor card please write to the National kidney foundation. The address is 30 e. 33rd St., Lith ., dept. Al new York,n.y., 10016. They will also be pleased to Send you a brochure giving you More information if requested. Dear Ann Landers the letter from crushed in the Usa whose therapist husband had had sex with patients hit me be tween the eyes. I was a sexual victim not of a Psychia Trist but a doctor in a different specially. The Law is Clear about psychiatrists becoming involved sexually with patients but nothing much is said about other doctors. In my Case my physician of Long standing asked me to share my personal problems with him during a crisis in my life. He began admiring my eyes my clothes and my figure. I noticed that he kept other patients waiting for As Long As an hour while he comforted me. Then he started telling me his problems and treating me As a confidante. Soon after he kissed me and held me close. On the next visit he was All business. During the visit after that he grabbed me and fondled me against the closed door of his office. I did absolutely nothing to encourage his advances but i confess i never reprimanded him or asked him to Stop. We All have a tendency to View our physician As an All knowing trustworthy father figure. We become exceptionally vulnerable in a doctor s office because we somehow feel that this person has superhuman Powers. My doctor s see sawing Between his professional and social image traumatized me. I am now heavily into therapy because of my guilt shame and ambivalence. Please print this letter As a warning to women who May be As vulnerable and Gullible As i was. B.a., Redondo Beach Calif. Dear Redondo the Law is Clear about the conduct of All physicians. That doctor should be reported to the county medical society. The ethics committee will be very interested in this Case. Wage Grade employees pay discussed As you will have noticed in stars and stripes head lines every so often Congress has authorized a 2 or 3 or even 4 percent pay increase for All military an Federal employees. Well let me Tell you about the 0 percent increase we wage Grade earners receive. I can t remember the last time i saw a pay increase authorized by Congress or even a Cost of living pay increase. It seems we wage Grade workers Are the stepchildren of the civilian work Force. Or at least it seems we re treated this Way. I Hope there is someone out there who can give me some answers As to Why this is. I have asked civilian pay this question but All i Getis nothing has come Down to them on any change in pay. Recently the stars and stripes ran an article concerning Naf employees and How they might be authorized local hires housing allowances. Well that s Fin for them but How about a few benefits for us appropriated fund employees in another Issue you say Congress is discussing Merit or better pay for civilians. I Hope that includes us wage Grade workers. Come on Uncle Sam give us a break. Name withheld Ramstein a West Germany editor s note John m. Brown personnel management specialist compensation management Branch civilian personnel division office of the Dep Uty chief of staff personnel he Usa eur replies thank you for the Opportunity to explain the differences Between the . Federal wage system fwd and general schedule is compensation systems. Pay increases for is employees Are determined annually based on studies of various private sector occupations throughout the United states. Under current fed eral Law the president s pay agents annually recommend a pay increase that would be necessary for is employees to achieve Overall comparability with their counterparts in the private sector. The president can either accept and submit the pay agents recommendation or submit an alternative proposal to Congress. If neither the House nor the Senate votes to override the president s recommendations with in 30 Days his proposal becomes Law. Although the president s pay agents advised that an increase of 26 percent would be necessary in 1988 tomake is pay comparable to . Private sector pay the president proposed and the Congress accepted a 2 per cent pay increase. The reason Given for granting just a 2 percent increase As with pay Caps in previous years waste budget deficit. For most is employees in Europe this increase was effective on Jan. 3. Through a different Law wages for Federal wag system fwd employees in overseas areas Are set based on the average of 135 wage areas in the United states. Annual wage and benefits surveys determine compensation Given for various Trade Craft and labor occupations in these wage areas. The overseas rates Are based on averaging the 135wage-area rates and Are also supposed to be adjusted annually. However for the past several years fwd pay has been capped like is pay. It should be noted that in the late 1970s and early1980s, fwd employees received full comparability in creases for several years at the same time White Collar pay was artificially capped. At that time fwd employees enjoyed a distinct advantage concerning pay increases. Now both systems Are capped equally. For 1988, the fwd increase was 2 percent. The Over seas wage schedule was distributed on March 31 by the office of personnel management and was effective april 10. Accordingly both fwd and is employees have Bee receiving regular although artificially capped pay in creases each year with the exception of 1986 when no increase was granted. Cafes employee responds to complaints i am writing because i am upset about All the complaints i have read or heard about cafes we As cafes employees Are truly sorry that a Lotof you Are not Happy about the items we carry do not carry or run out of but we have this Little problem which makes it hard to carry everything it s called the Atlantic Ocean. The place where most of us