European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes . Tuesday june 21, 1994 car insurance Crooks playing deadly game by Jeff Donn the associated press Springfield mass. A pocketing easy Cash from an insurance company and its faceless policyholders May have seemed like a victimless crime. But Robert Wojcik or. And his Uncle Stephen woj Cik were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison last week for their insurance scam. The Driver of the car rammed by their rented truck was killed. Insurance investigators say they Are surprised More people Arentt killed in accidents staged by sophisticated fraud Mills that often include corrupt doctors lawyers and Auto repair  insurance scams have become More common in recent years As economic hardships and illegal immigration provide aready Supply of accomplices a the fraud schemers have really targeted the poor and uneducated a said Steve Cindrich Rof the National insurance crime Bureau an Industry Trade group. There Are no National figures on the number of staged accidents the group said. Investigators estimate about 10 percent of All Accident claims Are fraudulent. From 1991 to 1993, the number of Accident complaints in California alone Rose 64 percent to 12,786. And people involved in those accidents made $127 million Worth of insurance claims officials say. Some of the accidents themselves Are fictional with phony cars that exist Only on insurance paperwork. That was t the Case with the Wojciki who enlisted a Friend to drive the rented truck. To Quot papa on tap be a Satu Jovero of Finland visiting her Cousin Rhea boat righting Massachusetts makes a Call from a Boston Telephone Booth to Jove Row a father in Provoo Finland on fathers Day a tree of charge. The British style promotional phone Booth was set up in Bostons fan cull Hall marketplace to permit adults to phone their fathers anywhere in the world Tor two minutes on fathers Day Courtesy of a scottish whiskey  inmates riot Sparta a. Apr prisoners upset Over a water shortage rioted for about four hours at a medium Secu Rity prison before authorities regained control Early monday. A guard who had been hit in the head and another with a badly Cut Finger were hospitalized in stable condition. A third guard was treated and released. Mattresses and trash were set ablaze. Several guards were trapped in locked cubicles but the inmates could not get to them a spokesman said. Several inmates tried unsuccessfully to escape. I he fraud schemers have really targeted the poor and uneducated a Steve Cindrich National insurance crime Bureau prosecutors said Robert Wojcik caused the crash by pressing his foot on top of the friends and forcing the accelerator to the floor. The truck broadside a car driven by 70-year-old Paul Langevin a a retired insurance agent. Robert Wojcik later offered to Settle his medical claim for $6,000. The Friend testified he did no to know of the plan and was not charged. R insurance investigators say fraud schemers and their recruits often use Jalo pies or rentals and pick commercial vehicles or late Model cars As targets because they Are Apt to be heavily insured. Very Young or old Drivers alone in cars make easier Marks because people Are less Likely to believe their version of the Accident. Then the doctors and lawyers go to work documenting exaggerated or faked injuries and damages for medical or property claims and lawsuits. Dishonest mechanics help document claims for damages that Are either nonexistent or the result of earlier accidents. Investigators say recruiters and Legal firms keep most of the $20,000 to $25,000 take from a typical Accident.. Students dismal in math professors say Princeton . Apr american High school graduates Are so ill prepared in mathematics that they rank at the Bottom among 14 countries where College teachers were surveyed. American instructors questioned in the International study conducted by the Carnegie foundation for the advancement of teaching also had a Low rating for their students writing and speaking skills. The ambitious Survey whose results were released sunday takes a comprehensive look at the attitudes of University instructors toward their countries students University operations and their own jobs. Foundation questionnaires were completed by 20,000 respondents in five european four Western hemisphere and four Asia Pacific nations plus Hong Kong. On student accomplishment they were asked if schools in their county have adequately prepared College enrollees in math and quantitative reasoning skills. Only 15 percent of . Respondents said american High school graduates met the test the poorest showing among the 14 countries. Faculty in Hong Kong gave their students the highest rating 40 percent saying they were adequately prepared. South Korea was a close second. The findings parallel the results of