European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 1, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday september 1, 1994 . The stars and stripes Page 7 schools menus improve Marks Washington a it does no to take Tofu and bean sprouts to make school lunches healthier and some places Are proving it a nutrition advocacy group says. More than 40 school systems were praised tuesday in a report by Public voice for food and nutrition policy for their efforts at providing healthier lunches that children will eat. A it is important to note that schools have not made healthful changes simply by offering bean sprouts Tofu burgers and other unfamiliar fare that you might expect kids to reject a said Mark Epst nth groups executive director. But too Many schools still offer children a Choice Between a Green glop and Gray glop a said sen. Patrick Leahy dvt., whose Senate agriculture committee oversees school lunch programs. Citing the pioneering efforts at local schools Epstein called on the agriculture department to move up its timetable for healthier school lunches from 1998 to the 1996-97 school year. A creativity is what it takes to meet dietary guidelines in a school District a said Carolyn Gump food service director for the Latrobe pa., area schools. Students were enlisted to serve As role models to taste test foods write menus and organize special nationality Days she said. Gump said one popular meal is Chicken nuggets. By switching from six nuggets to three nuggets plus one baked drumstick the fat Content was Cut from 40 percent to 28 percent and the meal remains popular she said. Many schools base their lunch pro Grams on surplus commodities provided by the agriculture department Between 1990 and 1994, the Public voice report said the program increased the share of meat fruits and vegetables provided while reducing the share of cheese butter Oil and grains. While the us a has doubled its shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables in the past year that still amounts to Only two More apples for , Epstein said. He called for further increases in fresh fruits and vegetables in the program. Limits on medicare medicaid finding favor by the new York times Washington a even while spurning most of president Clinton a health care plan members of Congress have eagerly accepted one part of the original proposal a move to be Money from medicare and medicaid to help finance health insurance for people without coverage. The presidents dream of Universal health insurance appears to be dead in this Congress. But his proposal to set stringent limits on the growth of medicare and medicaid is very much alive in the More modest proposals being considered in the Senate and the House. The Prospect of such cuts in the growth of medicare and medicaid alarms Many beneficiaries doctors and Hospital executives though Federal budget officials say the two programs Are growing at unsustainable rates.1 lawmakers from All political Camps including democratic and Republican leaders of the Otise and the Senate rely heavily on savings in medicare and medicaid to  for efforts to expand coverage. Sen. George Mitchell of Maine the majority Leader said a if health care Reform is not enacted this year it is As close to a certainty As there can be in the legislative process that there will be a Cap on medicaid and Medid amp a enacted next year.�?�. But experts on health policy said the proposed cutbacks could have Adverse effects. While the cutbacks Are aimed Pri disabled people pays doctors an a a a percent Orch _ and the Gap has been widening rage of 59 percent ers at private insure Marily at doctors and hospitals not at beneficiaries the experts said that if Federal payments Are reduced doctors will probably become even less willing than they Are today to care for patients on medicare or medicaid. Moreover they said Many doctors and hospitals that accept such patients will make up the lost Revenue by increasing their charges to patients with private insurance. Businesses and labor unions have Long complained about such Cost shifting because they  the extra costs. Medicare the Federal health insurance program for 32 million elderly and 4 Mil lion did a a a a according to the physician payment re View commission a Federal panel that advises Congress on payment of doctors. Medicaid the Federal state program for 3ymillion Low income people pays doctors 47 percent of what private insurers . Many doctors refuse to take medicaid patients because the fees Are so Low. Several studies suggest that most medicare beneficiaries have Good Access to medical care but that there Are problems for some groups including Blacks hispanic americans people who Are disabled and those who live in Rural areas and inner City neighbourhoods. The congressional budget office estimated that the presidents original health care proposal would have Cut the projected growth of medicare by $10?billion, or 9 percent Oyer five years. Base won t become Panetta Park by Scripps Howard news service Monterey Calif. A City official has withdrawn his suggestion that nearby fort Ord be renamed a Panetta Park in Honor of former . Leon Panetta now the White House chief of staff. Supervisor Sam Karas offered the idea last month in a letter to Jack bar Lich chairman of the fort Ord reuse authority. However Karas said tuesday that Panetta has written him a letter requesting that the idea be dropped. Karas said he wont pursue renaming the whole army base for Panetta but that he a not giving up his Effort to have at least part of fort Ord named after the former congressman. The base is to close next september. Uppity climber Joe Scharpf of Stuttgart Germany carefully makes his Way up the Chain reaction Section on the Dihedral of Smith Rock state Park North of Bend Ore. The Park has a reputation for being one of the Best sport i Iping areas in the United states. Tell Starr they re quitting by the Washington Post Washington a key prosecutors in the Whitewater investigation have told Independent counsel Kenneth w. Starr that they will leave As soon As he can hire a new staff a development that is Likely to cause delays into the sensitive probe of president Clinton a financial affairs. More than half of the staff attorneys have rebuffed Starr a request that they stay on. Although some of the lasers say they have great respect for Starr his aug. 5 selection by a three judge Federal panel to replace special counsel Robert b. Fiske or. Created great anguish among the Whitewater staff. The prosecutors had been working Long hours and were said to be nearing indictments against  people associated with the failed Madison guaranty savings amp loan but not the Clinton some of the attorneys had uprooted their families and new. York City Legal practices to follow the Republican Fiske e a Manhattan lawyer and former Federal prosecutor to a Little Rock ark., office Uii Ding that served As the investigations command Post. Starr whose activism in conservative Republican circles has led some democrats to complain that the Whitewater investigation could be used As a partisan vendetta against the Clinton has been immersed this week in briefings on the complicated Case. He declined to answer questions tuesday. But a spokeswoman said he is consulting with a distinguished members of True Legal Community for the names of possible staff replacements. She stressed that he is seeking attorneys with a outstanding judgment. And a Strong reputation for fairness and honesty.�?�. For Clinton the staff turnover Means almost certain delays in a probe that the White House has hoped would be concluded in time for Clinton to rebuild his Public standing before the Start of the a 1996 election season