European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 12, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday october 12, 198b the stars and stripes Page 7 Goose stepping if Andy the Goose appears a Little Pigeon toed or like a Duck col of water there is a Good reason. Tis fowl Fate but Andy was hatched without feet. He was taken under the Wing of inventor Cine Fleming of Hastings neb., who found a Way to attach baby shoes to the gome it tote Guy. Never let it be said that Andy is Chicken or Ever Ducki a Challenge. Paper claims a changed Hospital mortality statistics Washington a the veterans administration s chief medical officer ordered changes in a study of mortality Rales at a hospitals to avoid inevitable criticism of the Agency based on the initial find Ings the Washington Post said in a report published monday. The newspaper said the initial study had found that As Many As 12 percent of the a facilities had excessively High death rates. By using a More rigorous statistical level in the revised study that rate was dropped to just 3.5 percent it said. Or. John a. Kronvall acknowledged in an interview with the Post that he ordered a officials to come up with a lower figure out of fear that the a could not withstand criticism that would result from comparison with mortality Rales at private hospitals. The Federal health care financing Agency had found in a separate study that 2.s percent of the nation s private hospitals had higher than cup cycled mortality rates. Gronvall s action brought a Strong protest from the Lale or Francis e. Conrad the. A s director of Quality Assurance who said the action might seem self serving and could make the a vulnerable to charges of a cover up. The Post said Conrad in a memo prepared fat a Jan. 29 meeting wrote that the Public relations Poten tial for negative reaction from a High mortality rate finding was certainly a Factor to be considered but thai it could be countered. Gronvall the a s senior medical executive told the Post there was no truth to Conrad s belief that he was trying to cover up problems at the a which Long has been plagued by questions about the Quality of medical care at its 172 hospitals. That was a wholly outrageous and inappropriate comment Gronvall said. Before the meeting Balw can Conrad and Gronvall Conrad had prepared a statistical Model patterned after one used by Hyfa in its private Hospital study. Like the Hyfa study the Post said Conrad initially planned to lest his results at whal statisticians Call a 95percent Confidence level. That Means the Mathe Maii cat probability is that the results can be duplicated 95 limes out of 100. The a however selected a higher Confidence level of 99 percent thus assuring that fewer hospitals would be suspect the Post said. The decision to use the 99 percent result was made after Gronvall s intervention according to what the Post described As a source close to the situation. The newspaper did not name the source. Terry l. Thomas the a epidemiologist who handled the statistical work on the study told the Post she could not recall if she made the decision to run the mortality Survey at the 99 percent rate before or alter Gronvall voiced concern about inc preliminary find  said she was t too Happy with the study. Conrad told Gronvall the 99 percent level would allow some a hospitals with potentially serious mortality rates to escape scrutiny. Gronvall said he feared the comparisons with the Hyfa study would be inappropriate and invidious upsetting the a s critics in Congress and elsewhere and leading to a widespread impression that a s medical care is much worse than that in private Hospi tals. Using the 99 percent Confidence level the stud came up with six problem hospitals or 3.5 percent of the 172, according to Donna St. John a a spokeswoman. She and Thomas said they were unfamiliar with the 12.8 percent figures mentioned by Conrad in his briefing papers. Gronvall declined to name inc six hospitals citing decision by a administrator Thomas k. To Mac to withhold the data until after follow up studies Are completed probably in Lale december. Mississippi Oyster reefs devastated by pollution Gulfport miss. A missis Sippi s Oyster season opened monday amid projections Hal the 1988 Harvest would Likely be Only about 5 percent of what it was Only five years ago fewer than 20,000 sacks compared with the 365,560 sacks taken in 1983. Gulf coast officials say pollution combined with erratic weal her Pat terns has devastated