European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 24, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Fog us the Balkans continued from Page 19 largest number of Slavk converts to slam muslims recognized As an Ethek nationality in 1 %9, now constitute about 45 percent of the country s population. Another legacy of ottoman influence is that Albania although officially atheistic is today s Europe s Only predominantly Muslim country. The albanians in 1912 did t get Kosovo Western Macedonia and parts of Southern Serbia. There is a sense of grievance that they did not get sheif full territory after the ottomans says Janus Bugajski an expert on Eastern Europe at he Center for strategic and International studies in Washington. In the worst Case scenario he says the provocation would Likely be in Macedonia. There Are a lot of nationalistic serbs who refuse to accept the Independence of a serb proposal Calls for partitioning Macedonia among Serbia Albania and Greece. Some serbs see an islamic threat in Bosnia Albania and among the repressed turks in Bulgaria. Any aggression Bugajski says would drag in Greece and Turkey and Start a full blown Balkan War. Macedonia is the key in All this. If you stabilize Macedonia you stabilize trying figure Exchange rates no one at merchant s Bank can Tell me How they set their Exchange rate for Marks or who sets the rate. Could you please Tell me who sets the rate and give me their names and Telephone numbers could you also Tell me How they set the rate and explain the following peculiarities i be noticed Between oct. 5 and 6, the Interbank rate fell from 1 .4085 to 1 .4060 yet the fixed rate went Down two whole pfennig. The Interbank rate changed one whole pfennig Between oct. 7 and 8, yet the fixed rate was unchanged. Why. The Interbank rate was 1 .5 pfennig higher on oct. 19 than oct. 15 yet the rate remained the same. On oct. 21 the Interbank rate dropped .01 1 5 or 1 1 5/1 0,000th of a pfennig and the fixed rate went up one pfennig. Then the next Day it dropped .0030 and the fixed rate dropped a pfennig. How can this be Between nov. 3 and 4 the Interbank rate dropped .003 of a pfennig yet the fixed rate went up by two pfennig. Why were they feeling guilty the above list contains Only the most blatant inconsistencies. How Are these rates determined with a Dart Board could you also Tell me what Laws and regulations govern the Banks and credit unions that Are on . Bases Over Here your help in this matter will be appreciated. Gilbert a. Johansen Bobingen Germany a Send Iii so Dier cows his nose Asne passes fee air feet of 23 serbs found Jas to veer in two mass Graves near Che Eastern bosnian to a Oszy Omic. The Balkans he says. I would Tell president Clinton to come to grips with Macedonia As soon As possible before he has another War on his hands. It is simmering Macedonia can act As a Buffer far peace in the Balkans says Andreas Andrianopoulos minister of state of Greece which opposes recognition of the country until it stops using the ancient Creek name. Greece refers to its neighbor As the Republic of Skopje after the macedonian capital or As the former action line yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The turkish Factor is being overlooked by the West warns Bulent Aliriza senior associate at the Camilie endowment for International peace in Washington. In the absence of Western military Aid bosnian muslims May Appeal to the islamic world where the bosnian crisis is a headline Issue. The turks today identify with moslem As very like them both moslem and european Aliriza says. Turkey is poised to act in the Frank j. Chunderlik contract administrator and Media relations merchants National Bank & Trust co. Replies when an individual puts a Pencil to paper to calculate Exchange rate differences by comparing the Community Bank s daily Exchange rate to the Interbank rate shown in the stars and stripes he or she will never achieve consistency. Why is this the Interbank rate shown in the paper is Only one of several Interbank rates available. As the term suggests this rate is an Exchange rate that is available Between Banks. The Interbank rates fluctuate from minute to minute based on the primary economic principle of Supply and demand. In actuality these rates Are meaningless to you and me As Consumers. The Community Bank purchases Deutsche Marks from the Teutsch Bundesbank. The Bundesbank fixes its Exchange rate daily around noon. This fixed rate could be considered a wholesale rate in generic terms. The Community Bank then becomes a retailer in our generic terms and Marks up the Price by 2.5 percent in accordance with our defense department contract. The resultant rate is what the customer pays for buying Marks that particular