European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 5, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                I. Tuesday january 5,1993 Money matters the stars and stripes b Page 17 today a rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking Quot and credit Union facilities will set foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use German Mark 1.59 British Pound 1.54 dutch Guilder 1.79 greek drachma 208.6129 note the rates above apply within the Host w country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the1 Dollar following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign currencies italian lira  of Soilo turkish lira 8,617.80 Spanish peseta. 116,06 portuguese escudo 147.64 austrian Schilling 11.49 saudi rial. 3.7499 Bahrain Dinar 0.37675 Kuwait Dinar 0.3034 norwegian Krone 6.9750 danish Krone 6.336 British Pound 1.5030 German Mark 1,64 Swiss franc .1.4765 French franc 5.592 dutch Guilder a  1.8412 belgian franc 33.75 Canadian Dollar 1.278 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote 1328.50 a  quote s3.65 an ounce state pension crisis Gao reports Hertz of Basing rates on residency new York up new York officials on sunday charged that the Hertz corp. Continues to impose an extra charge on local motorists based on which Borough they live in. Rep. Charles Schumer and City con Surner affairs commissioner Mark Green said that Hertz a still redlines most new York City  despite local legislation against residency based charges. In a letter to Hertz chief executive officer Frank Olson the officials applauded a program that adjusts charges ased on a renters driving record. But they criticized the higher fees charged to All but Staten Island residents. The officials said the nations largest car rental company charges daily fees that include an extra $56 Tor Bronx Quot residents $34 More for Brooklyn residents $15 More for Queens residents and $3 More for Manhattan residents Olson has said the fees were intended to cover the costs of higher liability losses in the City. By the los Angeles times Washington Many state and local pension plans Are dangerously underfunded jeopardizing retirement checks for hundreds of thousands of employees according to the Central accounting office., the crisis is most acute for teacher retirement plans in Maine Oklahoma West Virginia and the District of Courti Bia and for general state employee pension plans in Maine and Massachusetts the Gao said. Those governments Are paying monthly retirement checks now but the pension funds Are far Short of the Money needed to pay for the lifetime benefits promised to current retirees. And when the current work Force retires the funds could go broke trying to meet their obligations. The six plans identified by the Gao Are the most acute cases of a disturbing National malady the failure of hard pressed governments to set aside enough Money to make Good on pension promises. The ability to keep promises to retirees a May be particularly difficult in the face of competing future demands for the governments moneys a a according to the Gao the investigative Arm of Congress. Some states beset by budget woes have taken drastic and threatening Steps sometimes skipping or sharply reducing the required contributions to the pension fund for several years. State and local pension funds enrol nearly 16 million current workers and retirees. The Gao a report included a review. Of 189 plans that showed state and local governments contributed $15.3 billion of the $19 billion needed in 1991 to pay All the benefits promised to workers enrolled in the programs. The shortage of nearly $4 billion must be recovered either through increased contributions or future earnings. Otherwise the funds will go broke someday. In Oklahoma for example the teachers retirement system is paying retirement benefits faster than it is collecting contributions. The funds assets will be wiped out by 2015, and the state will have to spend $800 million a year to pay retirement benefits according to testimony before the House select committee on aging. A state and local governments Are tangled in a web of fiscal pressures endangering the pension funds. The recession has Cut deeply into tax revenues making it tempting to skip contributions needed for future pension checks and to use the Money instead for immediate budget balancing. Athe funds themselves arc collecting re Ducco earnings on their investments because of lower interest rates and a comparatively sluggish Stock Market. And there is a rapidly aging work Force in state and local governments. Most state government workers a Are Over the age of41 and Many of these Are expected to retire before the age of 60,&Quot the Gao said. A further the ratio of a live workers to retirees is declining. Thus the proportion of pension plan participants receiving benefits  contributing to the plan could increase quickly in the near future a according to inc Gao report. Governments could face a fiscal crisis a because the increase in the number of retirees could overtake the i lians ability to pay retirement benefits the report said. Then the governments would lace the grim choices of raising taxes or cutting Back the pension checks promised to people who worked 20 years or More in state and local agencies. Under budget pressures the governments arc resorting to numbers games to skimp on their pension contributions the Gao reported. As Many As 40 percent of the Public plans changed profit