the local Oyster reefs. Each year it s gelling worse and worse said Kirk Ladner of Waveland who buys oysters from 17 boats. Ladner said because of the limited Oyster population in Mississippi water Sand because the commercial dredging limit has been lowered to 10 sacks per Day Many oys Lennen will Likely head for Louisiana Waters where they can Lake 30 sacks a Day. However Ladner said Mississippi oysters Are in demand because they pro Duce twice As much meat As any Oiher kind. Marshes once protected oysters in the Mississippi sound by acting As a natural Buffer Between Salt water and fresh water but Barge canals through marshes and the channelization of Rivers and Bay Ous has sent fresh water directly into the sound killing oysters. In 1983, flood Waters rushed through the Bonnet Carre spill Way and into the sound destroying nearly 4,000 acres of Oyster reefs. In 1986, a drought left the sound saltier which made conditions Ripe for a Type of Snail called Oyster dark tvs to wipe Oul the Harvest. Mother Teresa plans Appeal for protesting nuns Hackensack . Up Nobel peace prize Winner Mother Teresa will ask the Pope to intercede on behalf of five cloistered nuns locked in their new Jersey Abbey to protest a liberalization of their austere lifestyle she said in an interview published monday. The nun said she will raise the matter with Pope John Paul ii in a regularly scheduled visit to Rome. Ill be going after two or three weeks the 1979nobel laureate told the record of Hackensack. Speaking in a Telephone interview from Calcutta the Yugoslavia bom missionary said she is praying for the nuns but has not spoken to them. How can 17 they Are there and i am Here she  Sisters of the order of the discalced Carmi Lites ranging in age from 28 to 45, locked themselves last tuesday into the infirmary Wing of the secluded monastery of inc most blessed Virgin Mary of mount Carmel in Morris township. A fifth nun Prioress Mother Phi Tacna 72, joined the group wednesday. Mother Philamena who is re covering from a pacemaker operation feared she would be transferred to a nursing Home by the current Prioress the nuns said sunday. The Sisters say they Ore trying to avoid eviction from the Convent where they have to can locked in conflict with a new Prioress Over a liberalization of their monastic contemplative lifestyle. The women say they intend to hold out until they Recei pc an answer to their Appeal to the sacred Congre gation for religious an Arm of the Vatican. They said sunday they Hope for a Resolution by the end of the month. New weds ushered mfg his and her cells Lorain Ohio a newlyweds were booked into the Lonin county Jill on their wedding night after being arrested in a Drunken fight with each other a bystander and police authorities old monday. Roger Mckee 28, and Tanun Lynn Mcgee 19, were married saturday afternoon. About 10 Boon later Early sunday the Loran police department says it received a report that mrs. Mcgee bad been assaulted. When police arrived at the couple s Home they disco vend mag fighting with Milt a Torch a also of Loreata uld patrolman Raymond West. Accord ing to � Polk report Burns id he we attempting to help mis. Mcgee. When police tried to break do the fight both Mckee fought with officers and had to be handcuffed police Slid. Once in a police car Mcgee tried to kick out the rear window the police re port old. In Mcgee had an asthma attack at the jail and was taken to St. Joseph Hospital and health Center where a Hospital spokesman said Ahe had to be put in restraint before he could be treated. She was returned to be jail after treatment Bat was taken to the hos Pital again be ouse of another asthma attack police said. Megee Wai released from jail Mon Day after pleading no contest to rotating arrest old municipal court clerk Cindy pastor. Charge of disorderly conduct and disorderly conduct while intoxicated were merged into that count she  judge v. Paul Timko sen tent Mcgee la 10 Days in jail an ordered him to pay $150 and court costs. But impeded he jail time and All Bat $50 of the Fine add he court costs pay . Mcgee was released Sonday on $700 Bond Paysor said. She was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct while into Kaled. Reached by phone monday the de dined conk Cut " in Rob was released on �50 Bond Sun Day and pleaded innocent to charge of disorderly conduct and wrist tag to the conduct after police Loufata to Stop. He u not listed to the i Ephone directory and could t be reached for continent