Day. For example Here is the Exchange rate information for monday dec. 28 Interbank rate 1.5910 As shown in stars and stripes Bundesbank daily fix 1.5921 x .9752.5% spread Exchange rate 1.5523 rounded to nearest Hundredth 1.55 As shown above the Interbank rate shown in the paper May and usually does differ from the daily Bundesbank however using the daily fix alleviates our need for a Dart Board. Regarding the second half of your question i can Only speak for the Bank. The Community Bank Tike All stateside Banks is bound by a myriad of applicable Federal and in our Case state of Indiana Laws and regulations governing the banking Industry. A few of these Laws Are truth in lending equal credit Opportunity and electronic funds Transfer regulations. In addition since the Community Bank is under contract with the Dod the Bank must comply with the terms and conditions of the contract and other Federal procurement regulations. Finally the Bank must also comply with the provisions of the nato status of forces agreement sofa. In Short there Are Many bureaucratic hurdles to overcome to provide you with the banking services that you now enjoy. We Are glad to be Able to provide this service. Readers action Una which appears mondays and wednesdays strives to answer questions about life in a military environment if you Don t know where to turn for help write a Tantra action unt Coq the stars and stripes unit 29480. Apoate 09211. All letters must be signed. Please include address and phone number. Texas Watrt it West a dts a Testa Rita Smith 20 the stars and stripes b Texas in the West that footed land of boots and spurs cattle drives big sides and Cowboy shootouts or to it in the South where Vou can eat grits in almost every restaurant and listen to terrific blues Walter Nugent a University of notre Dame Western history professor asked 251 Western historians writers and editors where the american West is. Responses to the question posed for a Survey for Montana the Magazine of the american West resulted in a wide variety of answers. A stable number excluded Texas from the West All together. In some ways Nugent and others said the divergent answers reflect the controversy now raging among Western historians concerning the of the american West William Goetzmann an expert in Western history at the University of Texas in Austin said those of the old school see the West in terms of the migration of europeans and native americans sometimes through displacement and sometimes voluntarily across the Countryside. Those who number themselves among the new Western historians see the West As the Battlefield for a vast class War that is still being waged. There Are so Many wests formed in our National mythology that it becomes a product of the mind and the imagination Goetzmann said. Daniel Boone thought he was in the West the Early colonists thought Connecticut waste West Judy alter of fort Worth a spokeswoman for the american Western writers association said a lot of the writers who responded to Nugent s Survey tended to see the West As existing in the past and not recognize it As being part of the 20th so just where is this legendary Region sixteen percent of those who answered Nugent s Survey refused to give geographic boundaries for the West saying that it in t so much a Blob on a map As a state of and despite an abundance of Barbecue brisket and Pinto Beans Texas was not one of the states the other respondents could All agree on As being in the West their answers coincided on the unambiguous West As an area that includes All of Arizona Utah Nevada and Idaho the Western portions of Montana Wyoming Colorado and new Mexico the Eastern parts of Washington and Oregon and the northeastern Corner of California. That leaves out Texas but the texans said something different. Everybody from Texas who responded thinks they re in the West. There was no argument about that Nugent said adding that even some of the state of mind folks would go along with that assertion. If pinned Down they would include still there is the grits Factor. Author Robert Utley a former Texas resident claims the Eastern Boundary of the West is the Missouri River and interstate 35. With his delineation the West expands to include North and South Dakota Nebraska Kansas and most of Oklahoma and Texas. Alaska is also part of the West but Hawaii in the said. Utley said the Boundary even splits the Dallas fort Worth International Airport. Fort Worth is in the West Dallas in t i love Austin because it s right on that line h6n culture two geographies. It Linus Lunf and is More Western than it i Southern. I Don t know Why that is. Maybe because it is the capital of a state that is More Western than Southern he said. A min _ wednesday february 24, 1993
