) "�,u.nGTO -The Pen­ tagon ys it a� in the fi 1 1992 year, $129 billion worth of military contra , an 8 percent d line. Californi received 21.2 percent of the $112 billion a arded in the United Sta a Defense Department report ·d. Another $17 billion w awarded to contractor in American territories like Guam and Puerto Rico. Georgia nearly doubled the value of i contra over 1991, with a 1992 total of $3.8 billion, while the value of Missouri' contracts dropped 41 percent, to 3.7 billion. Over all, the report aid, military procurement rose in 11 stat and the District of Colum­ bia but fell in 39 tates. Princeton OW'-Rn P dent over racism ·gns, PRINCETON, NJ-Incensed by racist incidents and believ- ing that Princeton University administration does not care about its' tudents of color's needs, Paul McDonald, a Black tudent, resigned from his posi­ tion as student body president. "It is time students of color said, 'Enough,'" wrote Mc­ Donald wrote. Since 1982. be d, ...... .._� .... reports on race relations have been prepared by different st - dent-facul ty groups at the administration's reque t and, according to Mcdonald, ig­ nored. The university ad­ ministration and students of color have been at odds ince May, when more than 500 stu­ dents rallied to protest the Rod­ ney King case. Numerous students spoke of racial harassment, saying they had been excluded from class­ room discussions and ignored when bringing their complaints to faculty members and ad­ ministrators. Dr. Ruth Simmons, who was appointed the university's key point person on race relations, is moving in a direction to reach common ground on the race relations i ue by suggesting the appointment of an ombudsmen on race issues and organizing the university's handling of race-relations complaints. By JEFF PARROTT 1AI'�1\i'-Mention of high health care cos usually brings to mind � like S400 per night pitals bills or emcrgerq room fees that can more of an emergency to a patient' pocket­ boo than . of her physical health. But haq>itals Y they also feel the financial cn,uy;h from inefficiencies in the entire health care system, forcing them to pass these em on to individuals. An example of the sort of problems imbe way health care em are administered in Michigan mspitaIs' currently working its way through the ta attorney general's office. ' Attorney General Frank Kelley is charging two health care billing com­ pani am several irxlividuals in separate schemes of defrauding the state Medicaid system of more than 5 mil­ lion. MEDICAID IS HFAL 111 C coverage for th:: poor, fw1ded 60 percent by the federal govemmcntand 40 percent by the sta . Tbose seeking it must prove financial need in a 23- page application. In one fraud case, Kelley says Profes­ sional Claims aOO Cash Managers, Inc., of Southfield billed Medi . d for roo rvi than were y provided y S1. John' H ital in Detroit, to ture o $3.8 million. If convicted, Pa::;M owner and p ident Richard Bartlett, of Ole faces Up to 60 years in prison and/or $750, in fines for 15 COWl of :Medicaid fraud. A Laming district cou judge will 'd March 19 if tbere . enough evidence to try Bartlett on the cbarg . P CM W HIRED by St. John's to perform billing for opesating and recovery room services. PCCM alleged­ ly took a percenta of the reimb men it w able to obtain for bospital, . tandan1 procedure for in- dependent billing contractors. St John's HospitaLis not accused of any wrong doing in the matter. Kelly began his investigation wh nth! bospital reported it w receiving reimburse- ments that were ex ive. But th trusting 'of the hospital' bookkeeping to outsid sources brin up a question that a health care ad­ ministrators and elected official must fa: Is the method of billing for hospital care in need of improvement, as to avoid future abuses? LA schools: America's third' - world city LOS ANGEL s--Over- crowded cla room, leaky roofs, outdated textbooks, metal detectors, and police of­ ficers patrolling schools are common in America's inner­ city schools, according to a recent article in The New York Times. But Los Angeles school ys­ tem are facing the wor t demographic and economic upheaval temming [rom un­ controlled immigration and re ion. There i an impend­ ing trike, a debate urrounding the impending divi ion of the large di trict, and a deci ion . regarding th uperintendent. Spending per tudent i now at $4,187 compared to ew York' S7 . Enrollment of Los Angeles' 51 chool is at 641, . The di trier' budget i $3.9 billion dollars and is car­ rying a S400 million deficit. Students eern ympathetic to teachers and are well aware of the state budget cut gao "Th government, they're the ones with th m n y, and they're hurting a lot," id Emesto Fu nt .a enior at Bel­ mont High. "It just rnak me not believ . th ys m. My expectatio diminish." woo t' • · · whi h greatly xceeds in-patient volume, will remain varied the rd, he id. H w- . ever, be called the uniform billing for in-patients a " tep in � right directi n." Medicaid a para form be- ca they re required to collect dif­ ferent information from th fed ral government, like whether or not the patient' covered by any other insurers, Smith id, Another rea on for a unique Medicaid form Ii in tbe hu volumes of claims ubrnitted. Beca tre depart­ ment pays m re than 50 million claims a year, or about 200 (XX) a day, the forftls must el ctronicallyscinn irsteadof proces cd by a per.;on at a key I'd - done by ther payers, he ill, MITH ED hi depart- m nt i continuallv lookine 1 wa to to peed up claim proa:ssi1l12. 1O:!rOJ111C billing. will be imp emented 1995, he id, This will allow health care-providc topre-editardca h loomis delay claim payment, m1 will be much r than mailing � forms to Io.AIDUI ... Smith said th:: average claim ut 17 days from the time . department receiv it until the Treasury prin a reimbwsemen chcdc; Johnson of the Michigan Hosoital . ation . d Medicaid iseditsownformbeca itw to \WIer a waiver from the federallkal Care Finance Administration, whic contro Medicare nationally.Shcsaid iO addition to a uniform billing fomt., bospi taladrninistmto would li1ct th:: data on the foom to appear in same order for each one. "Manual adj�tmen ml.Bt be made by th provider when payers disagree on which order they want the data to appear on billing fonns" he said. 'Johnson predicted Medicaid will eventually switch to a uoiform billing form for out-paden well, but not for another coupl of years. State continu s, _.-- I "1' " •• nufacturing jobs , . , � Optimist Club's 'King Day' Program - Wayne County . A change to world � competition has emphasized 8 change � technology and more kills are neede