European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 19, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes Page 11 dear Ann Landers i am sending you an and that appeared in an insert of the daily oklahoman. I cannot believe this thing is Legal. The and says in great big letters Don t get mad get  they show a four color picture of a Gadget that motorists can mount on the dashboard. Teething has eight buttons to press for a variety of sound effects. The buttons Are labelled machine gun bombing grenade gun death Ray dual tone Rifle gun and explosion. The and reads Zap away frustrations on the Road inthe office or anywhere with the ultimate Light and sound machine. You get a compact High tech control panel Complete with 10 multicoloured flashing lights and 8 harmless but highly effective sound effects. Included is a built in speaker with two speaker outlets for easy amplifier Hook  plus velcro strips that ensure easy off and on dashboard mounting. Get one for the Road one for the office and one for a Friend. Made i Taiwan " what on Earth is going on when a thing like this can be sold to the Public As a toy Don t we have enough accidents on the Road without a Gadget that is sure to infuriate other Drivers or frighten them so badly that they will lose control of the wheel please reply in print. V.b., Vici . I found that and shocking especially so since it Pic Tures a huge truck and implied that the sound effects would be great for shaking up truck Drivers. I phoned the company to inquire about it and was told that the sounds can be heard Only inside the car. What Anat you d never guess it from the and. Even so i still think it s a bum idea. No Driver needs this kind of distraction. Where is the Agency that polices these toys Here s something it ought to look into. Dear Ann Landers it was with great interest that i read your enlightened reply to  since i have been a Cross Dresser for years i can Tell you there is a great Deal of ignorance on this subject and not Many people want to listen to Correct information. They would rather Harbor their preconceived notions. I have battled this thing All my life and no Way can Stop it Ann. I am Normal in every respect except this one. I Loveto dress like a woman and nothing will Ever change that. I am a minister s son a College graduate a Vietnam vet a boy scout Leader happily married for 12 years. We have two children who Are Fine students and i a considered a Good citizen. My wife thinks Cross dressing is weird and has told me she will not tolerate it in her presence. I respect her too much to defy her wishes. Early in our marriage she insisted that i see a psychiatrist. The doctor informed me that he sees nothing wrong weird or harmful in what i do so Long As i do Itin private. I want to thank you for helping me and millions of other Cross dressers feel less guilty and freakish. Ann fan forever in Californi adear forever there Are a great Many misconceptions about Cross dressers the principal one being that they Are All homosexuals. The purpose of this column is to educate an that is what i try to do. Thanks for noticing. Los Angeles times syndicated columnist Landers welcomes your  can write to her in care of the stars and stripes Apo 09211  forces the a and foes european edition col Jeffrey m. Cook Usa commander editor in chief it col Suzanne l. Phillips Usan Deputy commander editor in chief Marie Kominicki Mert Proctor Deane b. Mcdermott production manager managing editor circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official views of or endorsed by the . Government the department of defense or the . European command. The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements does not constitute endorsement by the department of de sense or the stars and stripes of the products or services advertised. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for Purchase use or patronage without regard to race color religion sex � finance system processing explained i began working As a department of the army civil Ian  on nov. 17,1988. Frankfurt civilian personnel office co informs me that it takes from four to six weeks to be i proc Essed into the finance system. The 266th theater finance Center informed me today that there is a daily courier run Between Frank Furt co and 266th tic. Could someone please explain to me without any excuses Why it takes Between 28-42 Days to be unprocessed into the finance system especially when Frank Furt co has a minimum 14-Day waiting policy be fore a person can begin working name withheld Frankfurt West Germany editor s note sue Pfeiffer director civil Ian pay operations he Usa eur replies your letter provides a unique Opportunity to explain what it takes to be processed into the finance sys tem especially since you provided the Date you began working. The automated Standard army civilian pay system Star tips entails a two week processing Cycle or pay period. Each two week Cycle is completed on a pay period ending ppe Date. Payday is on the 12th Day after the pay period ends. In order to be processed into the finance system 266th tic requires a Standard form 50 personnel action which is prepared by the servicing civilian personnel office co. This form provides data ranging from the employee s name and social Security number to applicable retirement and health benefits plans which is essential to the proper payment of entitlements. Obviously to keep Pace with a strict two week pay Roll processing Cycle cutoffs and deadline must be established and adhered to. The current cutoff for sub Mission of personnel actions to be included in process ing for the current pay period is the Friday before the pay period ending Date. For example in your Case if your of 50 was received by 266th tic by 18 nov. 1988 you began work on 17 nov. 1988 and a properly certified time and attendance card was submitted the action would have been processed with ppe 19 nov. 1988, resulting in payment for two Days worked that pay period 17 and18 nov being paid on 1 . 1988. If the of 50 was not received by 266th tic until after 19 nov. 1988, the action would have been proc Essed with ppe 3 . 1988, resulting in payment for 12 Days worked 17 and 18 nov. From ppe 19 nov. 1988 and 22 nov. Through 2 . For ppe 3 .1988 being paid on 15 . 