European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 1, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 the stars and stripes Money matters wednesday june 1/1994 rtt Oday s rates following arc fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound. 1.55 dutch Guilder .1.79 German Mark. 1.60 greek drachma. 239.1758 note tie 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 currencies austrian schilling.11.5415 Bahrain Dinar. 0.37675 belgian franc. 33.79 British Pound. 1.5105 Canadian Dollar 1.3849 danish Krone. 6.434 dutch Guilder. 1.844 French franc. 5.609 German Mark 1.6402 italian lira .1,590.75 Kuwait Dinar. 0.2975 norwegian Krone. 7.1145 portuguese escudo 170.70 saudi rial 3.75 Spanish peseta 135.30 Swiss franc 1.3991 turkish lira. 30,800.00. Note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other Cutten Clos to the Dollar Gold quote $388 25 an our co. A a Silver quote $5.47 an ounce sources merchants National Bank amp Trust co. The associated press United press International american express to Puffer traveler s checks at arms by Lawrence m. Fisher new York times forget Karl Malden. Soon if you leave Home without it you can just Stop at the nearest atm. American express traveler a checks will be available nationwide in selected Auto rented truer machines the company announced monday. Responding to a growing consumer demand for convenient banking services american express diebold inc. And electronic data systems have jointly developed a technology that lets Banks sell traveler a checks through automated Teller machines. A a number of Sellers of american express traveler a checks have been interested in diversifying their arms a Carl b. Lehmann the president of american express travellers cheques group said in a Telephone interview. A this service will address their customers need for Security and safety when Large sums of Cash for travel expenditures Are  traveler a checks Are now available in a scattering of arms generally run by Banks that sell their own checks but the american express program Aims to make it common practice to get traveler a checks at the Cash machine. Banks save on Teller time plus take in the traveler a Check fees which Are $10 for the average traveler a Check Purchase of $1,000. Customers save time with the typical transaction time reduced from 11 minutes to 70 seconds Lehmann said. Implementing the traveler a Check service has required some new technology in the form of a bar code Reader similar to the scanners used in supermarket checkout lines. The Reader scans each Check dispensed and records the serial numbers. The serial numbers Are then transmitted by the eds atm processing system to american express. In addition to the usual atm transaction receipt the customer will be issued a second receipt that will list the traveler a Check serial numbers and the toll free number for the american express travellers Cheque refund service Center. The receipt also will serve As the customers record if the checks Are lost or stolen. A a it a been real Well received by our customers a said Jeffrey Roesler assistant vice president of electronic banking systems for com Erica Bank in Texas which has had a Pilot machine installed in one Branch for a month. A  without a single problem in the bar code Reader or the traveler a checks a he said. The traveler s Check technology can be added to certain types of existing arms and also will be available in special machines inside Banks dedicated Only to american express transactions the company said. American express said that one Boston and one Hartford conn., Branch of Shawmut Bank would begin testing the service starting today and that san Antonio Federal credit Union in Texas was to test Market the technology in june As Well. A National Roll out on full service arms is planned for later this summer the company said. Currency causes uproar Japan jobless rate off slightly to 2.8% Tokyo apr Japan a unemployment rate stood at a seasonally adjusted 2,8 percent in april Down 0.1 percentage Point from March the government announced tuesday. The management and coordination Agency said the number of unemployed people totalled 1.94 million in april up 23.6 percent from a year ear her but below the 2.08 million people reported in March. Japan a unemployment rate would be higher if calculated by . Or european methods. In Japan people working More than one hour in the last week of the month and All members of the armed forces arc counted As employed. When the nations Economy boomed in the late 1980s, Japan a unemployment rate stood at around 2.5 percent. The employment situation has deteriorated steadily since the Onset of an economic slump in 1990. The Agency remained cautious in predicting whether the employment situation in april represented a sign of revival in the sluggish Economy. Meanwhile the labor ministry said in a separate report that the ratio of Job offers to seekers in april was unchanged from a seasonally adjusted 0.66 in March. The