European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 13, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 0 0 the stars and stripes . 1 wednesday january 13,1993 it s s after Bethesda exam Washington a president Bush emerged smiling from Bethesda naval Hospital after his annual physical examination tuesday holding both thumbs ii. Quot clean Bill of health a the president said. Upon Bush a return to the Oval office while House physician or. Burton Lee said there is nothing wrong with the president. Lee said no recurrences were found of the noncancerous skin growths that had been removed from Bush s face last March. In a Brief written statement later Lee disclosed that Bush was injected with Cor Tisone to ease Quot recent persistent pain in his left hip. He provided no other details on the pain or the treatment but he said that Over the past four years Bush a Quot osteoarthritic problems with his hips. Have not progressed  Bush spent about 4 w hours at the Navy medical Center in nearby Bethesda my. Quot there is no change in his medical status from last year Lee wrote. Quot his thyroid disease is stable and thyroid function is  _ the doctor said Bush a previously diagnosed Case of a form of Early glaucoma in one Eye is a completely stable and required no treatment. T earlier aides had described the presi Dent As feeling fit and healthy. Bush will continue receiving the full medical benefits he has had As president after he leaves office Jan. 20. At 68, Bush is the fourth oldest presi Dent in history. He is a regular Jogger and frequently plays Golf. A recently Bush completed an 18,000-mile trip abroad with stops in saudi Arabia Somalia Moscow and Paris. But he has not shown evidence of any physical a ailments since a bout with stomach flu at a state dinner in Tokyo in january 1992. Lee had said last Spring before Bush began full time campaigning for re elec lion that the president was under great stress and needed to reduce his hectic schedule arid take vacations More often. As the Campaign heated up rumours swirled that Bush was suffering from poor health. Among the rumours a de Nice by Lee and the president himself a was a recurrence of the overactive thyroid that triggered an erratic heartbeat in May 1991. The erratic heartbeat known As atrial fibrillation is the Only major medical s of v Evv v  v ? s v a v. S s. S v a. A. / Vamp i president Bush shows his pleasure tuesday outside Bethesda naval Hospital in Maryland. A problem Bush suffered As president. It developed while he was jogging at the presidential Retreat at Camp David md., and he was admitted to Bethesda naval Hospital on May 4. Tests showed the problem was brought on by an overactive thyroid from Graves disease. Bush a Graves disease was treated in 1991 with radioactive iodine and he takes thyroid pills each Day. Blood tests Are monitored periodically for amounts of a hormone called Ash to determine the proper amount of thyroid Bush must take. At Bush a last checkup on March 26, 1992, doctors used liquid nitrogen to remove four Small noncancerous skin growths from his face. The growths called keratoses often follow prolonged Sun exposure. In Washington apr Many Young americans Are still not considered proficient in mathematics but . Students arc. 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 12th 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 showed that new standards adopted by the nations 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 a Choice As education Secretary was on the panel when 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 level. Sex envoy arrested in grocery theft Chapel Hill . A Felix Bloch the former . Diplomat who was suspected of spying but never arrested has been charged with stealing $100 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 $1,000 bail monday. Store employees saw him loading bags of groceries Bloch into the trunk of his 1980 Mercedes Benz police said. Bloch was a career state department employee who became the second ranking Diplomat at the . Embassy in Vienna Austria. In 1989, . Spy chasers in Paris videotaped Bloch As he alleged. Viet by handed a briefcase to a so agent. But Bloch was never charged. He was 3g fired from his $81,400-a-year Job in 1990. Re 99 Day called time for reconciliation Washington apr Coritta Scott King said monday that next weeks Martin Luther King or. Federal Holiday should be Quot a Day of reconciliation for All americans. It. 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 Kings 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  Coretta 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 the Owca of great Falls Mont sponsor of King Holiday celebrations. A the Atlanta Federal executive Board which was cited for disseminating information within the Federal government about the Holiday and providing other assistance. A Warren h. Stewart sr., pastor at first institutional Baptist Church in Phoenix and head of the Victory together 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 time that Arizona has marked it. 2 missing after copter crashes into icy River Tonawanda . A a helicopter with a traffic reporter and Pilot on Board crashed into the Niagara River on monday. The Fate of the two Wasny to known. 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. The search was to resume tuesday morning. The helicopter chartered by radio station War in Buffalo lost Contact with air traffic controllers a 5 .0 p.m., said an official with the Federal aviation ministration. Witnesses told police that they saw the helicopter my Low. Moments later they saw an explosion be set of Power lines and saw something fall into the right the copters Black Box was recovered by divers. The station identified its reporter As Mike Rosin cattery identified the Pilot As Herb Kuhn