European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 25, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters tuesday january 25, 1994 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 1.71 British Pound. 1.53 dutch Guilder. 1.91 greek drachma. 242.5385 note the rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the 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 Curren cies italian lira 1,708.60 turkish lira. 15,076.70 Spanish peseta. 143.05 portuguese escudo. 176.40 austrian Schilling 12,314 saudi Royal 3.7492 Bahrain Dinar 0.37675 kuwaiti Dinar .0.29810 norwegian Krone. 7.5335 danish Krone. 6.8010 British Pound 1.4925 German Mark. 1.7515 Swiss franc. 1.4650 French franc. 5.9510 dutch Guilder 1.9638 belgian franc. 36.50 Canadian Dollar 1.3108 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $379.65 an ounce Silver quote $5.01 an ounce gasoline prices take slight Rise los Angeles a gasoline prices at the pump Rose slightly in the past two weeks a Survey showed sunday. The average Price of Gas Friday including All grades and taxes was $1.099 per Gal Ion up from $1.095 on Jan. 7, said Trilby Lundberg publisher of the Lundberg sur vey of 10,000 Gas stations nationwide. In the past two weeks prices have turned upward slightly because retailers have followed minor increases in crude and wholesale prices Lundberg said. But there Are no significant prospects for Sharp rises in the  at self serve pumps the average Price of regular unleaded Gas was $1.025 per gallon mid Grade unleaded was $1.1415, Premium unleaded was $1.223 and regu Lar leaded was $1.048. At full serve pumps regular unleaded was $1.431 per gallon mid Grade unleaded was $1.521, Premium unleaded was $1.593 and regular leaded was $1.32. Microsoft s growth May slow in 94, Gates tells employees Seattle a Microsoft corp. Won t be adding employees at the rate it has in the past and staying competitive will require some reorganization chair Man Bill Gates said in a letter monday " in a letter to employees from Bill his electronic mail tag Gates warned of More intense Price Competition and a fast moving intensely competitive Industry studded with new Alli ances and resurgent rivals. Microsoft s work Force grew 14 percent in 1993, and while it will add More work ers this year we do not anticipate it to grow at the same rate As in the past Gates wrote. Microsoft must be smart nimble and focused he wrote. The letter was sent electronically to Microsoft s 14,737 employees and also will appear in the company s weekly in House newsletter. Email from Gates is no rarity he reportedly spends about two hours each Day Reading and writing such messages. But this is the first time in several years he has started the year with a formal let Ter to employees said Michael Murray Microsoft vice president of human re sources and administration. Although Microsoft has grown in the past decade to dominate personal com Puter software it still has plenty to worry about from competitors Gates said. Ism Sun Apple and Novell continue to invest heavily in systems software he said including joint development efforts by Apple and ism. Novell has a commanding Lead in net working. Apple is known for better ease of use. Lotus has captured the Market s imagination with notes and we have been slow to respond Gates wrote. Notes is a popular program from Lotus development corp. That lets employees work together and share information through their personal computers. Gates said Microsoft plans a product to rival notes this year. In another sign of competitive pres sure Microsoft is experimenting with a Tokyo Tumble traders Bunch up in the pit area monday at the Tokyo Stock Exchange As share prices took their worst plunge in More than two years. The nikkei Stock average closed at 18,353.24, off 954.19 Points or nearly 5 percent. It was the largest single Day full since a 1,799.04-Point drop nov. 25, 1991. Traders blamed the Tumble on concerns that political turmoil could Worsen Japan s economic slump. Simpler look for its windows operating system sold on most personal computers the Wall Street journal reported Mon Day. Instead of using icons that depict commands the system would use pictures of familiar scenes such As a living room Broder bund software inc. Uses a Sim Pler interface on software for children and general magic inc. Uses scenes from a City to guide a person through its hand held computers and phones. Gates letter came two Days after Microsoft reported a second Quarter profit of $289 million up 22 percent from a year ago. Revenue for the period was $1.13 billion up 20 percent. Gates praised his employees for producing new products ranging from visual a a software development tool to Crea Tive writer a word processor for kids. He also said there is momentum for win Dows it an operating system launched last summer for networks of personal computers. But he noted that Price cutting has be come routine. Raythelon Deal puts funds into Kuwait projects Kuwait a Kuwait signed a $98 million contract with the . Military manufacturer Raythelon its third under a system requiring foreign firms to reinvest 30 percent of the value of their contracts in the emirate. Kuwait news Agency said sunday the government had not decided How the Money would be used. But the company which is supplying the emirate with Patriot missile batteries said it has proposed several projects to the finance ministry. Abdul Mohsen Al Haneef the ministry s undersecretary said last month that Ray Theon s investment called an offset would be in nonmilitary industries. Hit hard by the drop in Oil prices and a $5.2 billion deficit in its current budget Kuwait Hopes to earn $500 million from the offset system this year. Kuwait introduced the system in july 1992, As part of an Effort to stimulate the private sector. Another . Defense group Hughes aircraft systems International has committed itself to an offset Deal part of a contract to provide Kuwait s military with an Early warning system. Time inc. Mulls la u Nch i no Magazine for Gays by the new York times new York time inc. Ventures the division of time inc. That develops new magazines is looking into the possibility of a publication aimed at Gay and lesbian readers. The concept was brought to the division by Maer to Shan former editor in chief of the Short lived Qew a mag Azine for Gay men and lesbians that closed in late 1992 after its principal Backer died of aids. The proposed Magazine would include news features and profiles time inc. Officials have emphasized that the idea is among five or six Magazine proposals considered by the division at any Given time and that most ideas do not Nike it into print. Still the fact that a leading publish ing company is considering a Gay publication shows the growth and potential financial strength of the category it is a project that has come before us and we Are intrigued with the idea Robert l. Miller president of time inc. Ventures said. We continue to Analyse it and anticipate making a decision in the next two months As to whether it is a project we would want to involve ourselves  people familiar with the proposed Magazine say time inc. Ventures has provided $25,000 in seed Money As Well As management expertise to help develop a Proto Type. David h. Steward general manager of Martha Stewart living a Magazine that came into being through the division is said to be working on a Busi Ness plan. If the project receives the Green Light a test Issue would appear on Newsstands this summer or Early fall. Time inc. Ventures probably would also conduct a Small direct mail test. I think it s great that somebody like time Warner is acknowledging the strength of this consumer segment said Stephanie Blackwood associate publisher of the advocate the leading newsmagazine for the Gay Market. What i keep envisioning is the Power of the time Warner sales Force to present the Gay and lesbian mar Ket to advertisers who have been very receptive to the idea of Gay and lesbian Consumers but very fearful of  still unknown is the Impact of a time inc. Publication on existing magazines for Gay men and lesbians. Among the magazines started in the last three years Are genre out ten percent Deneuve Victory our world and frontiers the oldest of the publications is the 26-year old advocate. Roberta Garfinkle director of print Media for Mccann Erickson worldwide the advertising Agency said a Magazine owned by time inc. Would Appeal to advertisers because the resources of a leading publisher would be behind it. But she said the real question about any Magazine directed at a specific audience was what Are you going to do that is. Timely and different from what other magazines Are providing Roshan 26, declined to comment on his proposed Magazine. But colleagues say he has likened it to a Gay new Republic and a Gay rolling Stone. He apparently also is aiming at a crossover audience readers who Are not Gay but might find the Magazine interesting. Friends of Roshan s say he wants to include provocative articles that some Gay publications May find too Dis comforting. These might include pieces like the one to Shan ran in Qew about increasing numbers of Gay men having unsafe sex again