European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 27, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes Friday january 27, 1989 merchants offering special on cd rates by Randy Mcclain financial writer merchants National Bank thursday increased the interest rates it is willing to pay for some deposits by As much As 1.25 percentage Points in an attempt to at tract More Money into the Bank s coffers. But the special offer which will pay More than 9 percent interest per year on certificates of Deposit willbe Good Only for cd opened through monday. Mer chants runs the military s Community Banks in West Germany Greece and the Netherlands. Robert j. Schindler merchants general manager i Frankfurt West Germany said the special is designed to attract funds totalling in eight figures to help finance an aggressive loan program planned for later in1989. Schindler declined to be More specific about what form that lending push will take but he did say that poor loan volume has been a particularly thorny prob Lem for merchants since it took Over Community Bank operations from american express last May. Growth in Loans is our single most important targe for 1989," Schindler said. And attracting new deposits is an important first step in meeting that goal. We want people to know that we re a marketing oriented Bank not a Compla cent institution he said. On thursday merchants marketing approach focused on attracting deposits As Small As $1,000 to As Large As $100,000. Interest rates being offered Range from a Low of 8 percent for $1,000 certificates of de posit held for three and six months up to a 9.625percent annual rate for 12-month deposits of $50,000 or More. Branch managers at merchants 100-plus branches propped up hand lettered signs in their lobbies plastered fliers on the windshields of cars in shopping Cen ter parking lots and made personal Calls to some customers in an attempt to convince people the Bank haste Best Deal in town at least for four Days. The rates being offered Are roughly 1 percentage Point higher than those merchants and its primary competitors several credit unions in West Germany have been offering. But Schindler said the lucrative rates Aren t especially aimed at stealing deposits from credit unions. In Stead the Bank wants customers who have stateside investments in Mutual funds or Money Market accounts to consider consolidating their funds at Mer chants. Too Many of our customers have Money where they can t easily get at it Schindler said. Why have Money Here and there both the Short running interest rate special was tried once before for one Day by merchants on dec. 9. Schindler would not disclose How much in new depos its was attracted that time but he said results had Bee promising enough for the Bank to try again. Yvonne Wise spokeswoman for the Bank said the new cd rates Are available to All customers but she hinted that merchants is particularly interested in Lur ing big depositors. You can t help but Hope that big Money people Roll Forward she said. This is the real  Schindler declined to say How much Money Mer chants Hopes to attract into its coffers by monday but he said the Bank has plans for the Cash even before it kicks off a big lending spree this Spring. Until customers who want Loans step Forward the Money will be invested somewhere for a Short time. In this Case your cd investment probably will be in vested in some sort of eurodollar fund. Merchants competitors in Germany said they Aren worried by the Bank s four Day cd special. It does t faze us too much said Ben t. Russ vice president for overseas operations at finance Cen ter Federal credit Union in Augsburg West Germany. Russ said his institution already offers a 9 percent interest rate for some Long term certificates of Deposit. He said the credit Union also computes its interest for customers monthly not Only at a cd s maturity Date which he said makes the finance Center s effective yields competitive. News updates theater evacuated Belgrade Yugoslavia a a fake bomb threat forced the evacuation of a yugoslav movie theater where the controversial film the last temptation of Christ was showing the Jesni daily said wednesday. An Anonymous Call to the Cine a s manager prompted a police search of the Sloboda theater. The packed movie House was evacuated and the showing of the film a Martin Scorsese s adaptation of the novel of Nikos Kazant Zakis was resumed Only after the police completed their search the newspaper said. Official to resign Vienna Austria up aus Trian parliamentary president Leopold Gratz announce wednesday he would resign his position in order to defend himself against allegations he shielded a Friend from prosecution for Mur Der and insurance fraud. It was the second major Resig nation in a week Over a Case involving flamboyant Vienna cafe owner Udo Proksch. Proksch is alleged to have masterminded the 1977 sinking of the freighter Lucona in the India Ocean in which six people died in a mysterious explosion. Cic Ciolina convicted Venice Italy a Ilon Staller Italy s porn Star parliamentarian better known As Cic Ciolina was convicted wednesday of pub Lic obscenity and Given a sus Pended sentence by the Venice prefect. Staller who earlier called the charge absurd waived her parliamentary immunity in order to stand trial on the accusation Stem Ming from her september 1987 appearance in Venice s famed  s Square. She was Given a five month suspended prison sentence. The italian news Agency ans reported that witnesses testified Stal Ler was topless and wearing Only Asee through skirt when she arrived at the Square in a Gondola. The witnesses said she blew kisses to admiring fans after she climbed atop a. Plaster replica of