expectations on their investments in the past four  a funds managers expect to earn on the investment is called the actuarial Assumption. Raising the Assumption by just 1 percentage Point could reduce the governments required annual contribution by As much As 20 percent to 25 percent according to the Gao. If a state declares its pension fund will earn 9 percent for the next 20 years instead of 8 percent it. Means millions of dollars wont have to go to the pension plan and can be used for other state spending programs. Rep. Edward r. Roybal d-calif., who retired from Congress this week requested the Gao investigation. A a for warmth without mess pollution Bethel it. Apr americans love the warmth of a cozy crackling fire on a Chilly Winters night. But few like stacking the Wood coaxing it to Light and cleaning up the Messy Ash afterwards. There a also growing concern about air pollution spewing from fireplaces and Wood stoves. Manufacturers of Hearth products though Are managing to match the Romance of fires with Consumers demands for convenience and Comfort. And they be seen their profits heat up As Well. Vermont castings inc., one of the country a Premier Wood stove builders is a prime example. The company said that after five stagnant years Revenue is up 15 percent from a year ago thanks to healthy sales of stoves and fireplaces fuelled by Wood pellets or natural or propane Gas. The Gas appliances fire up with a flick of a switch and leave no Messy Ash while a 40-Pound bag of Wood pellets will Burn for two to three Days with significantly less Ash. A your marketing people say that Gas fireplace equipment is the fastest growing residential Gas appliance right now a Saia Julie Stewart a spokeswoman for the american Gas association. The trend toward wordless fuels has been so Quick and pronounced that the Industry a own Trade association changed its name a year ago from the Wood Healing Alliance to Hearth products association. The Trade groups believe there a a big Market for the new decorative Hearth products especially in such places As ski resorts where fireplaces Are such Yin integral part of the experience. A there arc some areas out West ski areas particularly where they be banned Wood burning because of the air pollution it creates a Stewart said. A a it a a wonderful piece of equipment to have in a place like a second floor master bedroom where you done to have to carry Wood upstairs and done to have to schlep ashes  Home builders estimate that 63 percent of All new Homes have fireplaces but fewer than a Quarter arc equipped with Wood stoves or fireplace inserts. Vermont castings which manufactures the popular defiant and Resolute series of stoves was Well positioned to take advantage of the changes. Just four years ago the company was struggling under debt taken on to Btry out its next biggest Wood stove competitor consolidated dutch West to shed its debt Load Vermont castings partners sold out to Pacific Orp an Oregon Utility company. Vermont castings was set up As an Independent  May hang up caller id service Boston apr caller id a phone service touted As an electronic peephole to let customers see who a calling is making its Way around the country. But it May not become a ringing Success because of privacy worries. The be juice which displays the Quot number and sometimes the name of the caller is available in More than 20 states and has won Praise for deterring obscene and annoying phone Calls. But because of the privacy concerns Many Stales have slapped on restrictions that Phonet companies fear will undercut the services value. A at what Point does the subscriber say a its not Worth it anymore a 1 done to know a said Clifton Metcalf a spokesman for Southern Bell in North Carolina. A a we re going to find  the restrictions imposed by Utility regulators allow callers to Block their numbers from appearing on a Dis play unit by the phone. This can be done by pressing certain keys when making each Call or in some states by having the line blocked off entirely from being decoded by caller in. After Massachusetts imposed such restrictions new England Telephone officials initially withdrew their plans to offer the service Susan Butta a spokeswoman for new England Telephone said executives worried the restrictions might make the service harder to sell. But they eventually changed their minds and decided to try it. . West communications which serves More than a dozen states decided to include the blocking options in its proposals to Utility regulators not waiting for officials to order them said Gwen Law a company project manager. Consumer advocates and civil liberties Grotius said such restrictions Are necessary. In Pennsylvania the state supreme court ruled last year that caller id a without the blocking options a violated the state wire tap Law. A critics often Point to battered women or undercover police officers As examples of people who need to keep their phone numbers secret. A there Are sonic people for whom the risk of forgetting to Block is very great Quot said Mark Cooper research director for the consumer federation of America. But new Jersey Bell which pioneered caller id in the late 1980s, does no to offer any blocking and less than v percent of its customers has complained about phone numbers leaking out said company spokesman James w. Carrigan. On the other hand Carrigan said the service has helped deter nuisance Calls. About 200,000 new Jersey Bell customers or 4.6 percent subscribe to caller id