European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 07, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes Arm Landers dear Ann Landers. My 10-year-old Cousin Lisa was recently molested by her Mother s Boyfriend who is a j heavy Drinker. I am 16 and was molested by the same Man fou years ago. When it happened to me. Nobody believed it. My whole family thought i was Mak ing up a Story just to get Atten Tion and that was the end of it. Now Lisa has been molested and no one believes her either. I. _. Do. Because i went through the same thing with this creep. I knew a Long time ago that he would get to Lisa and eventually he did. Because i was the first person she told. I fell it was my duty to let someone know. My question is this since it has happened twice How come our family does t believe either one of us also what kind of help can i give Lisa -d.s. St. Petersburg Fla. Dear St. Pete it is terribly important that you take this column to your teacher to Lisa s Richer your principal your Doc Tor and any clergy person Yon might know. Tell them you wrote it. Then take it to every member of the family. Tell them All that i believe Yon and that i want them to report this animal to the authorities. I be been in this work Long enough to know legitimate letter when i see one. And this is for real. Dear Ann Landers it is nearly Midnight and i am trying to unwind after a nightmarish ride Home from a dinner party. My husband drove 43 Miles averaging 65 Miles an hour. Counted 47 Lane changes. I am so keyed up after one of these rides that i feel like screaming. Please Tell me. Ann Why do so Many men become aggressive and insanely competitive when they get be Hind the wheel of a car any comment from me is me with hostility. He Calls me a castrating female and says i m inc world s mos domineering woman. Please Don t suggest that i drive. How Many men do you know who arc willing to relinquish the wheel to a woman no matter How Good a Driver she is whal can i do about my White Knuckles and the tightness in my Chest Oakland dear Oak. You can go with friends Lake a taxi or your own car or slay Home. Dear Ann Landers i m sending a prayer for people who Are going deaf. The trouble with being deaf is that most people find deaf folks a nuisance. They sympathize with people who arc Blind or lame but they get irritated and an noyed with people who arc deaf. The result is that deaf people Are Likely to avoid company and become Lone Lier and More isolated. Here is the prayer dear lord help me face the situation and realize there is no Good Way to hide it. Trying will Only make matters worse. Help me to be grateful Tor All that can be done for people like me. If i have to Wear a hearing Aid. Help me to do it and not be embarrassed. Give me the strength not to let this get me Down. Don t let it Cut me off from others. And help me to remember. Lord that no matter what happens nothing can keep me from hearing your voice. . Baltimore dear . Your prayer was heard by a lot of people today. I m sure it was read by millions who share your  you for writing. Cd lot Angelet time Syndicate and creator t Syndicate Page 11 letters policy on setting Oha cola explained Why arc  not compensated fairly for the fluctuation in the Mark rate i called finance an was told that the Dod adjusts the compensation rate and the Market rate. Well i accepted this statement at first but As my paycheck stayed the same and the costs of living on the Economy got More expensive i started to keep track of when and How  Are compensated.  have not received fair or adequate compensation 11 out of the last 12 pay periods. On dec. I the military compensation Rale was 1.88 Marks to the Dollar and the Market rate was 1.77 Marks to the Dollar. I personally lost $57 this pay period e-7 with 10 years. This is very frustrating. No one can afford losses like that and still feed and clothe their families. I am sure whoever is in charge of this program knows it hurts service members and their families. What i Don t understand is Why they Are not doing anything about it. Master sgt. Chet Mitchell Ramsten a West Germany from the moment we arrive overseas the term financial responsibility takes on a whole new meaning. Making adjustments to the Way we organize our per Sonal budgets becomes an almost daily ritual. At no school of higher learning do we learn so much so quickly about economics As we do Here. When you lived in Hometown Usa did you Ever listen to the daily changes at the currency Market watch for the monthly . Trade figures or care if foreign Bank interest rates were higher than those in America after crying overseas a Short period of time we learn about which economic information will Send the foreign currency Exchange rate up or Down. This is important not Only for personnel who live on the econ omy but for those personnel who shop and entertain themselves there As Well. During my three plus years in West Germany i be seen the Dcutsch-Mark-to-.