European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 24, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Treasury loses printing plate for $ 7 00 Bills Washington apr the government has lost a plate used to print the face of $100 Bills a congressman said tuesday. Rep. Frank Annunzio. D-ill., said the plate which prints a Sheet of 32 Bills was last seen at the Treasury departments Bureau of engraving and printing in july 1990. Efforts by the Bureau and the secret service to find the 25-by-20-Inch plate have been unsuccessful he said. A one theory is that it was thrown out in the trash a he said. However Bureau spokesman Ira Polikoff said officials believe the plate was destroyed but do not have the paperwork to substantiate it. A one of two things happened a he said. A one the plate was destroyed or inadvertently discarded in our Metal trash for  Polikoff also said no Bills bearing the serial numbers on the plate have appeared suggesting it has not been used in any counterfeiting process. Annunzio disclosed the problem of the missing plate in a letter to rep. Esteban e. Torres a Calif. In the letter he asked Torres to Convene his House consumer affairs and coinage subcommittee for a hearing into the bureaus Security. The congressman said the missing plate was not the first valuable material to disappear. Several years ago the Bureau lost Dies used to stamp commemorative coins. They eventually were recovered from Coin collectors. A i am much More concerned with the loss of the plate that would enable counterfeiters to print 32 perfect counterfeits of the face of $100 Bills at a time a Annunzio wrote. A was a member of consumer affairs and coinage subcommittee i urge you to conduct an oversight hearing on Security at the  earlier this year the Bureau began printing new $100 Bills in an Effort to prevent counterfeiters from duplicating a notes with advanced state of the Art color copiers. The new Bills virtually duplicate the old a they continue to Bear the portrait of Benjamin Franklin for example a except that they contain a nearly invisible thread and a microscopic line of Type. The old Bills however will remain in circulation until they Wear out. Canadian military to Cut 20 percent of top officers Ottawa up a Canada plans to Cut 20 percent of its highest ranking military officers As part of an Overall reduction in the comparatively top heavy regular armed forces a defense official said tuesday. Associate defense minister Mary Collins told a parliamentary committee studying the governments new defense policy that 23 of the military s top officers will lose their jobs Over the next two years either through attrition or redeployment to other government departments. It. Gen. Fred Sutherland vice chief of Canadas armed forces said the reductions were related to a streamlining the functions of command and  it. Col. Brian Mcdonald a retired member of the forces calculated in a newspaper report that Canada has 14.6 general officers for each 10,000 combat personnel. By contrast Germany has 4.8 and the United states has 4.9. Given the country a physical size and the Small size of its military Mcdonald said Canada should have Only seven generals for every 10,000 combat personnel. Sutherland said the cuts eventually might affect More than 20 percent of existing generals and admirals adding that the reduced size of Canada s regular forces increased the need to a manage  according to one news report Canada has More generals than tanks a 115 to 113 a and More officers than privates a 18.6s1 to 16,096. The top officers ranging from brigadier generals to lieutenant generals earn from $94,876 to $131,712 annually. Last month the conservative government announced plans to close its two bases in Germany by 1995, leaving Only a Token 1,100 military personnel who May become part of a rapid reaction Force headed by Britain. The government also said it would reduce its regular forces from 84,000 to 76,000 Over three years with cuts restricted to land and air forces. At the same time it would increase Reserve forces to 40,000 from 29,000. The percentage of the defense budget earmarked for new equipment would increase from 22 to 26 percent in four years and eventually Rise to 30 percent. Drop in Earth s Ozone layer raises worry Over skin cancer United nations apr damage to the Earth a Ozone layer is accelerating and Ozone Levels could drop by 3 percent during the next decade leading to a 10 percent Rise in skin cancer a . Scientific panel said tuesday. A the situation is definitely getting much worse than what was expected a said Mostafa k. Tolba executive director of the . Environment program. The researchers found that Ozone depletion was occurring All across the Northern and Southern hemispheres in the Spring and summer