European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 03, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes Money matters tuesday August 3,1993 today s rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use German Mark 1.69 British pound1.52 dutch Guilder 1.89 greek drachma. 232.5663 note the rates above  the i country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to tto British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign currencies italian lira. 1,624.50 turkish lira. 11,501.40spanish peseta. 146.70 portuguese escudo 182.11 austrian Schilling 12.186 saudi rial 3.75bahrain Dinar. 0.3760 Kuwait Dinar. 0.3014 norwegian Krone. 7.501 danish Krone. 7.14 British Pound 1.4805 German Mark. 1.7372 Swiss franc. 1.518 French franc. 6.1125dutch Guilder. 1.95 belgian franc. 37.45 Canadian Dollar. 1.2848 note figures Art expressed in dollars to the 4jjrtish Pound other currencies to the Dollar Odd quote $406.70 an ounce Stiver quote $5.46 an ounce ism s planned cuts rattle workers in Europe Japan Vietnam expects continuing increase in foreign tourists Bangkok. Thailand a Viet Nam expects 1 million foreign visitors annually by 1995 and 3 million a year by the turn of the Century the government new Agency said. The 440,000 foreign tourists who visited Vietnam last year spent about $50 million the official Vietnam news Agency said in a dispatch seen monday i Bangkok. But the state run tourist service calculated that the turnover of visitors dollars in other areas of the Economy brought tourism s total value to $321 million the Agency said. The country s last big tourism year was 1990, when 250,000 tourists spent $29 million. The Industry slumped in 1991, when Only 30,000 foreigners visited. Paris a ism workers in Europe and Japan Are wondering How heavy the a will fall after the company s top executive said last week that International operations will be hit harder than in the past by Job cuts. Our biggest worry is How will it Hap pen said Gerard Kaponat Secretary general of the labor Union at an ism semiconductor Plant in Corbeil a Paris suburb. Ism last week announced a Retro quarterly loss of $8.04 billion largely to pay for a restructuring that includes Early retirement incentives for thousands of workers. About 50,000 employees have taken incentives this year and chairman Louis v. Centner or. Said a additional 35,000 will have to leave by the end of next year. And he added there will be a higher percentage of cuts in non-. Operations than we be Haa in the  was not More specific. Prior to the announcement ism Europe had undertaken Steps to reduce its staff of 90,000 by 10,000 to 11,000 Over the next two years. The new cuts will mean a substantial number in Europe said Alan Gillings a spokesman for the Paris based ism Europe. We re not ready to give any specifics for any countries.". Ism Japan while not shedding jobs outright has encouraged retirement and Cut Back recruiting. Because of the so called lifetime employment system in Japan our employees Don t believe they will be affected said ism Japan spokesman Tadafumi naga Buchi. _ f on april 1, ism Japan employed 25,235 workers up from 25,123 the year before. But its profit fell last year 45 percent Lead ing to a change in its top management. I because of the so called lifetime employment system in Japan our employees Don t believe they will be affected Tadafumi Nagafuchi ism Japan spokesman it has sought to slim Down by offering Early retirement to 3,000 employees older than 50. Of the 1,632 people who applied 845 moved to about 90 ism affiliated companies 384 started new careers and 380 moved to ism s competitors. The search for volunteers to leave will probably occur again this year Nagafuchi said. Los Angeles a despite controversy Over its allegedly racist portrayal of japanese businessmen. Rising Sun burned its Box office Competition earn ing a projected $15.5 million in its week end debut. A corporate murder mystery starring Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes rising Sun opened to protests in los Angeles san Francisco new York and other Cit ies. Asian americans said the movie fostered stereotypes by depicting japanese tycoons As ruthless. Based on a novel by Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton the film is about the investigation of the murder of a prostitute at a party attended by japanese businessmen and a . Senator Clint Eastwood s secret service thriller Connery Snipes in the line of fire was a Distant second at an $8.1 million projected take. The projections were released by Industry sources sunday. Official Box office ism Europe lost $1.73 billion last year because of one time charges that hid an operating profit of $1.5 billion. Four plants in Sweden Spain Britain and Montpellier France have been ordered to improve operation by year s end or face accelerated Job reductions. Ism Europe is considering changeling its factories toward other kinds of production including contract manufacturing for other companies. They would still make products for ism but they could sell elsewhere too offering their High tech expertise Gillings said. The company s workers in France and the Netherlands were Given the Opportunity to leave for up to three years on partial salary to explore other careers. But at the Corbeil Plant ism s biggest in Europe with 3,500 workers Only two employees have chosen that option Union offi Cial Kaponat said. The leave program is a fiasco he said. Most people just take the Severance pack  Kaponat estimated that 300 people will quit the factory this year and 400 in 1994. But he said the new incentives could double that. Ism Laid off workers for the first time in the United states last Spring but has not yet done so in Europe. Earner figures were to be released monday. Fi6c Willy about a boy s Friendship ten a killer whale was third with $7 Mil lion. Mel Brooks new spoof Robinhood men in tights was fourth with $6.7 million. Tom cruise s Legal thriller the firm earned $6.6 million and Jurassic Park devoured $6.5 million. In its second weekend Janet Jackson s poetic Justice dropped from first to seventh place with $5.1 million in sales. The old fashioned Romance sleepless in Seattle was eighth with $4.8 million. The Mike Myers comedy so / married an axe murderer the Only other pre Miere to make the top 10 Over the week end tied with the boneheads and hocus focus by earning $3.4 million. Teens turn the Page on issues vital to them Atlanta a newspapers publish stories about teen pregnancy All the time but this Story is Dif Ferent the reporter interviewed a girl i go to school  the newspaper also is different. It is Vox a new Independent citywide paper run by and for Atlanta Steen agers. When you talk to your Peers said 18year-old Jen Nifer Cwiok a Vox staff member it s easier to Tel your whole Story  Vox is one of eight newspapers affiliated wit Washington based youth communication. The papers aim to give training and a voice in latin Vox to their hundreds of teen reporters photographers and editors and to offer news and a forum for their 1 million read ers. A forum the los Angeles teen paper la youth runs regular essay contests receiving floods of responses to questions such As what s the Point of High school and what would you Tell your parents if you could once in a while