-Dollar Exchange rat climb to a High of 2.11 and fal to lows in the Range of 1.60. Believe me i gained a lot of experience on How to manage my Mark obligations. When the Exchange Rale of dollars was reaching lows against the Mark the . Government seemed to be responsive by making its own adjustments on How to compensate . Military personnel living in the affected overseas areas. So responsive in fact that we were seeing Exchange rate evaluations every two weeks to make sure the actual Exchange Rale As nearly As possible matched the rate used to determine our Over seas housing allowance Oha and Cost of living Al Lowance cola. As Fate would have it we Are seeing the Exchange rate in West Germany and other european countries As Well drop against the . Dollar. Bad news for those of us who must Exchange our weakened dollars for foreign currency. Still All the complaining and Finger pointing won t change anything we must continue to adjust. However there arc limits to How much adjust ment individuals and families can make. Local businesses notice when we make our adjust ments both on the local Economy and at our military facilities. Cutting out trips to restaurants movie Thea ters and department or grocery stores becomes almost automatic when looking at our personal needs. There is a limit on How much foreign currency you can buy when Exchange rates arc Down. This of course will Force you to use military facilities offering similar serv we vices Why not you still have needs and you Don t have the rate upon which cola and Oha were paid. We what about military personnel who Cut their entertainment and frills spending on the Economy o the Bone and also must face obligations to a landlord and various Utility companies each of these obligations is met using foreign currency. It appears that whatever drives this mechanism to be responsive to the Exchange rate has changed. Everyone has noticed it. We All have seen it on our pay statements. The value of the Dollar has lost More than 20 pfennings and military finance offices Are using an Exchange rate of 1.88 As a base for payment of Oha and cola. Why a Soldier or airman renting an apartment on the Economy could pay 1,000 Marks monthly for rent alone. When payment of Oha and cola is based on 1.88 and Marks Are Selling at 1.78 at the Community Bank there is a difference of about $30. The Exchange rate is still dropping and at a rate of 1.68, this translates into another $33. Who must Bear the Burden of these differences it would seem that we must shoulder that responsibility. Again Why the . Government has stated its willingness to adjust the foreign currency Exchange rate to determine Oha and cola payment. Something Hough has changed. My last three pay statements have shown no increase in Oha or cola. I contacted the air Force finance office at Ramstein a and spoke to the Coic of military pay. She stated that the Issue of Exchange rate fixing for Oha and cola is not dec ruined by her office inc depart ment of the air Force or even the department of defense. It is solely determined by Congress. I suggested using the Chain of command chief afo. Base commander Afaf Safe Etc to address the problems of this Issue. Again she said it would do no Good. I for one Don t believe it. While i can accept that Congress controls the purse strings of the Federal government and sets the official Exchange rate for these payments Why must we sit quietly on the Side waiting for someone else to figure out there is a problem if we say nothing and our leaders say nothing we most certainly will have Noth ing for a Long time to come. Master sgt. James p. Ratchford ramble in a West Germany editor s note col. Charles w. Marsh director accounting and finance Deputy chief of staff comptroller he Safe replies thank you for allowing us the Opportunity to respond to these writers concerns about How inc overseas hous ing allowance Oha and the Cost of living allowance cola Are computed. The member is Correct thai a mechanism exists to make adjustments for Exchange rate differences and it s in place and working. The joint sen ice per diem travel and transportation allowance committee monitors Exchange rates and makes cola and Oha adjust ments so thai uniformed personnel neither gain nor lose on the purchasing Power of these allowances became of Exchange rate fluctuations. With recent falling Mark to Dollar Exchange Rales the committee adjusted cola and Oha upward on dec 1, and again on Jan i. Adjustments were delayed until these dates to compensate for the gain uni formed personnel in Germany realized last summer when the actual Exchange Rale was More favourable than to take a loss on exchanging your dollars for foreign Money. Track the Dally Impact of these adjustments and Over time they equal out to no gain or loss. Europe an edition col. Oene t Townsend Usan commander editor m chill it. Col Suzanne a Phillips Usan of put commander editor m cruet Marie Kom Niciu meet Proctor Leahe b. 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