European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 28, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday january 28, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 7 army takes offensive against arms fraud by Richard Halloran Washington not Ever since the first gusts of operation 111 wind the department of Justice investigation into possible procurement fraud in the Pentagon s procurement army officers and civilian officials have been watching warily. So far however fears that the army would be caught up in the investigation which began last june have not been realized. Instead the inquiry has been directed at the Navy and air Force and their Consul Tants and contractors. But army officials say there Are no guarantees that they won t Wake up tomorrow and find themselves under scrutiny. Maybe we be just been Lucky said one officer. Even so some officers have begun to attribute the army s Freedom from investigation to a Little known task Force on fraud waste and abuse set up quietly three years ago by Secretary of the army John o. Marsh or. Marsh said he had established the unit because hews repeatedly seeing reports of the government s los ing $50,000 to $ 100,000. Those amounts were relatively Small contrasted wit the army s purchases of $40 billion Worth of goods and services a year. But he said i became concerned about what was happening to those cases and i wanted to focus attention on them. If we find out about those things and nothing happens people think they can getaway with  at that time there was also a growing concern in the army about the attention of Congress said Marsh who was once a congressman from Virginia. Suspicions were being expressed that bigger cases of fraud might exist and the army had already been stung by allegations of skimming and Sloppy account ing by a special forces operation known As yellow fruit. I wanted to bring attention to those sorts of things to our work Force Marsh said meaning soldiers civilian employees and contractors. Everyone has to know the line Between right and wrong and if you Cross that line you re going to get  in the last three years the number of cases under investigation that might have an Impact on the army has doubled to 550. The number of contractors sus Pended or barred from doing business with the govern ment or who have reached settlements has Rise steadily to 375 last year. The recovery of losses from contractors Rose to$12.7 million in 1988, As against $7.4 million in 1986, not counting criminal fines and a single huge settlement from Bell helicopter. Typical of those settlements reached under the supervision of the army s task Force was $700,000 recovered from the advertising Agency . Ayer which had devised the television ads with the recruiting slogan be All you can  the company admitted improper charging for labor costs. Similarly Siemens a.g., a West German manufacturing company was caught overcharging with $2 Mil lion being recovered. Great lakes dredging admitted to rigging bids an subsequently returned $4 million to the army. Since then army officials said bids for dredging Waterways under the jurisdiction of the army corps of engineers have been halved. Harris corp. Admitted improper pricing and gave Back $5 million. Cubic corporation was found to have tested products fraudulently and paid Back $7.3 million. By far the largest settlement and the most unusual in recent years was the $67.5 million recovered from Bell helicopter a division of text Ron for  company had told the army that materials Cost More than they actually did. I d never seen a $67 million Check said Jay , the assistant Secretary of the army who is chairman of the anti fraud task Force but i be got Xerox copy of  Barbara Walters interviews Moa mar Qadhafi in his tent office in Tripoli Libya. Qadhafi seeks dialogue with Bush administration  York a libyan Leader Moa mar Qadhafi calling presi Dent Bush a factual and practical Man says he wants to establish a direct dialogue with the Bush administration Abc news reports. In an interview that aired Friday night on the "20-20" program Qadhafi also said Libya s official position i that we Are against  the United states has said in order for the two countries to establish dialogue Libya must renounce inter National terrorism. Qadhafi asked his opinion of president Bush said i know he s a Man who s completely different from Rea Gan. He s a politician a factual Man a  Reagan used to treat the presidency As a theater where he performs his  Qadhafi compared Abu Nidal head of the Fatah revolutionary counsel a hard line offshoot of the Palestine liberation organization to George Washington. Abu Nidal has a fair Case. He s de fending his people to liberate his coun try from the occupation he said. Asked if he supports Abu Nidal Qadhafi said no this is not the Case. I am against Abu Nidal if he carries out his operations against in Nocent  asked ab9ut Plo chairman Yasse Arafat s position that an Independent palestinian state could live peacefully next to Israel and that Israel has a right to exist Qadhafi said we bet Ter wait and see the  Qadhafi insisted that his country chemical Plant at rata is a medi Cine  he said journalists will be invite to the Plant for its inauguration but that observers could not make repeated visits after the opening. If this is g9ing to be the Case we ought to nominate an International observing commission to inspect All factories and plants in the world continuously periodically he said. Federal workers like jobs but not size of paychecks Washington a government lawyer Kristina Nygaard carries work Home at night. Legal papers dealing wit the licensing of hydroelectric projects. Morton Klevan says he is proud of his work for the government but would t advise his kids to go into it not unless the made a bundle  James Mcgovern is assistant to the chief counsel of the irs. He has seen five commissioners come and go. He is very proud of his work. Does he think the Public unfairly beats up on the civil serv ice no comment on that he says. They were among three government careerists the top of the Cream senior civil servants earning Between $67,800and $80,000 a year who As they sat listening to their  Boss thursday tried to explain to a reporter Why they think they should make More. In a nutshell they like the work but people with commensurate responsibilities on the outside earn far More. I m not unhappy. I have made a fre Choice to stay in government said Kle Van. But i had to borrow Money to sen my kids to  president Bush did t Tell them what they most wanted to know whether he would recommend the pay raise before Congress. It would give Congress and top officials 50 percent increases and to civil servants raises As big or almost As big. A senior executive earning $67,800would go to $80,000. One at the top getting $80,000, would go to $ 120,000. Bush told his audience he consider himself one of them. What we do have in common is that each of us is Here to serve the american people he said. Each of us is Here be cause of a belief in Public service As the highest and noblest  Nygaard assistant general counsel for hydroelectric licensing at the Federal Energy regulatory commission said the spread Between the $76,400 she make Sand what she could make is widening. Enough to lure her away they re pushing their  Klevan senior director office of policy and legislative analysis in the labor department s pension and welfare benefits administration said he helps Safe guard the american people s private pen Sions and health and welfare plans in which $1.5 trillion is invested. Son of a plumber he graduated eighth in his class at Harvard Law school. A few years ago he said he earned $57,500a year in the government and turned Down a Job paying $ 100,000. He s Happy in his work yet he had tomorrow to Send his kids to College. Youngsters just out of Law school wit academic records like his can Start work earning the $70,000 a year he gets . I have to stress i m not complaining he said. If i were unhappy i could go anytime. What keeps me in government is the intrinsic interest in what we re doing. It s important work with enormous  organizations submit plan to revamp math education by the Washington Post Washington a group of Lead ing mathematics organizations warning that american students Are dangerously unprepared in math thursday outlined a plan to revamp math education. The plan Calls for less Rote learning and a stronger emphasis on problem solving and fundamental concepts and More use of calculators and computers. The plan worked out under the auspices of the National research Council is the first coordinated Effort to Lay out a specific blueprint for change. The organizations said they would establish teach ing standards for every Grade rewrite curricula and reconsider the current Divi Sion of the subject into arithmetic  Bra geometry and other distinct  revised curricula May be Struc tured around Basic mathematical concepts shape Chance change Dimen Sion and Quantity for example that run through every level of math Educa Tion. A prime objective would be to Hel students understand and apply math skills to practical problems. In March the National Council of teachers of mathematics will release the first detailed set of teaching standards. The mathematical sciences education Board mses will release a report in the fall set Ting out a framework for curriculum Revi Sion. A year from  the Board will Issue another document examining the current organization of courses and suggesting some of the concepts that May provide anew Structure for the subject