1988. As you can see that first payment depends heavily upon prompt submission of the of 50 by the co and timely processing by the 266th tic. To assist in ensuring that documents received Are processed in timely manner 266th tic has a locally designed automated system which tracks All personnel and employee documents from receipt to completion of proc Essing. This system also allows 266th tic to put priority on processing of 50s for new hires since re ports Are produced showing the co nature of action code e.g., new hire promotion suspension Etc Fornall personnel actions on hand. It is unlikely that your of 50 was received in time Tobe processed with ppe 19 nov. 1988. Pos also de Pend on a Standard army system the Standard civilian personnel management information system Scippis with similar constraints to accomplish their Job. So you can see that even under optimum conditions e.g., your of 50 received two working Days after you began work it can take four weeks for you to receive your first pay. Hopefully however the explanation of the civilian pay processing Cycle provided above will eliminate any misconception that the potentially four week Long wait is due to inefficiencies on the part of servicing Cosor the 266th tic. We will continue to work together to improve the civilian pay process and support this Mission in Thebes and most efficient Way possible. Price Rise on payday called coincidence i am a Soldier who shops at the army  month i see the same problem occur the Price on most items will Rise substantially on paydays. When payday is Over the prices will drop. Why is this permitted especially since the commissar is a non profit organization the commissary will Tell you the Best time to shop when the store is least crowded but i need to know when is the Best time to shop before the prices in crease. Name withheld Budinger West Germany editor s note col. Paul w. Phillips com Mander . Army troop support Agency european commissary Region replies while prices in our commissaries frequently change the fact that you see Price increases in your commissary on paydays is purely one of coincidence. To understand Why it is necessary to understand How prices for commissary merchandise Are established. All items sold in the commissary Are sold at  Are priced by lot with customers paying the most recent delivery Price. When merchandise is received at commissary warehouse the Price of any of the same merchandise still in the warehouse and on the commis sary shelves is adjusted to reflect the Price of the newly received merchandise. Prices May increase or decrease so that no More than and no less than the amount of Money needed to replace the merchandise is  is important since the commissary system is obligated to replace the exact amount of Stock fund monies used to Purchase merchandise for resale. So prices change As new merchandise is delivered to the commis sary. The Price of merchandise however May be reduced through several methods. A Vendor May choose to provide a voluntary Price reduction apr in order to stimulate sales. Prs May be offered throughout Theta european commissary Region eur Cor in All commissaries that carry the product or a Vendor May reduce the Price of merchandise in a particular commis sary in order to move excess quantities or an item that disclose to its expiration Date. If a apr is provided off invoice this Means that the Price has been reduced before the merchandise reaches the commissary. But if the apr is provide through count and pay a Vendor must physically come to the commissary count the number of the partic ular item on the shelf and in the warehouse and Issue a credit memorandum to the commissary officer that enables him to change the prices. Although we try to make All apr Price changes on the first of each month with 84 commissaries through out the european commissary Region it is very difficult for vendors to get to All commissaries in time for this to take place. Also due to the pipeline merchandise that Ison off invoice apr May not arrive precisely on time. Tsa eur Cor offers Price reductions every Day Winall our commissaries. Our commitment to this is demonstrated by our record in by 88 eur Cor customer saved More than $11 million by taking advantage of prs. National origin age marital status physical Handicap political affiliation Orang other non Merit Factor of the purchaser user or Patron. Military address the stars and stripes. Apo 09211. International mail the stars and stripes Postrach 11 14 37. D-6100 Darmstadt 11,  Griesheim civilian 06155 6010 ets 348-5741 or 348-5823 telex 0419-332. Tel fax 06155-601376. New York office room 401, 252 seventh ave., new York 10001. Tel area code 212 620-3333. News bureaus a of erty Nln  by i a desk the Ephone ets 348-5741 or348-5823 or civilian 06155-601255. D 1� ise5s a Tern Germany Daryl Green Deedee Arrington Doke building 2899, Pulaski Barracks Apo 09227-3717 Telephone ets 489-6585 or civilian 0631 -52104. Munich Germany Charlie Bowden building 16, b stairwell 2nd floor Mcgraw Cavern. Soured. Apo 09407 Telephone ets 440-7320 or civilian 089-690-1800. Nurnberg Germany Vince Crawley building 21. William o Darby Cavern Apo 09696 Telephone ets 460-7256 or civilian 0911 -712563. Stuttgart Germany Joseph Owen building 2307, room 403, elj&tsr8 Box 171 Apo �9128 Telephone ets 430-8449 or civilian0711 -6877826. Mediterranean j. King Cruger Gary Miller and Alba Bragoli Naples Italy Asa Box 56. Fpo by 09521 Telephone Auto on 625-1110 ext4880 or civilian 0039-81 -7624049. A Njie d kingdom Dave Diehl. Building 436 Cess us Raf Mildenhall Apo 09127 Telephone Auto on 238-2226 or civilian 0638-512226. Washington . Chuck Vinch William Bartman Oast a the Pentagon room 2e756, . Box 46095, Washington . 20050-6095 Tele phone 202-697-6695. Wurzburg Germany John Millar. Room 110, River building apo09036 Telephone ets 350-4704 or civilian 0931-71 569. Circulation offices Germany Berlin Civ. 8331846, Mil. 6187, ets 332-4412 Bremer hav skin 851cs old 8119 ets s42 81 Rhein main. Frankfurt Civ. 069-692050 or 692565. Mil. 6025 or 7103, ets 330-6025 or 7103 telex 412712 Kaiserslautern. Civ. 57070 or 57079, Mil. Vogel Weh 7100 ets 489 7100 Munich Civ. 6901503 or 6901504. Mil. 6556, its 440-6556 Quern 1 ets 46�-7001 Stuttgart Civ. 0711-8701496, Greece Athens Civ. 9923390. Italy Vicenza Civ. 515358. Spain Madrid Mil. 00341 205-6600 or Civ. 00341 6561465. Turkey Istanbul Civ. 664372. Telex 26174 sans to. United kingdom Civ. Newbury 0635 44768 Auto on 266-3209