which they said had never been seen before. The Ozone layer which lies 10 to 15 Miles above the ground absorbs some of the suns cancer causing ultraviolet radiation. Depletion of the Ozone layer during the summer Means More ultraviolet radiation will reach Earth a surface during the season when people arc most Likely to be basking in the Sunshine said Robert Watson of the . National aeronautics and space administration. He is co chairman of the . Panel. Summertime Ozone depletion also could step up the harmful effect of ultraviolet radiation on crops possibly reducing harvests he said. A we do believe that human activities arc the cause of the Ozone loss a Watson said at . Headquarters. Those activities include primarily the production and release of chlorofluorocarbons or rfcs which trigger the chemical breakdown of Ozone. In the United states rfcs Are used primarily As coolants in air conditioners and refrigerators and As propellants in the production of foam plastics. The . Team analysing the latest available data on the Ozone layer obtained from satellites and ground based observations found that Ozone depletion occurred at a greater rate during the 1980s than it had during the 1970s.civilian killed As yugoslavs Shell Dubrovnik two croatian defenders in Dubrovnik inspect a Street Crater caused by the Federal forces bombardment. Zagreb Yugoslavia apr one civilian was killed and two were injured As Federal forces surrounding the ancient port City of Dubrovnik bombarded its hotels and Homes from land and the sea croatian defense officials said wednesday. Air raid sirens were also heard around noon wednesday in Zagreb but no bombardment was reported. It was the first Alert in the croatian capital since a week ago when Federal forces launched an All out onslaught on parts of the breakaway Republic. A military communique carried on the state news Agency Tan Jug said the Eastern croatian stronghold of Vukovan was being shelled from the West wednesday. Croatian defense officials said that the City had been shelled throughout the night and that the Federal army appeared to be regrouping for another attack. Some 15,000 people Are believed to be stranded in Vukovan on Croatia a Border with its rival Republic of Serbia. The town has been besieged for some two months and several assaults by Federal troops have been thrown Back. Sporadic Cannon and mortar fire from army positions also rained on the Southern suburbs of Barlovac about 31 Miles Southwest of Zagreb. Gunboats off Dubrovnik which dates Back to medieval times shelled the Babin Kuk resort area just North of the ancient walled heart of the City and the Small Island of la pad killing one civilian and injuring two others croatian defense officials said. They said several hotels were badly damaged. A Hospital was also shelled by a gunboat they said. A naval blockade of Dubrovnik recently lifted briefly was reportedly again in Force. The military communique cited by Tan Jug claimed that croatian forces inside the besieged City were trying to provoke the army into attacks. The report said the croatians were firing on Federal army troops from Parks Tennis courts and gardens inside the City where More than 50,000 people reportedly have been trapped without electricity or fresh water for 23 Days. Meanwhile the european Community negotiated cease fire that went into effect saturday appeared to be holding elsewhere in  reported that a key front around the town of Pankrac in Central Croatia was a unusually  the conference on Security and cooperation in Europe meeting in Prague Czechoslovakia decided to Send observers to Yugoslavia the official c czechoslovak news Agency Csuk reported. The report said Csc observer teams would operate in All six yugoslav republics a to Monitor human rights. Tan Jug reported that there arc now 123,678 serbian refugees from Croatia 497 of them arriving in the past 24 hours. At least 250,000 croats also have been forced to flee their Homes in areas occupied by serbian militias and their Federal army allies. More than 1,000 people have been killed since Croatia announced its Independence Jmie 25. Private estimates by diplomats and yugoslav military analysts put the figure much higher. Federal government and army officials were to meet in Belgrade later wednesday with representatives from the republics of Serbia and Montenegro and from serbian controlled regions in Croatia and Bosnia Herze Govina. Summit representatives Are Likely to discuss a serbian plan for Yugoslavia s future and coordinate strategy against the croats. On tuesday Serbia and its allies remaining in the collective Federal presidency approved a Call by Federal defense minister Veljko Kadijevic for a widespread Call up of reserves in regions that want to remain in a Federal Yugoslavia