European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 20, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and Stripe Friday december 20,1991 at a glance  roast Goose conjures up the warm image of a dickensian Christmas feast but like Scrooge a nocturnal visitors the dish is More apparition than reality these Days. See Story on pages 14-15. Hiring process overhauled the Federal government s office of personnel management is developing a system that May revolutionize the hiring process. A Page 4 insurance plan proposed a presidential Council plans to recommend spending $6.5 billion to provide school based health clinics and major medical insurance for children and some other changes. A Page 5 doctor facing charges a doctor expects to be charged in the deaths of two women who killed themselves with the help of a suicide machine he invented. A Page 7 aussies dump Hawke australian prime minister Bob Hawke was deposed thursday by his former Treasury minister. A Page 9 Holiday mail abounds the steady methodical flow of Holiday mail during the past month had postal officials initially thinking that this season s mail volume was far lower than last year. Then they took a closer look. A Page 10 Bocci agrees to guilty plea the Bank of credit and Commerce International. Agreed thursday to plead guilty to racketeering charges and forfeit $550 million to reimburse depositors and Shore up two . Banks it secretly controlled. A Page 17 inn Abby Ann Landers 19 actloirtdne.16 comics.19-21 commentary.13 crossword .19 faces no places .18 letters .12 Money matters.17 sports.22-28 to listings.27 weather.11 pm s Cost cutting measures May fall Short analysts say new York apr general motors  latest Cost cutting plan appeared to be the right step but analysts and business experts wondered whether the car maker went far enough. The United Auto workers Union which represents about 300,000 Active pm workers called the plan announced wednesday As a self defeating a at least two politicians Georgia gov. Zell Miller and rep. Tony Hall a Ohio promised to beat paths to pm Headquarters in Detroit to plead for plants in their states. Pm said six Assembly plants and 15 component operations would be shut Down within four years probably resulting in tens of thousands of layoffs. Buyout and Early retirement plans Are expected to chop 74,000 jobs from the salaried and hourly work Force by by 1995. The company on wednesday revealed few details about which plants would be shut Down or How much the shrinking would Cost. Hall said he was concerned about the future of the pm truck amp bus group Assembly Plant in Moraine Ohio. He was told by an official that a decision would be made within two months. Analyst Scott Sprinzen of Standard amp poor a corp., a major credit rating concern said the announcement of Plant closings and deep Job cuts a shows that pm management is trying very hard to do what is  but he added a they have launched other sweeping Cost cutting programs in the past which proved not to be  a this plan is predicated on their ability to hold the existing Market share and for that Market share to be priced in a Way that will be profitable for them a Sprinzen said. Stock analysts said the Market anticipated Gmys cutbacks. A a it a really old news to Wall Street a said Hugh Johnson senior vice president of first Albany corp. Gmys Stock which has declined about $7 a share in the last month closed Down 12t� cents at $27.75 on the new York Stock Exchange As investors apparently did not believe Gmys revamping would boost profits anytime soon. Billionaire h. Ross Perot a one time director and sometime critic of pm said the company was on the right course and blamed its problems on the Economy. Quot they re doing tremendous things right but nobody is buying cars a he said. Pm from Page 1 More cuts to come As Banks merge. Most analysts see Gmys cutback As confirmation that the american Standard of living is declining As the United states comes to terms with a changing world. But that did not mean americans were slipping behind other countries a Only coming Back to their level. Japan for instance stratified its society and its work Force. For example Toyota employs fewer than 100,000 workers compared with More than three times that number for pm. But that is because the workers who make essential parts for Toyota cars Are employed by supplier companies that pay lower wages and benefits than the Toyota Parent company. Pm by contrast must pay higher United Auto workers scale to More than 300,000 production workers. That a one reason the . Company has to Cut Back. What lies ahead for the United states is a Toyota like pattern of feeder companies. That Means big companies will use outside contract suppliers for such services As accounting Security and even research rather than have corporate departments. Experts also say there will More contingent work based on temporary contracts and agreements. By some estimates contingent workers currently make up one third of the . Work Force As opposed to permanent company staff. German Central Bank boosts interest rates from wire reports Frankfurt Germany the Bundesbank Germany scentral Bank tightened Money policy thursday by raising two key interest rates by a half percentage Point. The move could Strain economic policy in other nations. The United states favors lower interest rates to Spur economic growth and has asked other nations to follow suit. Britain also needs lower rates to help recover from recession. But the higher rates in Germany will entice funds from foreign investors seeking the Best return pulling Down the Exchange value of currencies of countries with lower interest rates. That could put upward pressure on interest rates in those countries to keep Exchange rate against the German Mark stable. The discount rate the cheapest form of Bank refinancing was boosted from 7.5 percent to 8.0 percent and the Lombard rate was raised from 9.25 percent to 9.75 percent the Bank announced after a meeting of its Central Council. The Lombard rate is the rate at which Banks can borrow emergency funds from the Central Banks and acts As an effective ceiling on overnight Loans. Money analysts in new York said the discount rate increase was possible for a technical reasons but had said a Lombard rate hike was highly unlikely. The Independent Central Bank a action will tend to boost the strength of the German Mark against other currencies and is designed to Clamp Down on signs of inflation As German authorities borrow heavily to finance the economic integration of former East Germany. Record exports improve . Trade deficit Washington a americans merchandise Trade deficit improved slightly in october As record Export sales helped Cut the deficit to $6.73 billion the government said thursday. The Commerce department said the october deficit marked a 2.9 percent improvement Over september a revised $6.93 billion imbalance. The decline the first since june reflected a Sharp 3.9 percent jump in Export sales which Rose to an All time High of $36.74 billion. Americans appetite for foreign goods Rose As Well pushing imports to $42.47 billion the second highest level on record. The Trade deficit is the difference Between imports and exports for the first 10 months of 1991, the Trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $67.4 billion far below last Vearus $101.72 billion total. Many economists however say the deficit will begin widening again next year in a because of a softening in demand for exports a reflection of perceived economic sluggishness in Many of America s principal overseas markets. The report of record Export sales should hearted the Bush administration which is insisting that Export demand will strengthen in the coming months and help to offset weak Domestic demand. As usual the deficit with Japan was the largest for any country an imbalance of $4.64 billion. So far this year the Trade deficit with Japan accounts for almost two thirds of americans total deficit. Woman Woitt Appeal murder conviction Mainz Germany a amps a Christine Valdez wont Appeal the 13-year prison sentence she received last month in connection with the death of her abused 8-year-old stepdaughter a spokesman for the Rheinland Pfautz state court said thursday. A Valdez had a week to initiate an Appeal and a month to support it with the grounds for an Appeal. She decided not to and risk an even longer sentence a the spokesman said. Valdez the German sex wife of an army staff sergeant was convicted of unpremeditated murder under German Law and sentenced by the Mainz court on nov. 29. She could have been sentenced up to 15 years in prison. Her former husband staff set. Ricardo Valdez is serving a life sentence in Frt a Levi a a Kan for his role in a i Arch 1990 death of his daughter Michele. His sentence was handed Down by a military court in bad Kreuz Nach in August 1990. The spokesman said Valdez was moved from the Mainz prison to the Saa Briick in women a prison on dec. 17, where she will serve the rest of her sentence. Michele died of staphylococcal pneumonia. Doctors said her death was prompted by bacteria that entered her bloodstream through abuse related injuries