European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 6, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday december 6, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 3 ethics office says Humbug to gift giving by Mike Causey the Washington Post Washington a Federal workers worrying about what to get the Boss for Christmas really done to have any problem. The perfect gift nothing. Co workers planning to Exchange Holiday or birthday gifts also need to be careful lest they run afoul of Uncle same a code of conduct which gives new meaning to the old phrase a i give at the  the Rule of thumb is that if the gift giver earns less Money than you done to accept the gift unless you Are willing to risk your Job. The office of government ethics has proposed a new code to go into effect next year. But these Are the rules for this Holiday season a a r a a unless there is a specific exception an employee shall not accept directly or indirectly any gift from a person or organization that has a financial relationship with their Agency conducts operations or activities that Are regulated by their Agency or has interests that May be substantially affected by the performance of the employees  the exception to the above in most agencies is when the employee has a a family or personal relationship with the gift giver. Most agencies also allow employees to accept promotional items a Calendar Coffee Mug or inexpensive ballpoint pen of a nominal value from outside  to be a promotional item the gift should Bear a corporate name or logo like Nike Westinghouse or the Washington Post for example. Employees cannot solicit contributions from coworkers for a gift for an official supervisor. Also an employee cannot make such a donation or accept a gift a from an employee receiving less pay than  the exception to the above Rule the ethics office said is a a voluntary gift of nominal value or donation or nominal amount made on a special occasion such As marriage illness birth of a baby baby Shower or  because they Are annual events a holidays such As Christmas hanukkah and birthdays. Do not fall into this special occasion category. Therefore employees May not annually give gifts to their supervisors or receive gifts from their subordinates on these  delay on female combat pilots called insult Washington apr defense Secretary Dick Cheney s decision to put off opening combat Pilot slots to females for at least a year is a an insult to women a rep. Patricia Schroeder says. The Colorado Democrat a senior member of the House armed services committee supports recently approved legislation to repeal the ban on female combat pilots. She criticized Cheney a move to put off any action until after a presidential panel studies the Issue. A this is certainly not what we intended a Schroeder said. A it sounds so reasonable. But we could fill a room with studies on women in the military.�?�. Congress has re Schroeder pealed the ban on women a flying combat missions for the Navy Marine corps and air Force. But Cheney Isnit expected to seek a any substantial change for the female pilots until a presidential commission issues its findings next november Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams said tuesday. The legislation that repeals the decades old ban on female combat pilots in the air Force Navy and Marine corps is before president Bush who is expected to sign it in the next few Days. Women in those branches of the armed services were barred from serving in combat positions under a 1948 Law. But Given widespread Public support for the role female pilots played in the persian Gulf War Congress approved the legislation late last month to lift the restrictions. While the Law opens the Way for female pilots to be assigned to units that might enter combat a such As fighter Jet squadrons or air wings aboard aircraft carriers a it does no to require they be put there. Instead the legislation establishes the commission of presidential appointees to study among other things the implications if any of the armed forces of permitting female service members to qualify for assignment to positions in some or All Cate Gones of combat  while the panel is studying the matter it May ask the Secretary of defense for permission to conduct a test assignments of female service members in combat positions the legislation says. A Becky Constantino the head of the Pentagon a advisory panel on women a issues has expressed concern that the commission will not have enough time to conduct any meaningful tests let alone a thorough review of the Complex Issue. Army will store military gear in Oman Schroeder reveals Washington a the . Army will be allowed to pre position some military equipment in the Middle Eastern country of Oman rep. Patricia Schroeder said wednesday. Although the Pentagon has sought approval to store military supplies in several persian Gulf nations since the end of the War against Iraq no agreement with Oman has been disclosed by the Bush administration. Pacts with Kuwait and Bahrain were announced this year. A senior Pentagon officer confirmed Schroeder a statement but refused to elaborate on the amount of Materiel to be stored