ratio Means there were Only 66 jobs offered for every 100 Job seekers in March and april. Zagreb Croatia apr Croatia marked its Independence from former Yugoslavia on monday by introducing a currency that recalls its fascist past and dedicating a War memorial that has enraged historian the new currency the Kuna has been a sore spot for months because it has the same name As the Money used by Croatia a fascist government in world War ii. And historians Are angered Over president Franjo Tud Jmani a decision to build the War memorial part Monument and part state residence on the site of a treasured medieval Castle. The Kuna replaces the croatian Dinar As the Republic s currency. Dinars can be turned in until the end of the year at a rate of 1,000 dinars to one Kuna. The Kuna a value was pegged at 6.088 to the Dollar. Croatia suffered High inflation in the Wake of its 1991 War against serbian insurgents and the yugoslav army. The War wrecked the country a Economy and left it with thousands of refugees. But politics not economics made introduction of the Kuna controversial. A Croatia will now have to repeat Over and Over again it has nothing to do with the fascist state a said Slavko Goldstein a publisher and prominent member of the jewish Community. The Kuna is Likely to complicate already stalled talks with the serbs by reviving memories of atrocities committed by Croatia a nazi puppet a if tit t a 1 34 567 a a Croatia has introduced its new currency the Kuna which has stirred memories of the former croatian fascist state. The portrait is of politician of Japan Radic who died in 1928. Regime during world War ii Tadjman denied any links to fascism and trumpeted the introduction of the currency As a the final step on the thorny Road to establishment of an Independent Croatia the final act to Mark the National sovereignty of Croatia a Kuna is croatian for Marten an animal whose skins were bartered in roman tires. In Croatia a Short lived medieval kingdom the Kuna became a trading unit. The new banknotes bearing figures from National history were printed in Germany in denominations of five to 1,000 Kunas. Tadjman lit an eternal flame monday at the new Homeland altar of the Monument of croatian Freedom another project that prompted criticism �?o1 lit this flame in the memory of All croat victims from All times a Tadjman wrote in the memorial Book after touring the site in the company of state officials diplomats and family members. Construction of the memorial outraged historians and , but gaining Naftal Aid Charlotte  apr a special package of benefits tied to the North american free Trade agreement is helping some workers in Western North Carolina turn hard Luck into Opportunity. Some 325 workers will lose their jobs As Eaton corp. Moves production from its Plant in Arden to Mexico the first layoffs Are scheduled to begin this week and the Plant will close in november. But under Naff a . Workers who lose their jobs when their employer moves to Mexico or Canada can qualify for additional Juh search and retraining benefits. Alt 325 Eaton production line workers have qualified for the Naftal Trade adjustment assistance benefits. A they Are the largest single group to qualify for the benefits so far. A it s hard to be Happy right now but the employees Are pleased with the Naftal benefits a said the plants manager John Gilbart. A we have Zero turnover Here. Some of our people have been Here for More than 20 years some As Long As 24  the factory makes electronic components such As photoelectric sensors. It has been a local fixture for a Quarter Century and the average length of service for the 325 workers is 15 years. The changes came when Eaton which is based in Cleveland acquired some businesses from Westing House corp. That led to the decision to close the North Carolina Plant and move production to Mexico. A a there a a lot of excess capacity in the new combined company a said Gilbert who has managed Eaton a North Carolina Plant for 17 years. Under the benefits program eligible workers can qualify for funds to supplement their unemployment insurance. Or they can use the funds for training Job searches or relocation. Approval came from the labor department the program is being administered locally by the North Carolina employment Security commission. A this is an important Benefit for those folks who have lost their jobs because of foreign Competition a commission chairwoman Ann q. Duncan said in a statement. A. A Jim Mcmahan manager of the commissions Asheville office which is near the Arden Plant called the. Approval of benefits great news for the workers. �?o1 think it will help them become More competitive a he said a with retraining they should be Able to find jobs at or near their previous pay  a under the program workers can qualify for up to two years of retraining benefits. They also can qualify for up to 52 additional weeks of unemployment benefits while they Are in school. Those benefits Are normally Cut off after 26 weeks