71.   The steps are the latest effort by the Army to stay ahead of a scandal whose growing scope and seriousness has taken senior officials by surprise.

72.   The Star-Telegram asked Pantex officials by telephone Wednesday for responses to that report and about a dozen other incidents highlighted by the Government Accountability Project.

73.   The sudden flexibility by the Japanese minister of international trade and industry, Ryutaro Hashimoto, clearly took American officials by surprise.

74.   The trend took some state officials by surprise.

75.   The strength of the current industry upswing has taken analysts and Boeing officials by surprise.

76.   They are also threatened with exposure to immigration officials by bosses or people with whom they get involved in disputes.

77.   This has triggered a demand for full-time NFL game officials by many in the sports media.

78.   This warning followed similar statements relayed to administration officials by John W. Lewis, a Stanford University political scientist who meets frequently with senior Chinese military figures here.

79.   U.N. officials on the island said this weekend that they are investigating apparent breaches of the accord by government officials by exerting unspecified pressure to get votes for autonomy.

80.   Patterson told State Department officials by telephone that she did not see it as an assassination attempt, a department official said.