European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 1, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes wednesday february 1,1989 Greenspan sees Strong 89 exports with competitive but steady Dollar Washington a Alan Green Span head of the . Federal Reserve system predicted on tuesday mat .exports will be Strong in 1989 without a further drop in the International Price of the Dollar. A lower Dollar encourages exports by making them cheaper in relation to other countries currencies. The Dollar is now at Levels . Industry is quite competitive Greenspan told the joint economic committee of Congress. He said that there has already Bee none Large tranche or portion of in creased exports that could not have Bee predicted last year and that the increase is now slowing Down. I think there is another tranche duet existing Exchange rates he added. And one reason is that we do have Evi Dence at this stage that Export orders that Are currently being placed at today s Exchange rates Are at a higher level than Export shipments meaning unfilled or Ders for exports that suggests to me that the Ameri can Export industries Are still quite competitive and that there is every reason to believe that we will be getting relatively Strong Export performance throughout1989 and presumably a resumption in the decline of the Trade  As the top official in the . Centra Bank Greenspan is responsible for the nation s monetary policy. He said the Federal Reserve s policy of buying and Selling dollars Only to pre vent disorder in markets had change before president Bush came into office. Now the policy is to Trade so that Exchange rates stabilize in coordination with the Central Banks of the group of seven g-7 Industrial nations. Along with the United states these Are Japan West Germany Britain France Italy and Canada. Greenspan denied that he had a pre Cise target for the Price of the Dollar. The policy of the g-7 is to have general Range in which we define various different bilateral Exchange rates a being in an area of stability he said. In the last year or so i would say that the coordination of the g-7 with respect to Exchange markets has in my judgment been sufficiently successful to create. Enough stability that the uncertainties which had been created in world markets when Exchange rates were extraordinarily volatile have to a Large extent been removed. And i think that s a major plus and a tribute to the coordination that has gone  he said trading in dollars supported . Policy. But it is also our View that the Suc Cess of american policy and the Prosperity of the United states Are not Independent of what is occurring throughout the world he continued. And we find i very much to our own advantage to coordinate with Pur colleagues in economic policy positions in the g-7 and else  there will be a Chance for such coordination thursday and Friday when Greenspan and Treasury Secretary Nich Olas Brady meet in Washington with other group of seven representatives. Twill be the first major International ses Sion under the Bush  Greenspan and Brady also served under former president Reagan. Survey finds . Teens lag in Mach science Washington a american teen agers came out at the Bottom of the Heap in a Survey of math and science performance among Stu dents in five countries and four Canadian prov inces the educational testing service reported tuesday. The Low math performance Levels Are a mat Ter for grave concern while the science results Are sobering and pose a serious Challenge to our position in the world Community according to the report called a world of  the study is the group s first International assessment of educational Progress a counterpart to its periodic National assessments i various academic Fields. It was financed by the National science foundation and the depart ment of education. Findings were based on tests of approximately24,000 13-year-Olds in Ireland South Korea Spain the United kingdom the United states British Columbia new Brunswick Ontario and Quebec. The last three were divided int French and English speaking samples. In All countries and provinces the More Tim spent watching television the poorer student performance in both math and science the re port found. And in All but two More than 50 percent of the students reported spending a hour or less each Day doing Homework in All their subjects. The exceptions were Ireland and Spain where two hours or More was the Norm. The Survey revealed that almost All . 