European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 11, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday february 11, 1986 stars and stripes Page 11 Arm Landers dear Ann Landers i am 46, a Guy Normal in every Way nol smarter than my Peers or dumber either. Not a Day goes by that i Don t hear an adult compare our generation with theirs. It is either we did t know what drugs were when we were grow ing up or a girl who let u fellow kiss her on a first Date was considered a  if their teen age years were so perfect and pure How did they manage to raise Bunch of delinquents like us is it Rock v Roll music that has made us self destructive or do we resent being pressured to gel Good grades so we can make lop schools and give our parents something to Bra about maybe if parents would accept their kids for what they arc and not make them feel like failures when they Don t Snag every Honor in school it would make for belter family relations. Also Ann while you re at it please Tell me if today s teen agers Are All that different from your teen age children looking for answer dear looking i have no teen age children. I do have two teen age grandchildren however and one who u out of her teens. The drug scene in High school today is a More serious problem than it was in pre Rylous generations. True we had alcohol but pot was unheard of and nobody i knew snorted Coke. Nol All girls were Virgin until marriage but there was less promiscuity because of fear of pregnancy. Birth control pills changed that. Your last Point is Well taken. Parents should not use their children As status symbols. Too Many teen agers Are made to feel like failures if they Don t achieve the lofty goals set for them. Sadder still they often give a because they Lack the motivation to make something of their lives if they fed they have been a disappointment. Dear Ann Laders we keep hearing that the lyrics to Rock music Are creating violence among our Young people and have caused an increase in suicide. Do these words sound familiar Rock a Bye baby in the tree top when the wind blows the Cradle will Rock. When the Bough Breaks the Cradle will fall. And Down will come baby Cradle and  Here s another example three Blind mice three Blind mice. See How they run tee How they run. They All ran after the Farmer s wife who Cut off their tails with a carving knife. Have you Ever seen such a sight in your life As three Blind mice we grew up with these Nursery rhymes and nobody thought a thing about them. Why the Hullabaloo now jus Taskin in fort Wayne . Teen agers Tell me they pay very Little attention to the lyrics. It s the beat they Blue. The same is True of the Nursery rhyme. In my opinion the serious damage malts from the constant violence that Churen see on to. Something must be one about the thousands of corpses that Are being dumped into the nation s living pm trl we Fang to Willa to Nat Amarica synd Landart May add Stu inter Tallara in Start and str pit Apo Mil  reminder letters to the editor must contains no printed aame and address of the Exchange Price hike complaints get answered effective oct. I 1985, our military received a 3 percent pay raise. Our question is Why bother giving us a 3 percent raise. Why not give us a raise Compa Rable with the consumer Price Index Why when we get a 3 percent pay raise do prices on most commissary and Exchange items go up 10 percent or More the following is a list of some of the Price increases noticed since oct. 1. Milk is 59german cheese 44 50 soda 35 40 Candy bars 35 40 cafes o rings 65 75 cafes Coffee 25 30aafes Catalon All items 15% bowl Alley donuts 2/35 2/50 eggs 54 63 aka incr 320.00 380.00 Panasonic to 610.00 710.00 Panasonic camera 690.00 740.00 Vienna Coffee 1.57 2.03sm. Chips. 25 35 la. Chips 30 45 the list goes on and on. For All enlisted and even most officers these Price increases which represent Only Small majority of items really Hurt us More than Congress could imagine. Maybe we should All get out of the service and run for the Congress or Senate so All our expanses would be paid for. Meanwhile i believe All military should inform our members of Congress of these ridiculous Price hikes. After All congressional members probably Don t have to shop for groceries. Even if they do their pay is very comparable to the prices of most items you could imagine. When was the last time Congress or Senate members Only got a 3 percent raise of their already huge salaries with cold appreciation to All members of the Senate and Congress for All their help in allowing us to keep up with High rising inflation i m on my Way now to the commissary to buy some milk for my fam ily i m going to try to use App. Shafts it.  the rest of the weapons services Branch Hahn a Germany editor s note master sgt. Bruce e. Zielsdorf customer relation specialist Public affairs office he cafes Europe replies could t agree with you More about the pay raise. Yet sympathize with our civilian counterparts in government who la argue three percent is belter than no raise at All. As far As Price increases at your Exchange we d love to hold the line but have business responsibility to Gener ate earnings for mar h part of our Mission. Although there s no connection Between pay raises and Price hikes let s take a look at the engine driving the train. Our prices on the shelf Are based on our policy on buying Marks outlined psst mfg tetters m we win withhold your by Moi meanest and protect your  tetters Are subject to editing. I