one of the horse statues in the Square to be photographed by an artist. Saint says frequent review essential to effectiveness of equal Opportunity by Crystal Laureano staff Fri Terwillinger West Germany responding to recommendations fro equal Opportunity advisers and military leaders the Usa eur commander said thursday that equal Opportunity pro Grams must be frequently assessed from their Basic Structure to unit training to be effective. It is obvious to me that we Nee some midcourse corrections Gen. Crosbie e. Saint told people attending the 20th annual equal Opportunity con Ference. I reiterate that equal Opportunity is a part of leadership. You Are the ones i hold  was briefed thursday on the re sult of sessions in which equal Opportunity advisers military commanders and command sergeants major addressed is sues in the Usa eur equal Opportunity program. Those issues included uni training leadership responsibilities and use of equal Opportunity  Don t have any illusions that every body is going to agree on everything Saint said. But we have to keep moving that is the  in defining his expectations Saint said that equal Opportunity advisers should be training leaders to conduct training inthe units. When the leadership has to give the class and stand up and say thou shall not., then you re stuck he  misuse was cited in the use of equal Opportunity advisers. Adviser complaints ranged from being Saddle with additional duty assignments that detract from the primary Mission to no being used effectively by the command. Conferees recommended that regulation governing additional duties be clarified and suggested that their placement within the command Structure be  said he did not consider routine training and roster duties such As staff duty to be out of line. But there Are additional duties which i would say Are not in keeping with their work he said. If you Structure your equal Opportunity advisers properly then they become invaluable to the commanders. And if you have them in the right places doing the right kind of things then they Haven t got time to do anything  on concerns about the timeliness of re solving complaints Saint said you should t wait six months to a year. If Youcan t resolve it it should move on to some body  Saint said he would work on a suggestion for using advertising to promote equal Opportunity  charge you to go Home and look at your equal Opportunity programs and do some thing about it along the lines that we have talked about he said. Revitalizing it if i needs it keep it going if it does to and make it a part of your professional development and  3 gis get prison terms for drug trafficking Heilbronn West Germany three soldiers from cob 26th signal in at Wharton Barracks in Heilbronn have been sentenced to prison terms for distributing illegal drugs army officials said thursday. A military court in Heilbronn sentenced spec. Vincent j. Mourning 26, of Danbury conn., to three years in prison for distributing marijuana aug. 20 an heroin aug. 21 in ludwigs Burg. Mourning pleaded guilty to the two offences Jan. 10 under a pretrial agreement that limits his prison term to 18 months. The court also sentenced him to a dishonourable discharge forfeiture of pay and allowances and reduction to the lowest enlisted Grade. Spec. David w. Griffin 23, pleaded guilty Jan. 11, also As part of a pretrial agreement to two counts of distributing hashish at Wharton Barracks on two Days last August. He pleaded innocent to three other counts of distributing the drug. The court sentenced Griffin to a Yearin prison the maximum his agreement would have allowed As Well As a bad conduct discharge a year s forfeiture of pay and allowances and reduction to the lowest enlisted Grade. The court also convicted Griffin Roommate spec. Warren d. Hillbolt 21, of hashish distribution in connection with one of the August incidents. At his one Day trial Jan. 17, Hillbolt from Holdenville okla., pleaded inno cent to that charge and to one of conspiracy to distribute hashish. The court found him innocent of the latter charge. Hillbolt was sentenced to six month sin prison during which he will forfeit $446 pay each month and to reduction to the lowest enlisted Grade. Navy successful in final Trident ii land test Cape canaveral Fla. A the Navy successfully launched the Tri Dent ii submarine missile on its 19th an final test flight from a land based pad thursday and said it is now ready to begin critical underwater firings. The three stage 44-foot missile Thun dered away from its Seaside launch pad at 4 07 . And left a fiery Wake As it propelled a Dummy warhead to an Undis closed Atlantic Ocean target. A Navy statement said the test was successful ending a series of Trident Island launch tests that began Jan. 15, 1987. Officials had planned 20 such tests but decided to Stop at 19 because of recent successes. Of the 19 tests the Navy rated 15 successful and one a no test which occurred when an air Force safety office destroyed the missile by triggering on Board explosives after radar indicated twas off course. The missile was deliberately sent of course to test the guidance system s ability to Correct its path but the safety offi cer was not notified. The Tennessee the first of nine nuclear submarines being Buiu to carry Tri Dent ii missiles is scheduled to conduct the first underwater firing of the weapon within the next few weeks in Atlantic Waters off Cape canaveral. Several undersea tests Are planned and the missile is to become operational late this year. The Tennessee commissioned dec. 17 in new London conn., is scheduled to be fitted with 24 of the missiles each capable of propelling 10 nuclear War Heads to different targets More than5,000 Miles away