European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 13, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                R Page 18 the stars and stripes Money matters Friday May 13,1994 i a today states following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound .1.53 dutch Guilder German Mark 1.63 greek drachma. Not the Rales above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar. Some european Money markets were closed thursday for the Observance of ascension Day following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign currencies / -. / a \ -. Austrian Schilling Bahrain Dinar belgian franc British Pound 1.498 Canadian Dollar 1.382 danish Krone dutch Guilder. 1.8715 French franc 5.7155 German Mark 1.6667 italian lira 1,598.25 Kuwait Dinar a norwegian Krone. A portuguese escudo. Saudi rial Spanish peseta Swiss franc 1.425 1 a  turkish lira note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $382.15 an ounce. Silver quote $5.39 an ounce ,. Sources merchants National Bank 4 Trust co., the associated press United press International new York Exchange 3. New York up a the 15 most Active stocks in new York Slock Exchange composite trading on wedge Day. Stock Tele Fonsoe my Philip Morris Rwjr Nabisco hid general motors Conner Perl part Western digital Wal Mart stores Glaxo holdings Chrysler corp coca cola co Dupont 4 co Sce corp bldg Johnson amp Johnsn att company a Merck amp co inc Salet 6.239.100 4.203.000 4.139.200 3.480.500 3.464.100 3,108,400 3,040,600 2.431.500 2.379.000 1.617.100 1,797,700 1,773,900 1.773.100 1.761.200 1,760,800 last 54% 47 % 5% 54 % 12% 13% 24 16% 45% 40 58%. 14% 42% 52% 29% net chg. 0 1-1% off 194 unch oft1%off 194 off1% off % Ctm off up up off w up1% of it off a e american Exchange 1 new York up a the 10 most Active stocks in exch american Stock change composite trading wednesday. Slock sales lest a cation inc a. 2,741,400 1% a expo rate co la. A 1,355.100 1 5-1b Echo say mines 1,191,000 10% Quot Royal Oak mines 1,167,900 4 1-16 Chambers Dev a -. 968 100 3 Viacom inc b 838,800 28 Energy service 613,200 3% a circa pharm inc 544,000 9% Alc common corp 529,400 29 Wax corp 471,400 17% net chg. Up 1-16 off 1-16. Off % unch off %. Up % off 1-16. Oft %. Up % of1% c Dow Jones Dow Jones closing Range  new York up rages on wednesday a Low close change 30 industrials 3678,42 3609,71 3629.04 off 27,37 20transport. 1599.21 1561,25 1 567.65 off 2605 15 utilities 183.83 176.84 178.55 Oft 5 01 65 stocks 1285-89 1256,67 1263.56 off 16 41 More Banks found to charge those who receive bad checks Washington a your Friend or customer writes you a Check. You Deposit it in Good Faith but it. Bounces. Who gets penalized everybody but the  increasing number of Banks Are charging fees to both the unwitting recipients of bounced checks and those who write them according to a study released thursday by the . Public interest research group. \ Quot it is outrageous that Banks Are gouging innocent victims Over a billion dollars while paying us pennies for interest and earning record profits a said de Mierzwinski the watchdog group s consumer program director. Eighty five percent of Banks surveyed by the group reported charging a Quot Deposit item return fee up from 35 percent in 1991.  v v a. The fees charged by the 295 Banks queried by Telephone in 30 states ranged from $1.25 to $20 and averaged $5.29, the group said. Fees assessed the writers of bounced checks averaged $19.09. De Alwood of the american Bankers association the Industry a largest Trade group said Deposit item return fees Are a reasonable Way to recoup the Cost of handling bounced checks. And it serves As an incentive for retailers and other Check recipients to take precautions such As thoroughly scrutinizing Check writer so identification he said. Quot retailers Are the first line of defense. Its incumbent on them to know their customer arid get sufficient data when they accept a Check a he said. Quot we just can to have an open system the bite of bounced checks a some average fees charged by Banks to unwitting we Hgt i recipients of bad checks in v a a y i -4 v a 1 Arizona $1.81 North Carolina ,$3,13 a California $4.83 a new Jersey ,. Pm Colorado $2.16 / new Mexico i amp is Connecticut ,$6.60/ new York a $4,2$/ / Florida. $4.40 / Ohio Georgia $3.10 / "7/oregon$3.61 indiana$2.63 a  Illinois. $6.70 / / Taw Essee / a $4.03 Massachusetts $5.10texas <7 $3,17/maryland $4.88 Virginia. A $4.70-/ Maine 1 $4.50 Vermont $&0o r a a Michigan $3.21 Washington $3,50 Minnesota Quot $3,10. Wisconsin. $e,73missouri$5.71 \ r quot7/7 source . Public interest research group where people write As Many bad checks As they like. Quot there has to be safeguards. Quot this is one of  Alwood said the fees found in the Survey Are higher