13-year-Olds have mastered math basics and know everyday science facts. But the educational group notes that National assessments consistently reveal a weakness in higher order thinking skills and this is borne out in the International assessment. South korean students demonstrated the highest Overall mathematics achievement while those from the United states and Ontario the French speakers showed the lowest. Despite their poor performance the Agency report said two thirds of . Students said they considered themselves Good at  that Only 40 percent of the . Students can solve two step problems is a matter for grave concern the Agency said. Percentages for More complicated tasks Are even More modest and suggest that the Pool of trained Talent fro which to draw our future scientists engineers and technicians is Small  on the science front youths in South Korea and British Columbia turned in the Best performance. The United states along with Ireland and French speaking Ontario and new Bruns Wick perform Well below the mean the report said. Big freeze hangs on in Alaska As Arctic air spills into Montana by the associated pres the strongest High pressure system in North Ameri can history tightened its frigid grip on Alaska tuesday and sent Arctic air swirling into Montana where High wind blew Railroad cars off their tracks and knocked Down a Grain elevator. Balmy weather that set records for warmth in Man Montana cities ended abruptly. Great Falls dropped to 10 degrees below Zero tuesday morning after a record High of 62 on monday the National weather service said. The temperature at great Falls dropped 48 de Grees within three hours after the cold front of Arctic air passed Over the City. Nearly two dozen Rural North Dakota schools close tuesday when Strong northerly wind reduced visibility to near Zero with blowing Snow and dropped wind chill factors to 45 degrees below Zero. Authorities advised no travel in the northeastern part of the state. It was 51 degrees below Zero monday morning i Fairbanks Alaska where the temperature has risen above minus 40 Only once during the past three  were unofficial readings of 75 below in some parts of Alaska the weather service said. The severe cold in Alaska closed schools brought state government to a virtual standstill and was tentatively blamed for the crash of a Canadian military transport plane outside Fairbanks. High wind that produced extreme wind chill factors also disrupted the flow of Oil through the Alaska pipeline by preventing ships from entering Valdez Harbor to Load up. The cold air is being caused by a dome of extremely High atmospheric pressure Over Alaska. The barometer at Northway Alaska Rose to a record High of 31.74inches of Mercury the weather service reported tues Day. Just the Day before big Delta Alaska reached High of 31.54 inches breaking the previous record for North America of 31.53 inches recorded in the Yukon territory of Canada in 1974. Although temperatures in much of Alaska have Rise slightly since the weekend the moderation has been accompanied by rising winds that have disrupted ship traffic and created dangerously Low wind chill read Ings. The arriving cold front produced Snow tuesday Over Montana and North Dakota and wind chill fac tors were Between 30 and 40 below Zero Over North Dakota. Before the front arrived weather service forecasters in great Falls said it would be the coldest Arctic sys tem in five years to hit the state. This is a very dangerous storm and should not retaken lightly the weather service said in a special statement issued monday. Meanwhile wind up to 124 Mph hammered Montana on monday blowing at least 10 Railroad freight cars off their tracks near Browning toppling a Grain Eleva Tor near Cut Bank and fueling an unusual midwinter Range fire authorities said. No injuries were reported. The wind was caused by the flow of air Between High pressure system Over Utah and lower pressure along the Arctic cold Ftp ont the weather service said. It coincided with a period of record High tempera wearing Tennis shoes and no hat an Anchorage Pedes Trian covers his ears against the Arctic wind. Tures in Montana and across much of the country. High temperature records fell in places As far Spartas great Falls where it was 62 Burlington vt., where it was 45 and Minneapolis St. Paul where it was 48. Although Alaska is exporting its cold weather nonsignificant warming is expected there for at least five Days the weather service said. There was however some Good news for alaskans late monday when the coast guard reopened the Val Dez Narrows Between the port of Valdez and Prince William sound after winds abated enough to allow Safe Tanker operations. Gusts approaching 100 Mph had forced the closure of the port for a Day prompting the Alyeska pipeline service co. To reduce flow in the trans Alaska Oil pipe line by 65 percent. Alyeska spokesman Tom Brennan said the pipeline should be Able to resume Normal production of about 2 million barrels a Day within a few hours. The stat Treasury had stood to lose $3 million a Day in lost taxes and royalties if the closure had continued. The temperature crept a few degrees above Zero i South Central Alaska on monday and 55-Mph gusts blew windows out of a downtown Anchorage office building. Schools were closed in several places around the state and the state court system shut Down