European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday july 21, 1990 the stars and stripes a Page 7 by the los Angeles times Washington a Felix Bitch the Veteran  Diplomat accused of spying for the soviet Union tried to resign earlier this month but the state department decided to go ahead anyway with proceedings to fire him a on National Security grounds a it was announced thursday. Officials said the department wanted to assure Bloch a Public disgrace by firing him instead of accepting his resignation. He has been under suspension without pay since february. State department spokesman Richard Boucher said that Bloch 55, submitted his resignation july 5, four Days before the scheduled Start of an administrative hearing he had demanded earlier to Challenge the evidence compiled by department investigators. The hearing was subsequently cancelled. A what we re looking at Here is the completion of the process that we started in february to terminate him for National Security reasons a Boucher said. The departments action will not of feet a parallel criminal investigation by the Fri Boucher said. . Officials familiar with the criminal inquiry said they were sceptical that Bloch Ever would be prosecuted. Even if Bloch is fired instead of being permitted to Uit he May Quali a for a government pension of about $56,000 a year based on his 30 years in the foreign service the pension statute denies payments to people convicted of criminal activity but it contains no such Bloch automatic disqualification for people fired for cause. Boucher said Bloch was Given a summary of the evidence against him and a list of potential witnesses last March. That evidence now will be submitted to Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii who will make the a thumbs up or thumbs Down decision a the spokesman said. Under the Law there is no Appeal from bakery a decision. Boucher said it was doubtful the evidence against Bloch would Ever be made Public because much of it is classified. Bloch was put on paid leave last summer after it was disclosed that he had been photographed passing a briefcase to a Kab officer in Paris Bloch said the Case contained rare postage Stamps. Bloch a last Job at the state depart mint was As chief of the Section dealing with the european Community. Previously he had served As the Deputy chief of the . Embassy in Vienna Austria from 1983 to 1987. Bloch is believed to have been recruited by the Kab while serving in the . Embassy in East Germany in 1974. After news leaked out about the charges against Bloch he came under round the clock surveillance by Fri agents who made no Effort to keep their activities a secret. Apparently the Bureau hoped that the open and obvious watch would pressure Bloch into making a con fission. But it never did. At the same time the Media engaged in a 24-hour-a-Day stakeout of Bloch a apartment in an elegant Washington neighbourhood popular with diplomats. Bloch sometimes engaged in banter with reporters but said nothing about the substance of the charges against him. 911 operator in napping Tulsa okla. Apr an emergency operator ignored a witnesses frantic Call about an abduction that left a 19-year-old woman dead police said. A woman telephoned the 911 police emergency number Friday night after witnessing an incident in Southeast Tulsa in which a Motorist drove onto a sidewalk and struck a woman with his car then stopped and put the woman into his car. The body of the woman identified As Tammy Garret was found saturday morning in a nearby Field along the Arkansas River. She had been stabbed several times and her Throat was slashed. Police believe she was killed in the Field. The caller was Able to provide a description of the suspects car and the vehicles tag number. That information led to the arrest on tuesday of Jack g. Lynch 33, who is being held on a murder charge police it. Jack Putnam said. Police chief Drew Diamond would not speculate on whether police could have prevented Garrett a death if they had been immediately dispatched to the scene. A a there a just no Way to Tell a he said wednesday at a news conference. A a we be been struggling with that question. We want to sleep also. A it should have gone out As a priority one Call Quot Diamond said. Quot this Call was not regrettably put into the  said the operator whom he refused to identify also failed to record the name of the caller who police believe May be the Only witness to the abduction. The caller volunteered her name but the operator said it Wasny to needed. The operator resigned wednesday after being on the Job for Only 30 Days. F -7 7 Quot a i solar Power All the Way a looking like a flying Saucer from outer space the solar powered entry from California state univer sity los Angeles Rolls past a stalled Motorist on the big Beaver Road in Troy mich., As it nears the finish of the 11-Day, 1,641-mile Florida to Warren mich., pm Sun Rayce Usa on thursday. The entry solar Eagle finished fourth with an on Road time of 81 hours 3 minutes 44 seconds. The Winner was the University of Michigan entry which completed the race in 72 50 47.. Says Calls from overseas too expensive Washington apr Federal Telephone regulators Are telling foreign phone companies that overseas Calls to the United states Are about twice As expensive As they should be. And if foreign companies done to shape up the Federal communications commission says it will take action to lower prices. West Germany for instance has not lowered its accounting rate since 1983, . Phone companies still pay half of $1,56 a minute or 78 cents a minute to the germans for completing Calls to West Germany. At amp to and its rivals charge Between $6.20 and $11,58 for a 10-minute Call from the United states to West Ger Many depending on when and How the Call is made. But a German caller gets hit with $ 19,07 for the same Call. If at amp to charges 62 cents a minute it loses Money. It makes up such losses however by collecting 78 cents a minute for completing Calls from West Germany to the United Stales. But the inflated $1.56 accounting rate keeps prices.,High a and customers foot the Bill. By contrast South Korea has reduced its accounting rate steadily a from $2.36 a minute to $2.10 a minute and Japan dropped its rates in 1985 from $2.35 to $1.75a minute. Sweden has Cut its accounting rate in half. Quot the acc says . Phone customers May have paid As much As $1 billion too much for International Calls in 1988 due to outmoded contracts that allow overseas phone companies to charge inflated prices for handling International Calls not Only does the practice Hurt individual pocketbooks it adds greatly to the . Trade deficit because far More Calls go out of the United states than come in. . Phone companies paid out $2 billion More in 1988 than they took in from foreign phone companies according to the acc which is threatening to limit what american phone companies can pay to overseas carriers. The acc says roughly half of the $2 billion deficit represented overpayment by . Consumers to foreign Telephone companies that have refused to keep prices in line with Cost reducing advances in technology such As direct  acc proposed to ease restrictions on How american Telephone amp Telegraph and other . Long distance com panics such As Sci and us sprint negotiate accounting rates with foreign companies. These accounting rates determine How the two sides divvy up the charges Consumers pay for International Calls. Competition gives , companies an incentive to lower prices but foreign phone companies which typically Are state owned done to face competitive pressures