have a question concerning the policy on purchasing Deutsche Marks after the rate has dropped More than five pfennig. The reason for my concern is due to the following incident i was standing in line in the Wurzburg american express banking facility at about 1 20 . On sept. 26, 1985. In my hand i had an envelope with 800 Marks and a personal Check for $200 with which 1 intended to Purchase additional Marks. The800 Marks were going to be used to buy a Money order in Marks. I say were because while standing in line a Bank employee came into the lobby and announced that the Rale had dropped six pfennig and that no one would be allowed to Purchase More than $2,000 Worth of Marks and no Money orders in Marks would be sold. This was about 1 30 . The Exchange Rale had not even been announced to the general Publicover an yet. My question is Why when a person Al ready has Marks in their Possession for a Money order or otherwise Are you not Al Lowed to Purchase a Money order in Marks you Are allowing people to buy up to $2,000 Worth of Marks Why can t they put. That Money towards a Money order to Morrow that person will be Able to Purchase a Money order with the same Deutsch Marks that they bought before the five pfennig drop so what is the difference i they buy it today or tomorrow thank you for listening. I went to Ameri can express the next Day to Purchase a Money order with the same Marks. Spec. 5 m. Roberts Wuerzburg Germany editor s note Mark Schrider management analyst comptroller s office Neucom replies your concern a one we have recognized. We Are seeking department of defens approval of a More flexible policy that would permit Purchase of Marks or Marks maps reminder for the longest time i could t remember the three initials i was supposed to write on Apo mail in order to take advantage of slam Pless letters. Maybe it will help others if they think in. Terms of my postage  Helen Gaisel Uvo Roo Italy negotiable instruments Money orders up to a total of $2,000 value when the Mark Dollar rate drops five pfennig or More. Current policy allows Only Marks currency put clubs As background the policy was instituted by Dod after coordination with the three services to prevent major losses to the taxpayer financed banking contract Suchias occurred on sept 24,1984 and feb. 27, 1985. On those Days when the Mark Dol Lar rate dropped 14 pfennig and 15 pfennig respectively customers cashed in Dol Lar certificates of Deposit and Drew Down Dollar checking and saving accounts to buy Marks. After the Bank s Supply of Marks was exhausted customers purchased Mark Money orders. The Salt of these Money orders for dollars i effect overdraw the Bank s Mark account. The Bank had to cover that deficit the next Day by Purchas ing Marks at the less favourable rate. The losses to the contract from just these two incidents totalled More than $1 million Money that might otherwise have been available for improving banking services. The Dod policy is intended to prevent such losses. Pending change to that policy you have two options. First try to Purchase Mark Money orders before 1 . If that is not possible and a conversion limitation is in effect ask to Purchase the Money order atthe following Day s rate. All Community Bank managers have been informed that Mark Money orders May be mid at the next Day s rate. Pen pals i am m in of Aoa and would Ilka h Puth Manama in your pan pal column. My Hoxha i Duda Ramalne lift Nung to mole porn Ltd nature study. Mumm p. Lynon co Cern Tulon on audit Rae Lon 10. Carmadore Clef i am a in of to. And would apr adapt ii h you would add my Nama to your pan pal Tat. I am an c4fk dark. Mil i  i my a tour Cut to add. I would set to Cofra Pond wlm Porto in Omar a Tuimav Maria Pai Saycon . Norat Orlan Lal pin Inmom costs from the manufacturer. When those costs change up or Down cafes must make adjustments accordingly. Over All cafes Price increases on Merchan Dise produced in the slates were less than three percent last year naturally some increases were greater than others and Many items stayed the same. Most increases Are the result of changes in foreign currency rates Over which we have no control. Understand we buy items in Europe and the far East in the local currency and the falling Dollar has had a significant Impact on our Pur chasing Power. Example a year ago we purchased German goods at 3.30 Marks to the Dollar. Today the rate s roughly 2.45. Mar Sthal s increased our Dollar costs by about 25 percent. In the same Way audio video equipment from the far East is purchased through Japan and there s been a Semi liar increase in the value of the yen against the Dollar. The result we re paying nearly 20 per cent More for those products than we did a year ago. Although we Don t control world Market conditions or currency fluctuations we re doing our utmost to give our customers the Best Price possible on All our merchandise throughout the year. Overall the Exchange still averages More than a 20 percent savings on similar items purchased at commercial retail out lets Back Home. Also we feel value is More than Price with our satisfaction guaranteed policy being a significant part of that value. " european Lomon com Jepp Rry s. Zakim undo put editor in chief . Blackwel. M. Proctor m. Mcdurmott production Man door managing de  hunger tvs twi Emoor it an author Iod unofficial Publ Calm Tor Zombori of Tho a Mew mrs kit of Vomm. Con Only of Tho Star ind strip. 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