than those assessed in practice because Many Banks negotiate the fee typically charging commercial customers $1 to $2. Few retailers complain he said. Mierzwinski who wrote the groups report with accounting professor Janice Shields of Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania called on Congress to ban Deposit item return fees and investigate the phenomenon of rising Bank fees in general. They said Banks Cost of returning a Check was $1.50 and estimated that Banks a amps this year will earn a profit of $1.1 billion on processing returned items up from $740 million two years ago. The research group recommended that Bank customers hit with the fee ask their Branch manager to waive it especially if its an infrequent occurrence or join a credit Union. Rep. Joseph p. Kennedy ii d-mass., chairman of the House banking consumer subcommittee called Deposit item return fees a clearly an unjustified charge to  a a it a unfair for Banks to penalize customers who have no knowledge that their deposited checks Are bad a he said. A Consumers should t have to pay a Price for what they done to  the subcommittee will conduct a hearing on Bank fees next month he said. Coffee producers Force prices up Bogota Colombia a High profit drug crops and open like tactics for keeping prices up Are making Coffee Good and expensive to the last drop. Coffee prices arc rising on International trading floors and Consumers will soon pay More a perhaps As much As 7 percent a at supermarkets and Coffee shops for jamaican Blue Mountain and other varieties experts say. A pc often is becoming scarce a Gustavo Gaviria the president of one of colombians biggest Coffee exporting companies said in Between sips of Java in his company s boardroom. This week in London the world s Coffee trading Center Coffee hit $1.04 a Pound the highest Price since june 12, 1989. The jump was caused in part by Coffee producing countries using tactics like open the Oil Cartel to impose production ceilings and restrict supplies. The association of Coffee producing countries decided in mid-1993 that its Coffee for Export was 46a million tons this year it was Down to 41,6 million tons according to Industry statistics. Production has fallen because Coffee growing became unprofitable. Colombia s verdant Andes where Coffee plantations once stretched to the horizon in some areas became dotted with cattle ranches and poppy and coca plantations a for production of heroin and cocaine a As Coffee growers turned to other crops. Violence has also contributed to the drop. Coffee production in nations like Rwanda has been wiped out because of members would retain 20 percent of ?f5e.their Coffee crops to Force up prices ��?os5 and a that plummeted after 1989, dropping ?00 att As Low As 40 cents a Pound in 1991. Armed Indian rebellion this year.  Gaviria predicted Consumers Wilt be Thi Oon a h re a paying around 7 percent More for cof diced. The 1990 worldwide Harvest of fee within a week or two. Coffee is becoming  a Gustavo Gaviria Colombia Coffee exporter historians civil War buffs attack Disney Park plan by the new York times Washington a prominent historians and authors with a special interest in the civil War have formed a group to oppose the Walt Disney  planned theme Park in a Region of Northern Virginia of particular historical significance. A we have so Little left that s authentic and real a said David Mccullough a biographer and historian. A to replace what we have with plastic contrived history mechanical history is almost  the group protect historic America said wednesday that the 3,000-acre site for Quot Disney a american in the Hills and Farmland Between Washington and the Blue Ridge mountains would be situated within an hours drive of 13 historic towns 16 civil War Battle Sites and 17 historic districts. As a result it said the theme Park planned As a tribute to american history with a Faux civil War Village and fort among other attractions would overpower the Region a and with More than just its own Complex of hotels shops and other amenities. Standing near enlarged photographs showing the Urban sprawl that grew around Disneyland in Anaheim calif., and Disney world in Orlando fla., Mccullough and others said they feared the Region around the theme Park would be flooded with motels restaurants filling stations and souvenir shops. Quot once this commercial Blitzkrieg comes a Mccuis Louglin said a it will never be the same  the general manager for Disney America Mark Pacala responded from his office in Gainesville a. Quot i think its truly unfortunate that a group of historians Many we Admire and respect would prejudge Disney America drawing incorrect conclusions about our historical Content and the potential Impact on the surrounding Community a Pacala said