Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 28, 1994                   TAG: 9401280200
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN VIRGINIA

FAIRFAX - A woman and her daughter were arrested on charges they embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Fairfax County heart and cancer treatment center.

Patricia L. Burnam, 60, of Annandale, and Linda J. Sirk, 34, of Manassas, allegedly cashed reimbursement checks to patients who were dead or fictitious. The two were longtime employees of the center, but co-workers did not know the women were related.

Doctors at Fairfax Hematology-Oncology Associates estimate nearly $1 million was embezzled over several years. Fairfax police said they are trying to trace hundreds of checks and have not determined how much money was stolen.

Sirk also was charged with obtaining money by false pretenses, police said.

Doctors in the practice uncovered the alleged scheme during an investigation into why the business was on the verge of bankruptcy. - Associated Press

\ Trinity school offers international diploma

RICHMOND - Some students at Trinity Episcopal School will begin working this fall toward diplomas that are recognized worldwide.

Trinity will become one of only about 150 schools in the United States and about 500 in the world to offer the International Baccalaureate diploma curriculum.

The curriculum, which is offered in 73 nations, is rigorous and offers an international perspective lacking in most American secondary schools, said Trinity headmaster Thomas Aycock.

The voluntary program will require students to master a foreign language, produce a 4,000-word thesis and take a series of written examinations after two years.

Each student also must complete 150 hours of community service.

- Associated Press