European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 07, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters monday february 7.1994 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 1.5 dutch Guilder 1.89 greek drachma. 243.2698 note Tho rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed or dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following Are Interbank rate that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign currencies italian lira 1,689.50 turkish lira .,.-h 7,422.40 Spanish peseta 141.13 portuguese escudo. 175.26 austrian Schilling 12.242 saudi Royal 3.7498 Bahrain a Dinar 0.37675 kuwaiti Dinar 0.29725 norwegian Krone. 7,48 danish Krone. 6.76 British Pound. 1.4897 German Mark. 1.7412 Swiss franc 1.454 French franc. 5.91 dutch Guilder 1.9525 belgian franc 35.86 Canadian Dollar 1.3275 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $387.65 an ounce Silver quote $5.46 an ounce . To probe Why minorities Bear Brunt of Federal firings by the Washington Post Washington the Clinton administration has launched an extensive inquiry to find out Why minority employees in the Federal government Are fired at almost three times the rate of White workers. The government wide inquiry will rely on analytical studies focus groups an Agency reviews to look into the disparity. Government statistics released in mid december showed that minority worker were fired at a rate of 10.2 per 1,000 employees while Whites were tired at a rate of 3.7 per 1,00.0 workers. The fiscal 1992data immediately raised concerns about whether minority workers Are treated unfairly and led to Calls for remedial action. By better understanding the difference in discharge rates we can devise actions to ensure continuing fairness for allem Plo yees James b. King director of the office of personnel management said Ina memo sent to All departments and Agency Heads. The office which oversees the civil service employment system will provide agencies with data on their firing rates. The sociology department of Brown University in Providence , will conduct an Independent statistical analysis of the data. King said that because firings usually occur at the operating level where supervisors and employees interact he believes Agency reviews will provide an understanding of Why minorities make up a disproportionate share of  a memo released Friday King also said that the Merit systems Protection Board the Federal Agency that rules on worker appeals of personnel actions also has begun a special study. It will focus on whether there Are attitudinal or other no Merit related causes which May underline the racially disparate imposition of punishments King wrote. Late last year the office of personnel management compiled discharge ate data for fiscal 1989 and 1992. The 1989data, for example showed that minority workers were fired at a rate of 15.4 per 1,000 employees while Whites were fired at a rate of 4.8.after reviewing the data Agency specialists said they believed further Sam pling would reveal similar discharge Pat terns for the last decade. The specialist said they could not explain Why the data showed a disproportionate number of fir Ings of minority workers. Minorities make up 28 percent of the Federal civilian work Force of about 2.2 million. The number of employees fire Dis statistically Small. In fiscal 1992, nearly 12,000 Federal workers were fired with 52 percent listed As minorities. In fiscal 1989, about 16,000 were dismissed 54 percent of them minorities. Although firing disparities existed atall pay fades some of the greatest differences involved Low level and clerical workers government data showed. In the lowest five civil service pay grades usually annual salaries of less than$20,000 minorities were fired at Al most three times the rate of Whites. . To hold secret codes for wiretaps Washington a electronic keys that unlock scrambled Telephone and computer signals Are being placed inthe hands of two Federal agencies the government announced Friday. The decision allows Law enforcement officials to maintain wiretaps. Attorney general Janet Reno said the keys to the technology known As key escrow encryption will be held by the Commerce department s National Institute of standards and technology and the automated systems division of the department of the Treasury. The system uses a microcircuit created by government engineers. Although it is a voluntary system Avail Able to people who need to encode Mes sages the High Security of the system i expected to attract customers. The scrambling technology would be include Din phones and computers by their manufacturers. Procedures for scrambling this Materi Al arc so sophisticated that without a key system like that being instituted the government would be unable to break the codes and read or hear these messages which causes concern among crime fight ers. Reno stressed that the keys will reused Only for lawfully authorized wire taps and that strict procedures Are being set up to guard the keys. Each scrambling device will have two unique numbers or keys that would be needed by authorized government agencies to decode the transmissions. The keys Are 80-bit codes unique to each device. Both keys Are needed to decode the message. When a wiretap is required written re quests will have to be sent to both Agen cies certifying that the wiretap has Bee legally approved. The two components for that particular encryption device would then be provided to permit the messages to be decoded. A jumbo of a Job workers put together an Airbus a300-600 super transporter wings of an Airbus a340 jetliner for the aircraft s construction nicknamed Beluga at a hangar near Toulouse France. The at various Sites. The Beluga is expected to be ready for duty aircraft will be Large enough to carry All sections including the next september. Laid off Nintendo workers to get Naftal Aid by the Seattle Post intelligencer Seattle the . Labor depart ment ruled Friday that 136 employees Laid off by video game giant Nintendo Arete first in the nation to qualify for Bene fits for workers who lose their jobs be cause of the North american free Trade agreement. Just 10 Days after Naftal s implementation Jan. 1, Nintendo Laid off the work ers saying it was shifting some vide game Assembly operations from the Seattle area to Mexico. Nintendo of America a subsidiary of Nintendo co. Ltd. Of Japan denied that the layoffs were connected to the Trad agreement saying it would have moved the operations anyway to Supply its grow ing latin american markets. The labor department said the work ers qualify for assistance under the Naftal transitional adjustment assist Ance program regardless of Nintendo s reasons for shifting production to mexi co. Under the program any workers who lose their jobs because their company moves operations to Mexico or Canad Between dec. 8, 1993, and sept. 30, 1994, qualify for Federal Job search retraining services and extended unemployment benefits. The department is trying to provide Protection and benefits for those workers who Are impacted Agency spokesman Jim Shimizu said. They have met the criteria for the  the Nintendo workers Are the first inthe nation to qualify for the program s benefits said Jeannine Lupton a labor department spokeswoman. Nintendo spokeswoman Perrin Kapla called the ruling  she said the free Trade agreement involving the United states Canada and Mexico had nothing to do with her com Pany s decision to move the jobs South of the Border. Opponents of the treaty maintained that Naftal by eliminating tariffs and other Trade barriers would . Companies to move manufacturing operations to Mexico to take advantage of Low wage workers