in Oman. During the War Oman allowed the . Air Force to use its airfields for delivering supplies to Allied forces. It also provided crucial support to . Naval vessels during the conflict. The strategic nation a part of which is located at the entry to the persian Gulf has been reluctant to acknowledge the extent of its relations with Washington on military matters. But the cooperation has grown since the . Effort several years ago to escort kuwaiti Oil tankers during the War Between Iran and Iraq. Schroeder speaking with reporters said she supported the concept of repositioning . Military equipment overseas to Cut Back on the costs of Basing americans in foreign countries. She is a senior member of the House armed services committee and Heads its subcommittee on military installations. Asked about the status of . Agreements with Gulf nations in the Wake of the War Schroeder said she did not know the status of All the negotiations but she added a i know Oman would Only previously let the air Force in and now i guess they Are going to let the army pre position some stuff in  War gave us Chance for peace Schwarzkopf says by Rosemary Sawyer Brussels Bureau Antwerp Belgium a desert storm commander h. A a storming Normand Schwarzkopf said thursday that he believes the release of Western hostages in recent weeks was a fruit of the War he led. A i personally like to think that there was a connection. I really do a said the retired . Army general. A we right now and very much As a result of the Gulf War stand on the Brink of the greatest Opportunity for peace in the Middle East that we have had in any of our  Schwarzkopf was ending a european trip which included speaking engagements in the Netherlands and Belgium. He was in Antwerp on thursday to receive a belgian military medal give a speech and appear at the european Community Tennis championship. The Leader the 800,000-member coalition Force told the stars and stripes the Western world forged a Friendship with Arab nations throughout the War. A we went Over there and helped our Arab friends when they needed help a Schwarzkopf said. A we worked together. I think we Learned a lot about each other and because of that i think its led directly to number one this wonderful Opportunity we have to have peace in the world and number two of course its led to the release of the hostages a when talking of the release of the longest held hostage Terry Anderson Schwarzkopf smiled ear to ear in a fashion reminiscent of his Post desert storm Days when the War hero wore four stars rather than a Blue pin Stripe suit. A i was so Happy today its just such a great thing that the last american hostage has come Home a he said. A if we could just get the two German hostages out that would be icing on the  during the Small ceremony in Antwerp a historic City Hall Schwarzkopf thanked and. Praised the belgians for their role in the War especially their Navy a involvement. Belgian foreign minister Mark Eyskens presented Schwarzkopf with the grand officer of the order of Leopold medal. Maxwell family files for bankruptcy Protection London apr the Maxwell family its Media Empire in crisis since the death of Robert Maxwell said thursday that it has applied for bankruptcy court Protection. The petition applies to the private companies whose holdings include the new York daily news and the English weekly newspaper the european. The move throws the future of the Media Empire into question. The family a private and possibly Public holdings a Maxwell communication and Mirror group a will Likely be sold to pay off More than $4 billion in debt. The collapse comes a month after Maxwell died at sea off the Canary islands and follows an accelerating spiral of troubles. The troubles intensified thursday when maxwells flagship daily Mirror reported that $931 million vanished from Maxwell company coffers in the weeks before his death. The London tabloid reported that the sum included $754 million from pension funds. The serious fraud office a prosecution Agency of lawyers accountants and police said wednesday that it is investigating the management of Mirror group newspapers pension fund assets. Mirror group said tuesday night that the pension fund assets were Lent or transferred to private companies apparently without authority. The bankruptcy Protection petition applies to the private Maxwell holding companies Headington investments and the Robert Maxwell group. Under such a petition the court would appoint an administrator who would oversee an orderly repayment or restructuring of debt usually through the Sale of assets. Earlier thursday newspapers rivalling maxwells papers branded him a Crook. Rupert Murdoch a the Sun Britain a largest Selling paper headlined its report a Mirror Mirror on the Wall who is the biggest Crook of All a the Independent quoted Julio Hernandez Clavrie the lawyer representing maxwells family at the Spanish inquiry into his death As saying suicide was a possibility in the Light of revelations about misappropriation of pension funds. But it said Claverie added that he still had no precise knowledge of How Maxwell 68, died nov. 5. Spanish pathologists have cited natural causes