would like to be with choices of where we can shop and a variety to choose from is on the other Side of it some of you did not ask to come Here but make the Best of it and be glad you have cafes to shop at. If Seweren t Here just think of the alternatives the other major thing is that every Community habits own rules on who can and can t enter cafes. Even German customs have a few. You Are Only allowed Totake immediate family into the facilities and in some you Are asked the relationship. Don t lie because you should know and Don t be rude because it s not our fault that you Haven t found out about the rules Don t try and find a manager because that just takes them away to answer a trivial problem that you should have known about in the first place they May no Purchase anything because this is a customs violation and could cause you to lose your privileges. Retired personnel visiting Over Here Are not allowed to enter without immediate family to come in with them and they May not Purchase anything this i because of the status of forces agreement. All retired personnel living Here must have a customs card in order to enter the facilities in Germany. The other major item germans Are not allowed in unless they have a valid id card. Please Don t ask because this is a major customs violation. We Are not mean. We have rules to follow. Without them there would be no cafes we try to have All the comforts of Home for you but we Are Only one store. I you can t find something ask a sales associate or use one of the customer comment forms and request the item. Our managers will try their Best to get it. Be polite to us and Well be polite to you. Don abuse the privileges you have because you could lose them name and address withhold pen pals i would like to have pen pals. I am 18 years old and attend College where i study Art and design. Debbie Arcari 126sealandrd. Chester Chi 4l9 great Britain i am a 34-year-old widow and would like to have pen pals. Wilma Navarro Bureau of posts Reg. 8, Taloban City 6500 Phil Pinnes i am a 29-year-old female who would like to have pen pals. Tita Miranda Block ii lot 8 Fisherman s vill. San Jose Taloban City 6500 Philippines i am a single 20-year-old filipina and would like to have my name included in your pen pal column. My hobbies Are swimming Bowling teach ing catechism at Church making friends and especially gardening and cooking. Joan Reyes Ramirez 1269 Bonifacio Street Tanjay Negros Oriental Philippines i would like to have my name in your pen pal column. Gloria Cabuenas no. 2 Corpin bldg. P. Del Rosario St. Cebu City Philippines european edition col Jeffrey m. Cook Usa commander editor in chief it col Suzanne l. Phillips Usan Deputy commander editor in chief Marie Kominicki Mert Proctor Deane b. Mcdermott production manager managing editor circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official views of or endorsed by the . Government the department of defense or the . European command. The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements does not constitute endorsement by the department of de sense or the stars and stripes of the products or services advertised. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for Purchase use or patronage without regard to race color religion sex National origin age marital status physical Handicap political affiliation or any other non Merit Factor of the purchaser user or Patron. Military address the stars and stripes Apo 09211. International mail the stars and stripes Postrach 11 14 37, d-6100 Darmstadt 11, Germany. Tel military Darmstadt Airstrip 2376 741 Griesheim civilian 06155 6010 ets 348-5741 or 348-5823. Telex 0419-332. Tel fax 06155-601376. New York office room 401, 252 seventh ave., new York 10001, Tel area code 212 620-3333. News bureaus Pitburg Germany Mark Walsh building 102, room 21oa, Pitburg a Box 2994, Apo 09132 Telephone ets 453-7052 or Pitburg Civ. 06561 5779. Bremerhaven Germany building 103, Carl Schurz Cavern Apo 09069 Telephone ets 348-5741 or civilian 06155-601237. Kaiserslautern Germany Daryl Green Deedee Arrington Doke building 2899, Pulaski Barracks Apo 09227 Telephone ets 489-6585 or Kaiserslautern Civ. 0631-52104. Munich Germany Charlie Bowden building 16, b stairwell 2nd floor Mcgraw Cavern soured. Apo 09407 Telephone ets 440-7320 or Munich Civ. 089-690-1800. Nornberg Germany building 21, William o. Darby Cavern Apo 09696 Telephone ets 348-5741 or civilian 06155-601237. Stuttgart Germany Joseph Owen building 2302, room 223, Patch Barracks Box 171, Apo 09128 Telephone ets 430-8449 or Stutt Gart Civ. 0711-6877826. Mediterranean j. King Cruger and Alba Bragoli Naples Italy Asa Box 56, Fpo by 09521 Telephone Auto on 625-1110 ext. 4880 or Naples Civ. 0039-81-7624049. United kingdom Dave Diehl building 436 Cess us. Raf Mildenhall. Apo 09127 Telephone Auto on 238-2226 or Mildenhall Civ. 0638 512226. Washington . Chuck Vinch William Bartman Oast a the Pentagon room 2e756, . Box 46095, Washington . 20050-6095 Tele phone 202-697-6695. Wurzburg Germany Janet Howells Tierney Telephone ets 348 5741 or civilian 06155-601237. Circulation offices Germany Berlin Civ. 8331846, Mil. 6187, ets 332-4412 Bremerhaven Civ. 85168, Mil. 8119, ets 342-8119 Rhein main Frankfurt Civ 069 692050 or 692565, Mil. 6025 or 7103, ets 330-602s or 7103, telex 412712 Kaiserslautern. Civ. 57070 or 57079, Mil. Vogel Weh 7100, ets 489 7100 Munich Civ. 6901503 or 6901504, Mil. 6556. Ets 440-6556 Nuernberg Civ. 712558, Mil. 7001, ets 460-7001 Stuttgart Civ. 0711-8701496, Mil. 7175, ets 420-7175. Greece Athens Civ. 9923390. Italy Vicenza Civ. 515358. Spain Madrid Mil. 00341 205-6600or Civ. 00341 6561465 Turkey Istanbul Civ. 664372. Telex 26174 sans to. United kingdom Greenham common Civ. Newbury 0635 44768 Mil. Newbury 0635 46263 ext. 209