European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 11, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday january 11,1993 Money matters the stars and stripes Page 17 today s rates r following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use 1.61 1.58 80 212.2046 German Mark. British Pound dutch Guilder greek drachma note Tia rates to rvs apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar a following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be. Regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign currencies italian lira a  1,522.00 turkish lira 8,710.00 Spanish peseta  116.75 portuguese escudo 147.98 austrian Schilling 11.58 saudi rest 3.7495 Bahrain Dinar 0.37673 Kuwait Dinar 0.3046 norwegian Krona 7.08 danish Krone 6.372 British Pound 1.5435 German Mark 1.6415 Swiss franc 4aeiee>h�s�th�shta 1.5005 French franc a  5.6015 dutch Guilder  1.8405 belgian franc a a a a a a a  33.78canadian Dollar  1.282 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $329.25 an ounce. Silver quote $3.68 an ounce won t be using Tomato san Francisco a Campbell soup co. Says it has no immediate plans 1 to use a genetically engineered Tomato in its products even though it invested Sev Era million dollars in its development. An Industry analyst saw Campbell decision on the of tar savr Tomato As a setback for the biotech food Industry pro Viding ammunition to those who oppose tinkering with genes to produce new strains of fruits and vegetables. In a letter obtained by the san Francisco examiner Campbell told consumer advocates it May use the flavor savr Tomato in the future if the product receives government approval or consumer demand increases. A we have no plans to Market any genetically engineered product in the foreseeable future Quot David Macnair vice president of science and technology at Camden  Campbell told the newspaper. _ a for us to put a new ingredient in our products not Only would it have to be a fully approved product that meets regulatory requirements but it has to be something we clearly see Consumers see As a Benefit a Macnair said. Flavor savr is the trademark for a Tomato developed by Cal Gene inc. Of Davis Calif. It resists spoilage and can be picked and shipped at a tasty red Ripe stage. Thomas Churchwell chief executive of Cal Gene fresh inc., a subsidiary of Cal Gene said Campbell invested several million dollars in the Tomato and has retained some marketing rights and All processing rights. The . Department of agriculture said in october it would no longer regulate the High tech vegetable meaning it can be grown and shipped anywhere in the United states. But the food and drug administration must declare it a food before it can be sold to Consumers Cal Gene has said it expects a decision this year. Some chefs have vowed not to use genetically engineered foods and some consumer activists have been pressuring food regulators to Monitor safety tests and Labelling. Washington a thousands of struggling Farmers across the country risk losing their property because they have failed to answer government warnings that their debts Are delinquent family farm activists say. A but Federal official said the situation is not that dire. Farmers Home administration records obtained by the associated press show that some 31,000 borrowers were sent notices that their loan payments Are in arrears but fewer than 8,000 have responded. A. A a Farmers whose debts Are at least 180 Days delinquent must respond within another 60 Days or risk forfeiting rights to their farms. Their choices Are bankruptcy or turning ownership of the farm Back to the Omha said Katherine Ozer director of the National family farm coalition. Of the Farmers who received notices through september 12,698 were 180 Days delinquent but Only one third had re traditional in by Jonathon Weber los Angeles times Las vegas a while exotic new gizmos such As pocket sized a digital assistants a interactive multimedia players and next generation digital audio devices hog the limelight at the consumer electronics show Here it is the comparatively mundane products a big screen to sets video game machines and car stereos a that Are driving an unexpected sales Boom in the Industry. Total sales of consumer electronics in creased 7.9 percent to $38,2 billion for 1992, according to the electronics industries association a big improvement Over the 2 percent to 3 percent growth rates of recent years. Much of the sales spurt came in the last few months of the year As recession weary Consumers began to shop again. A your dealers say business has really picked up in the last 90 Days after being very slow Over the summer said Shoichi Yamada chief executive of Pioneer electronics american operations. Traditional products such As color to sets up 9 percent stereos up 7 percent and video came systems up More then 25 percent have led the charge. While products Lille big screen tvs and compact disc based video game machines also contributed to the upturn falling prices and rising consumer Confidence appeared to be the key factors. In the game business a competitive Battle Between Nintendo and Sega led to big Price cuts on key pieces of game hardware a and a huge increase in sales. Nintendo said 1992 revenues for All Nintendo machines and game programs leaped 22 percent to nearly $4.3 billion after showing virtually no increase in 1991. Sega for its part said that Revenue a More than doubled to $1.6 billion from $730 million in 1991. Both companies Are fueling the fire this year with a Host of new games and accessories Nintendo has introduced a special Chip that can be incorporated into its game cartridges for Superior graphics performance while Sega rolled out an attachment that allows players to control the game by intercepting beams of Light with their hands. Meanwhile a slew of new consumer products that take advantage of advances in computer technology will not begin to affect the Bottom line of vendors and retailers until later this year. Sponged to the Agency. Other growers who received notices in elude those at least 30 Days delinquent current borrowers who requested a notice because they May anticipate falling behind on their payments and those in bankruptcy. The government mailed most of the notices this summer. The Agency Lender of last resort to the nations family Farmers May either forgive restructure or foreclose s loan whichever costs the gov Erh ment the least amount of Money. A a Omha is on the Brink of initiating foreclosure proceedings to take Possession of thousands of american family farms a the National family farm coalition said in a recent warning to the Clinton transition team at the agriculture department. A the consequences of such actions will profoundly affect american agriculture for generations to come a the coalition said. Family farm advocates have called for a moratorium on any foreclosures until the Clinton administration has time to assess the situation. Omha administrator la Verne Amman rejects the coalitions dire warnings and said Many of the Farmers who received notices May have paid their debts avoiding the need to file a response with his Agency. \ during the last round of delinquency notices begun in the late 1980s, 55 percent of Farmers who were 180 Days delinquent caught up on their debts after receiving a notice and another 11 percent paid to Cir accounts in full Amman said Ausman also said the Agency a records show that during the summer of 1992, 11,700 Farmers who had become delinquent caught up on their payments or paid in full. He predicted that there would be few foreclosures stemming from this round of delinquency notices. Boom boxing legend Muhammad Ali gives a fan a sucker punch saturday during an autograph session at the consumer electronics show in Las vegas Ali was promoting his video game Cartridge for the genesis system. Apple computer which first outlined plans for a pocket sized communicating computer or a personal digital assistants Quot at the convention a year ago Friday said that the Newton devices As they Are now named would not begin appear ing on store shelves until this summer at the earliest. Tandy and Casio Are working together on a similar product dubbed the zoom or which they plan to introduce in the fall