objective International tests on which japanese taiwanese and other asian students regularly outscore americans in mathematics. Asked if undergraduates in their countries Are adequately prepared in writing and speaking skills Only 20 percent or less of the faculty thought so in the United states Australia Hong Kong Chile and Israel. South korean professors showed the greatest satisfaction in that area almost 60 percent saying their students seemed sufficiently trained. Other findings a academic Freedom was most in question in South Korea and the United states. One third or More of instructors in the two countries feel there Are political or ideological restrictions on what a scholar can publish. The reports authors link the . Finding to pressure for a political correctness on american campuses. A in most countries fewer than on third of respondents believe their universities Are competently led. A asked whether they prefer teaching or research work instructors in Russia Chile Mexico and the United states expressed the most interest in teaching. Two thirds or More in the Netherlands Japan Sweden and Germany were More interested in  pick up debris from Ohio River Shoreline from wire reports Charleston a a. A it was hot dirty work but someone had to do it. Volunteers in six states spent saturday picking up menus underwear Highway signs and other debris left by floods and jitterbugs along the Ohio River a Shoreline. A you name it she a floating around in there a said Tom Szymanek the Hancock county coordinator for the sixth annual Ohio River sweep. The sweep covered 981 Miles from the Confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers in Pittsburgh to the Ohio a Mouth at the Mississippi River at Cairo Iii volunteers in Pennsylvania Ohio West Virginia Kentucky Indiana and Illinois took part. At least one area in each of the 72 counties along the River was designated for  test claim doubted Chicago a Federal investigators have found no evidence to support a government researchers claim that he invented the widely used blood test for the aids virus the Chicago Tribune reported. The inspector general a office of the department of health and human services spent two years investigating claims by or. Robert c. Gallo the newspaper said. The department and the Pasteur Institute of Paris Are fighting Over millions of dollars in royalties from the test kit. The report on the investigation contains no conclusions. However it notes that a Patent examiner who granted the health department the 1985 Patent on Gallons test told investigators that she did no to know French scientists also had developed an aids test. She would not have granted the department the Patent if she had known the Tribune  fight leads to death Carson Calif. A a Man being driven Home from a bar fight grabbed a Deputy a gun and wounded the officer then killed a chaplain who was along for the ride police said. Deputy Terrence Wenger was in critical condition monday after surgery on his right Eye. Chaplain Bruce Bryan 40, was killed Early saturday. Police said he Rode with officers two or three times a week to help defuse Domestic disputes console crime victims Ana counsel deputies Ana suspects. Derek Pettis 25, was arrested for investigation of murder and held without bail. Deputies said he shot Bryan four times As the chaplain tried to run away. Investigators said Pettis May have believed that he had killed the Deputy and wanted to make sure there were no  workers strike Warren Mich. A about 2,000 members of the United Auto workers Union went on strike monday morning at general dynamics plants in Michigan Ohio and Pennsylvania after contract negotiations stalled. The salaried production and maintenance workers Are at factories making tanks and other land based equipment for the military contractor in Warren As Well As in Lima Ohio and Scranton pa., Law spokesman Bob Barbee said. Talks on a new three year contract began in april. The old pact expired saturday Barbee said. Sticking Points include employees health insurance costs and How Long salaried workers would continue to get paid if the company shut Down their Plant he said. No new negotiations were immediately  Engineer turns up Sequoia National Park Calif. A German aerospace Engineer walked out of Sequoia National Park on saturday after being lost for six Days in rugged terrain without food Park officials said. Raimund Hilmar Ottmann 45, surprised searchers when he walked into Buckeye Flat Campground on saturday morning Park spokesman Pete Allen said. Ottmann who is temporarily working at Edwards fab was in Good condition Allen said. Rescuers had scaled Back their search Friday despite using nearly 100 rescuers on the ground and in helicopters and a team of dogs. Ottmann left on a hike june 10 and was reported missing three Days later when he did not show up for work