European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                See Sens in Rob Hiaasen Ity the Penny. As american As the revolution tie Penny has become a humiliated and valueless currency that might even be decommissioned so the Nickel can become the lowest medium of Exchange. Quot when i see pennies on the floor i scoop them up in a Dustpan and throw them in the garbage a said clerk John paramore at a 7-eleven store there you Are. The Penny gets trashed. Pennies crowd car ashtrays Russ Dresser tops line Fountain floors and Are stuffed in red Bank soils and stockpiled in shoe boxes they re also found on the Street dirtied and Hori Scless. They even seem to accumulate among service Meibers and their families in Europe even though Many places such As cafes have a policy of rounding off sales to the nearest Nickel to avoid dealing with them. A if they took the Penny away it would be no loss a said Alan Seabrooke a dealer in rare coins. A people throw pennies away because they re of so Little  the Penny obviously Doc sri pack much patriotic punch. We propose constitutional Amend mints to ban Flag burning but the Penny has few defenders. Do you Stop to pick one off the Street do you Stop to pick one off the Street if someone is looking a the Penny a practical value has been squashed by inflation. You can to buy a gum Ball with a Penny. If you re Short a Penny or two on a Sale the store clerk usually lets you go. And Piggy Banks arc As popular As drive in Heaters. In fact before to fit Bronze Penny was replaced with Copper coated Zinc a few care ago it Cost the government More than 1 cent to mint and distribute the Coin. Many countries around the world already have phased out the Penny a equiv a amps Jofh  pennies have such Little value that they pile up until you find yourself buried in them. Alent in their currency. A and Here a the clincher a House banking subcommittee is considering putting the cent out of business. A sales Price would be rounded Down to the nearest Nickel if the Price ends in i 2, 6 or 7 cents. The Price would be rounded up if the sum ends in 3,4, 8 or 9 cents. Pennies would still be made but Only for collectors. But the Penny is no prize Sec Brooke said. Coins Are collectible mainly because flow mintage. The Treasury made 1,2 billion pennies in March. Pennies arc As common As big macs. A a Hundred ears from now the pennies of today will be valueless Quot Seabrooke said. Banks done to want them either. Eliminating the Penny a would be a Blessing in the banking Industry a said one Bank official. He said Banks could do without the hassle of collecting sorting and storing the nuisance cent. However he admitted the single cent does have some value. Quot pennies do give you Somp thing to throw in a Fountain Quot he conceded. Bingo. There is somebody who would miss pennies a the people who count on Charity fountains. The cent is big business for these groups because people save pennies to throw into fountains and kettles. Charities Don t find Many quarters or half dollars twinkling on the Blue Bottoms of mall or Airport fountains. Quot of my goodness id hate to see the Penny go Quot said salvation army spokesman John Jones. Pulling the Penny would mean the loss of an american tradition and a closer to work a the loss of donations Jones said. A a lot of people who done to have much Money save up their pennies before Christmas. Then they like to come by the kettles Quot he said. A take that away from them and you be taken away their sense of Pride Quot. Cox naw callers please take a number have you heard the one about the woman calling her obstetrician she gets an answering machine telling her to dial 1 if her water has broken. V then there a the Guy a and this is no joke a who Calls the courthouse. He is told to dial 1-3-5 to hear a recording about simplified dissolution of marriage. Touch tone divorces. Welcome to voice mail Call answer voice response unit audio memory Call Telephone mailboxes. Whatever the trademark or feature these answering services Are spreading like personal computers. Some say the recording services provide cheap and efficient communication others say they provide aggravating excommunication. Regardless callers have to answer to them because Banks hospitals insurance companies credit unions courthouses gynaecologists newspapers and friends Are using the services. Still its maddening when you can to talk to a human or can t follow the dial directions because your fingers move More slowly than the recorded directions. Barry Johnson an at amp to spokesman said there a always resistance to fresh technology but claims in this Case the benefits outweigh the frustrations. Quot its the most efficient and economical Way to manage an Ever growing need to handle growing contacts Quot Johnson said. Not everything agrees including a not surprisingly a those who use humans to operate answering services. Quot the whole thing stinks a said Hugh Barnett owner of a Able answering service. Quot you gel some Jerk of the phone its not even a person. Before you can think you re told to dial 2. Quot you finally say to hell with  nevertheless there Are signs that More people arc willing to let their fingers do the talking. Calls to one Southern banking system have increased 200 percent since it installed this More efficient Way of changeling requests for information a spokesman said. Glenn Johnson of Barnett Banks said the company also uses voice mail where you can leave messages in someone a Telephone a Mailbox Quot for office matters. The service has substantially Cut memo writing and secretarial positions he said. If nothing else he noted this technology might kill the Buzzard of Buzz words from the a ifs. A we done to need to interface anymore Quot Barnetts Johnson said. Cot new service july 1, 19$ sunday Page 5