European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 13, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes . Wednesday january 13, 1993 spying in Fly the new York times Washington suddenly Warren m. Christopher pc Sidcot elect Clinton nominee As Secretary of slate is facing some embarrassing questions on Capitol Hill where there is a renewed concern about an old charge that he knew about army surveillance of anti Vietnam War protesters. It is not that the 25-Ycar-old incident is serious enough to jeopardize Christo Pher s confirmation. Rather it is that confirmation hearings before the Senate foreign relations committee which Start today May not turn out to be the love fest the Clinton team expected. Questions have Arisen Over whether Christopher who is touted As a Man of integrity May have misled Congress during his confirmation hearings As Deputy Secretary of state in january 1977. He said then that As Deputy attorney general in the 1960s, he neither authorized an army intelligence operation to spy on civil rights and anti War activists nor knew anything about it. A i have no recollection of a discussion in my presence of the army engaging in Covert surveillance or any other form of nominee Covert activity a he said then. He added that he believed the army was simply providing the Johnson administration with a summaries of what they picked up from local police departments or from news  but a july 23, 1968, memo to Christopher indicates he was informed in 1968 that army Quot operatives were involved in intelligence gathering. The memo on potential disturbances in Washington said the a main source of intelligence in the capital was the army a 116th military intelligence group. Quot the 116th relies upon local police departments for some of their info nation but also have their own operatives in the area Quot the document added. A note in the margin reads a noted. We a in what Christophers aides confirm is his handwriting. Tit e memo is among Christophers files at the Lyndon b. Johnson archives in Austin  aides and committee members and their staffs scrambled monday to figure out How to Deal with the matter. Committee lawyers wrote to Christopher on monday asking for a written explanation before the two Day Warren m. Christopher nominated to become Secretary of state talks monday with sen. Dianne Feinstein a Calif. The Senate foreign relations committee is checking into his knowledge of army surveillance of Vietnam War protes ters. Hearing. A. Late in the Day William c. Triplett ii the minority counsel to the committee said the panel was seeking about 60 More documents that Are secret. Triplett is Allied with sen. Jesse Helms the conservative North Carolina Republican who is expected to Lead the interrogation of Christopher. A member of the Clinton transition team said Christopher would say both in a letter and in the hearing that although he was aware the military was gathering intelligence he had no knowledge of Quot Covert activities Quot and that nothing in the documents contradicts his 1977  do better in math but Many still behind Washington a Many Young americans Are still not considered proficient in mathematics but . Students Are improving according to test scores released tuesday by the education department. Students who took the National assessment of educational Progress in 1992 performed better on average than those who took it in 1990. The department said improvement was shown by boys and girls alike in the fourth eighth and 1.2th grades the classes that took the test. Education Secretary Lamar Alexander said students showed an average improvement of a half Grade level which he said shoved that new standards adopted by the nation s math teachers were helping. But nearly 40 percent of students tested still failed to reach Basic proficiency Levels the department said. Average scores for Whites Rose in All three grades. But Black and hispanic students showed improvement Only in Grade ,12. Averages for both sexes Rose but boys still led girls in grades four and 12 Levels were about the same in eighth Grade. Poor Urban eighth graders showed declining skills and performed at lower Levels than Rural students who did t do As Well As suburban students. Students in the Southeast lagged behind those in the Northeast the West and the Central states. The test was designed by the National assessment governing Board an Independent commission set up to determine the skill Levels . Students should attain Richard w. Riley president elect Clinton s Choice As education Secretary was on the panel w Hen the Stan Dards were set. The test was administered to 26,000 Public and private school students in 44 states territories and the District of Columbia. State by state results will be released in Spring. Students were required to answer questions both where multiple choices were offered and where they crafted responses. The results do not compare the skills of american students with those of students in other Industrial nations. Students in Japan South Korea and some european nations generally fare better in math than . Students. The results also do not explain Why Black and hispanic students showed improvement in Only one Grade  arrested in grocery theft Chapel illll., . A Felix Bloch the former . Diplomat who was suspected of spying but Neer arrested has been charged with Quot stealing s100 Worth of groceries from the store where he has been working As a cashier. The 57-year-old spent a night in the Orange county jail after his arrest on larceny charges sunday. He was freed on ,000 bail  employees saw him loading bags of groceries Bloch into the trunk of his. 19s0  said. Bloch was a career state department employee who became the second ranking Diplomat at the . Embassy in Vienna Austria. In 19s4, . Spy chasers in Paris videotaped Bloch As he allegedly handed a briefcase to a soviet agent. But Bloch was never charged. He was fired from his 5sl,4iki-a->ear Job in 1990. Day called time for reconciliation Washington apr Coretta Scott King said monday that next weeks Martin Luther King or. Federal Holiday should be Quot a Day of reconciliation for All americans. A it is not a Day for african americans a she said. A it is a Day for All  at the White House president Bush issued a proclamation declaring next monday a Holiday. He said that by setting the Day aside in King s Honor a your nation reaffirms its commitment to the Noble goals for which he Laboured and eventually gave his life equal Opportunity and Justice for  Scott King widow of civil rights Leader who was slain nearly 25 years ago presented awards to six people or groups honoured for outstanding commitment to the development growth and spirit of the King Holiday. Those honoured were a Annie Abrams a Little Rock ark., civil rights and Community activist. A z. Mae Jimison former Indiana Superior court judge. A Edward Joseph chairman of the rent review commission of Palm Springs Calif. A tote Owca of great Falls mont., sponsor of King Holiday celebrations. A 1�?The Atlanta Federal executive Board which was cited for disseminating information within the Federal government about the Holiday and providing Oiler assistance. ,. ,. A Warren h. Stewart sr., pastor at first institutional Baptist Church in Phoenix and head of the Victory to Gether committee which lobbied for passage of a ballot proposition creating a King Holiday in Arizona. Monday will be the eighth Observance of the Federal Holiday honouring King but it will be the first Lime that Arizona has marked it. 2 missing after copter crashes into icy River Tonawanda . A a helicopter with u traffic reporter and Pilot on Board crashed into the Niagara River on monday. The Fate of the two Wasny to know n. Quot icy rough Waters forced authorities to Call off the search monday night four hours after the helicopter crashed a few Miles upriver from Niagara Falls. In he search was to resume tuesday morning. The helicopter chartered by radio station War in Buffalo lost Contact with air traffic controllers about 5 20 p.m., said an official with the Federal aviation administration. Witnesses told police that they saw the helicopter Hying Low. Moments later they saw an explosion near a set of Power lines and saw something fall into the River. T he copters Black Box w As recovered by divers. T he station identified its reporter As Mike to Szrom Caffery identified the Pilot As Herb Kuhn