European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2a the stars and stripes wednesday August 28,1991 at a glance ? i a i8 a a Ltd a Mhz it. Fez i or it Ems in >1 \ a 4w the debate rages about military women in combat despite their role in persian Gulf War. Servic Mem bars such As Marine Lance Chi. Stephanie Bowlin manned machine guns and flew aircraft during the War. See Story on pages 14 and 15. Economic havoc wreaked Hurricane Bob is the second most expensive Hurricane in . History. It caused $780 million in damage to insured property along the East coast according to insurance officials. It \ a Page 4 top gun grounded Navy officials cancelled the current class of the famed top gun fighter Pilot school at Nas Miramar calif., after discovering tiny cracks in the f-16n Falcon training aircraft. A Page 5 base treaty signed the United states signed a bases pact with the Philippines to close Clark a but retain Subic Bay naval facilities for 10 More years. A Page 8 school year begins children across Europe return to department of defense dependents schools. A Page 10 a better place to work a Survey says state governments Are at the cutting Edge of workplace changes that help their employees juggle the competing demands of family and work according to a Survey released this week. A Page 17 Index t Abby Ann Landers. 19 action line. .16 comics. 19-21 commentary. .13 crossword. .19 letters. .12 Money matters a .17 sports. 22-28 to listings. Weather. Moldavia from Page 1 a but More often it seemed that this was in danger from those who have oppressed us for five  a now the time has come for Independence a he said. Red yellow and Blue National flags and banners fluttered Over the crowd that gathered outside the parliament building to urge Independence. Children wore romanian National costumes. Moscow forced Romania to give up control of Moldavia in 1940 under a secret pact Between nazi Germany and the soviet Union under Josef Stalin. Sniegur said in an interview that unification with Romania was a Long term goal but he would not predict when that might occur. Moldavia was the final Republic along the soviet unions Western Border with Europe to declare itself Independent. The three Baltic republics a Latvia Lithuania and Estonia a have been pushing for Independence for almost three years and now appear to be on the verge of attaining it. The Ukraine declared Independence on saturday followed a Day later by byelorussian. Georgia in the caucasus Region also has declared its Independence. The crowd in Central Kishinev the moldavian capital approved by a show of hands a Resolution that demanded forma Tion of a moldavian army the taking Over of Border and customs Points formation of a National intelligence Agency and confiscation of All Kab property on moldavian territory. It also demanded negotiations with the Ukraine on disputed Border areas and withdrawal of All soviet military forces. Prime minister Valeriu Muravsky told the crowd that the Republic of 4.5 million people must maintain relations with the rest of the soviet republics because a we Are economically  but he noted that Moldavia a Rich agricultural area has a huge Trade surplus and a your Outlook is More positive than that of other  two thirds of Moldavia a people Are of romanian origin and moldavian speak a dialect of romanian. But under soviet Rule the alphabet was changed from latin to cyrillic the official soviet position was that romanians and moldavian were two distinct nationalities. Until recent years soviet officials sharply restricted contacts Between Romania and Moldavia. In Geneva exiled King Michael of Romania urged that the people of Moldavia be allowed to vote on becoming part of Romania. Michael was forced to flee Romania in 1948 after a communist takeover. He lives just outside Geneva. Romanians overthrew communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, but romanians ruling National salvation front has refused to allow Michael to return. He was deported from Romania in december hours after he arrived without a visa. Germany from Page 1 the three Baltic republics and will urge other european Community countries to do so. Foreign affairs minister Gerry Collins speaking to reporters As he left for the dec foreign ministers meeting in Brussels said he thought there would be a consensus on the Issue at the meeting. A i think that our relationship with the soviet Union will not suffer in any Way because right now As a result of the events of recent Days the soviet authorities Are prepared to go much further with regard to giving that right the right of Independence to Baltic states a Collins said. Soviet a president Mikhail a Gorbachev is under no illusion whatsoever nor has he been for a considerable period of time with regard to the european Community a efforts on behalf of the Baltic states a he added. Collins said the dec will Deal collectively with the Baltic states of Latvia Lithuania and Estonia. A if we Are going to have All the republics seeking Independence then there Are certain worries and concerns to be taken on Board a he said. Meanwhile Lithuania said lithuanian youths drafted against their will into the red army can return to their native land As it approaches Independence after a half Century of soviet Rule. The new soviet defense minister Yevgeny Shaposhnikov made the pledge in a Telephone conversation to lithuanian president vytautas Landsbergis said a spokesmen for the lithuanian parliament. A fall lithuanian soldiers serving in the soviet army can return Home a said spokesman Vaidas Rambilas. Enlisted officers can also choose whether to remain in the army and whether they want to serve in Lithuania or elsewhere Rambilas said. Shaposhnikov an air Force marshal also promised to remove All a Black Beret commandos from Lithuania said another parliamentary spokesman Audrius Azubalis. The notorious a Black berets Are both feared and loathed in the three Independence seeking Baltic republics which blame them for a bloody military crackdown in january. Scores from Page 1 minorities Are striving for College. Researchers inside and outside the College Board sponsor of the test taken each year by 1 million High school juniors and seniors applying for College question whether sat declines mean that nearly a decade of school Reform has failed. To use the sat to judge Public education As some politicians and others do is a dubious proposition. For starters the exam is taken each year by roughly a 45th of the student population. Test takers Are a self selected hence unrepresentative group. Educational testing service research concludes that half the eight Point decline in verbal scores Between 1987 and 1990 was due to the increasing proportion of minority and bilingual test takers who a generation ago never dreamed of College said Robert g. Cameron Send or research associate at the College Board. Ets the Princeton  organization that administers the sat is to release the research this fall. Minority students make up 28 percent of students taking the sat compared with 11 percent in 1973. An additional 16 percent Are from bilingual backgrounds. In an earlier paper titled a a let a have another sat score decline a Harvard education lecturer Harold Howe ii argued that declines stretching Back to the 1960s stemmed mainly from the growing presence of Low scoring minority students who for the first time joined White students in seeing selective colleges As realistic options. Thus Howe wrote the sat slump is not evidence of failing schools but of the far More Welcome news that minority students Are striving for College. Parents and schools could do More to sat scores Scholastic aptitude test average score results for All groups of students. J a. . 1991 1 verbal scores math scores a Law a pm 3 to 8 r a. Co to co All students Black mexican american puerto rican asian american White source a improve the scores. The sat a verbal Section tests vocabulary and Reading comprehension. Students who watch endless television at Home and never visit a Library Are at a disadvantage. A there is firm evidence that parental influence is very important a said Cameron. A things like outside Reading and being read to at Home really  schools Bear considerable responsibility when they done to require rigorous courses assign enough Homework or encourage outside Readmo. A test scores from students in the department of defense dependents schools usually come a few weeks after the scores for stateside students said Mary Johnson evaluation accreditation and budget pro Tram manager for the school systems Headquarters in Washington. Because of the nature of the school system accurate data a sometimes take a Little longer a she said. A we want to be sure we Are reflecting Only Dodds scores not someone else. It takes a bit Quot ass be sooner More care. The military overseas school system traditionally is close to or above the National average on almost All the performance indicators used by the department of education to rank . State schools. Dodds officials done to anticipate any changes to that this year officials said tuesday. A we Are anticipating that the scores will show that students Are competitive with other . College bound students scores a said Johnson. The military system last year had an average combined math and verbal sat score of 912 Points compared to the . Average of 903. A maximum score is 1,600. Dodds also slightly topped . _ Toppe schools in the percentage of students scoring 600 or above on the verbal portion of the test last year but lagged slightly behind in the category for the math portion