European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 25, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters monday july 25, 1994 today a rates following arc fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound a. 1.57 dutch Guilder .1.74 German Mark .1.56 note the Ralos above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following arc Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign currencies Quot austrian Schilling. 11.2070 Bahrain Dinar 0.37675 belgian franc. .32.88 British Pound 1.5225 Canadian Dollar. 1.3780 danish Krone .1 6.2440 dutch Guilder 1.7930 French franc. 5.4520 German Mark a 1.5932 greek drachma a a a a a 241.80 italian lira 1,584 Kuwait Dinar. 0.29745 norwegian Krone 6.9454 portuguese escudo. 163.46 saudi rial. 3.75 Spanish peseta 131.22 Swiss franc 1.3472 turkish lira .31,200 note figures Are expressed in dollars to Hie British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote .$384.10 an ounce a a. L Silver quote $5.24 an ounce. A sources merchants National Bank amp Trust co. And the associated pres Bush bureaucrats became Happy campers by the Washington Post Washington a Federal workers were much happier about their jobs at the end of the Bush administration just before president Clinton a inauguration than they were three years earlier according to a Survey released last week. The findings by the Merit systems Protection Board showed that 67 percent of Federal workers in late 1992 would have recommended Uncle Sam As an employer up sharply from 49 percent in 1989. The Survey is taken every three years a the 1992 Survey showed that the Federal government is attracting Quality applicants and almost three quarters of the employees surveyed report general Job satisfaction a the Board found a but substantial numbers say work units Are not adequately staffed and agencies Are not doing a Good Job of communicating. Many feel they Are not treated fairly when it comes to promotions awards training and Job assignments and approximately 10 percent said they experienced race sex or age  Many workers expressed reservations about the governments affirmative action plans. A while 52 percent of women and 69 percent of minority group members agreed that affirmative action considerations should be taken into account when choosing among highly qualified candidates. Just .31 percent of no minority males supported the governments affirmative action policy a the report said. Merit Board chairman Benjamin Erdreich said the attitudes of Federal workers should be important to the c in ton administrations Effort to reshape the Federal bureaucracy. A these Are the people who will ultimately determine the Success or failure of re engineering initiatives a Erdreich said in a statement. The. Survey of 13,432 Federal workers was conducted shortly after the 1992 election and before the incoming Clinton team had announced it would Cut the Federal payroll by 252,000 workers. At antitrust probe launched into music video bid by the new York times Washington the Justice department has begun an antitrust inquiry into an Effort by five of the worlds big Gest recording companies to Start a music video Channel that would compete with mtg. The inquiry is believed to Center on whether the companies might prevent. Mtg from using their videos or might charge excessive licensing fees on artists under contract with their studios. But the Case could have broader implications affecting the terms on which music videos arc made available to interactive pay per vie services and Cable channels As varied As Black entertain l ment television and country music television. A. A the five studios Are owned by time Warner inc., Sony corp. Of Japan Thorn Emi of Britain poly ram holding no of the Netherlands and Bertelsmann music group of Germany. Together the five dominate the music recording business. With their combined revenues of nearly $9 billion they have about 80 percent of the $11 billion recording Market worldwide. Time Warner music alone has sales of $3.3 billion. The companies announced their plan on Jan. 31, but the Start of their Channel has been pushed Back from this fall to next year. The Justice departments antitrust division has not yet begun a full scale investigation people familiar with the inquiry say. But several weeks ago it began sending out requests for information. Margaret Wade a spokeswoman for time Warner music confirmed that the five companies had received questions about the proposed Channel but refused to comment on specific issues being raised by the government. A a spokesman for the Justice department would say Only that the department was a inquiring into the possibility of ant competitive practices in the music video  tiny time machine underclothes safes under Par los Angeles a and now the Bare facts from Frederick a of Hollywood certain unmentionables have failed to meet sales expectations forcing a dozen unprofitable stores to close. The retail lingerie Chain said Friday that it will close 12 of its 209 stores in the next year and take a $2.4 million hit against earnings to pay for it. A it will mean a loss for the fourth Quarter a said John a Hatfield Frederick a chief financial officer. A a it a possible that it May mean a loss for the full fiscal year a a sixty workers will lose their jobs Hatfield said. The company did not disclose the targeted stores. Frederick a operates in 39 states and has a mail order division. Rivalry in the intimate apparel business has heated up recently with competitors such As clothes time a women a apparel Chain which plans to open 10 of its lingerie time stores this year As Well As Strong lingerie sales at Chain and discount stores such As Mervyn a target and Kroart. Sales at the specially stores increased from $45.3 million in fiscal 1984 to s128.5 million in 1993. During the first nine months of 1994, the company reported a profit of $2.7 million on sales of $101 million. Its fiscal year ends sept. 3.says the time of the Survey the president elect was committed to cutting 100,000 jobs. The deeper cuts May influence How the workers feel about their working conditions but should not have affected their Job satisfaction ratings said John m. Pal Guta Deputy director of the boards office of policy and evaluation. He said the study would provide a a snapshot at the outset of the Clinton administration of worker attitudes. The Survey found Job satisfaction High even among workers who expected to be affected by Job cuts. According to the Survey 72 percent of the workers reported they were satisfied with their jobs compared with 59 percent in 1983, 68 percent in 1986 and 70 percent in 1989. A contrary to conventional Wisdom employees who said they would be affected by a reduction in Force were Only slightly less satisfied with their jobs than employees who would not be affected a the report said. May not lick the Workings or what is believed to be the worlds tiniest clock arc smaller than the tip of a Pencil. The 0.03-ounce clock can be viewed in Leipzig Germany along with other rare timepieces past and present created by the Swiss firm Jacger la Coultre the exhibit runs through thursday in a clock store on the City a Market Square. Of envelopes Boone Iowa a Jack Nelson runs a company that makes up to 4 million envelopes a Day. But when he has to make a last minute bid on a contract or place a Rush order he has no qualms about sending a fax. A a a fax is not a dirty word a says Nelson president of Heinrich envelope inc a faxes make us More competitive a the facsimile machine however com petes with his envelopes a As do email and new interactive communication systems that let Consumers pay Bills Send letters or shop from Home. Such Competition has grabbed the attention of the entire envelope Industry which has almost $3 billion a year in . Sales at stake. But the Industry believes it has years to prepare As the competing technologies arc refined and developed a the word to keep in mind is a evolution a not revolution in understanding the Impact of electronic Media on envelope volume a said a study by Maynard Benjamin executive vice president of the envelope manufacturers association of America. The study published in april explains that the new technologies will find customers first in the business to business mail Market then move on to correspondence involving private citizens but the competing technologies will have to win the hearts and minds of Consumers before eating into the business of envelope manufacturers. Benjamin says 36 plants were closed from 1980 to 1990. There now Are 205 Domestic envelope manufacturers with about 420 plants. For those planning to stay in the business costly investments in new manufacturing equipment Are needed. And beyond technology envelope markers worry that increasing postal rates Are hurting their business. A we  biggest Challenge to our Industry is not new technology but the Cost of postage a said Gerald Mahoney chairman of mail Well corp. A Sharp Rise in postage would make a junk mail a less competitive reducing demand for envelopes