European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 10, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters monday january 10, 1994 today s rates following Are fixed rates a which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use German Mark 1.70 British Pound 1.52 dutch Guilder 1.89 greek drachma. 243.06535 note the rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to . Following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies  italian lira. 1,699.50 turkish lira 14,654.80spanish peseta 145.75 portuguese escudo. 177.10austrian Schilling 12.232 saudi rival 3749bahrain Dinar 0.3767 kuwaiti Dinar. 0.2982 norwegian Krone 7.50danish Krone 6.765 British Pound 1.4835 German Mark .1.74swiss franc. 1.4815 French franc s.9205dutch Guilder. 1.9479 belgian franc 36.14 Canadian Dollar 1.3203 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to . Gold quote $390.70 an ounce Silver quote $5.09 an ounce a 12, 17 and to equal plan to rate Las vegas a a Trade group proposed saturday that video game creators devise a four tier rating system to help parents decide what games Aren t for children. About a dozen software makers including big companies such As Phillips interactive and the 3do co., participate Din a unique meeting at the Winter con Sumer electronics show. The software publishers association which represents 1,100 software Compa Nies proposed categories similar to those that 3do will Start using in March. The association suggested that Small representative groups begin meeting next month on specifics. Under 3do s system games that can be played by everyone will get an a rating. Those needing parental guidance for children 12 and under will get a "12," and those deserving caution for 17 and under will get a "17." games for adults Only will get an to designation. Game developers praised the proposal. They were especially pleased that it would have them suggest a rating at risk of penalty rather than wait for an inde pendent rating Board s review before a product can be sold. Disagreements arose however. Som companies suggested ratings should say whether a game is violent or sexual in nature rather than recommend age limits. The goal Here is disclosure. The Issue of what is problematic is a parental Deci Sion said James Charne vice president of business and Legal affairs of absolute entertainment inc., creator of Nintendo games such As super Battle tank 2 and Rise of the robots. The companies also must decide if animated games should have different Stan Dards than ones that use video images. Games we have very realistic graphics. There Are games in which you re shooting at real people said Hal Josephson director of Industry relations for 3do. There s no research yet that could Indi Cate what the Impact of that could be for minors. We want parents to know the have to provide  Sega corp. Of America the no. 1 seller of video games started rating its game last summer. A spokesman said the policy is open to modification. The broader Effort to regulate video games comes after a Senate hearing Las month. Lawmakers led by Sens. Joseph i. Lieberman d-conn., and Herbert , d-wis., threatened to legislate a rating system if the Industry did not come up with a satisfactory one voluntarily. Games such As mortal  an night trap picturing violent acts or sex a themes have angered Many people. Firm must pay $2 million for bilking army san Jose Calif. A a military contractor has been ordered to pay $2 million in fines and settlements for sub mitting falsified test results to the army on Battlefield radio equipment. Some of the radios sold by Aydin  to work properly during the per Sian Gulf War assistant . Attorney Michael Zigler said Friday. He said the army was Able to use backup communications equipment. Aydin pleaded guilty thursday in plea agreement to six felony charges of false statements and conspiracy . Attorney Michael yamaguchi.. District judge James Ware Fine the company $1 million and also ordered it to pay $1 million in a civil settlement. Aydin also was ordered to recall and upgrade All radios it delivered to the army an expense that company lawyers estimated at $10 million to $12 million Yan Yaguchi said. Theri Adios were sold for $28,000 a set. More than 400 were shipped to the army from june 1988 to about september Auto enthusiasts Admire a new Ford Model during the 1994 great and other vehicles from More than 40 manufacturers from around 1989, Yamaguchi said. Or los Angeles Auto show on saturday. About 1,000 cars trucks the world Are being displayed through next weekend. Auto this world workers health Tab grew keeping firms costs steady Washington a because of larger employee contributions employers costs of pro Viding medical benefits stayed the same in 1992 for the first time in More than a decade the . Chamber of Commerce says. Releasing its annual Survey last week the chamber said 1,100 companies that employ a total of 2.3 million workers spent $3,504 per employee or 10.3 percent of payroll on medical benefits. That was virtually unchanged from the $3,465 per employee or 10.4 percent of payroll they spent in 1991. Workers themselves had to pay 9 percent More for their health care coverage in 1992, and Many firms also raised their deductibles. More pension plans face shortfall Washington a the Gap Between prom ised pensions and the Money available to pay them i companies with underfunded plans soared to $53 Bil lion in 1992, a shortfall that eventually could jeopardize the retirements of millions of americans. The pension Benefit guaranty corp., the govern ment Agency that insures pensions said thursday that underfunded single employer retirement plans had$235 billion in Benefit liabilities Over the expected life times of current employees and retirees and just $182billion in assets to pay for them a deficit 40 percent above 1991 s $38 billion. The Agency said the underfunding is concentrated Ina relatively Small number of companies and industries. It said about 72 percent of the underfunding $38 Bil lion is concentrated in plans sponsored by just 50companies, primarily in the steel automobile tire and airline industries. The underfunding Gap just $10 billion in 1983 has widened steadily Over the last decade and prompted demands for the overhaul of Laws to protect private pensions. But despite the rapid growth in underfunding and a $2,7 billion deficit at the end of 1992, pension Benefit guaranty s executive director Martin slate and others contended the Agency faces no immediate problem. Pm go has ample assets to pay benefits for Many years to come slate said but the data Send a Clear signal that we have a growing problem which we should squarely address while it is still  most of the 65,000 single employer pension plans insured by the Agency Are fully funded the Agency said. Fully funded plans have a Large enough aggregate sur plus that Overall single employer plans have More than $830 billion in assets to cover about $780 billion i Benefit liabilities. The Agency attributed much of the underfunding growth to declining interest rates which reduced pen Sion plan earnings. But it said funding by Many Compa Nies did not keep Pace with growing liabilities because of weaknesses in the Law