European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters tuesday october 11,1994 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 7 British Pound. 1.63dutchgullder. 1.69 German Mark. 1.51 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. V  o austrian Schilling. 10.9075 Bahrain Dinar. 0.37675 belgian franc .31.85 British Pound. 1.5820 Canadian Dollar. 1.3469 danish Krone. 6.0636 dutch Guilder. A French franc. 5.2887 German Mark. 1.5455 greek drachma. 235.28 italian lira. 1,573kuwait Dinar. 0.29750 norwegian Krone. 6.7390 portuguese escudo.158.14 saudi rial. 3.7520 Spanish peseta. 128.35 Swiss franc. 1.2825 turkish lira. 34,260 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $390.80 a ounce Silver quote $5.58w an ounce sources merchants National Bank & Trust co. And the associated press scene Moscow apr Slava Novikov could t care less about last Friday s . Premiere of the multimillion Dollar adventure film the specialist. After All he saw the new Sylvester Stallone blockbuster in the Comfort of his living room inmate september. It was of. Not his Best Noviko said last week he Sells copies of the video for 14,000 rubles $4.80 from his Kiosk outside the Entrance to pizza Hutin Central Moscow. Pirated videotapes of the film hit rus Sian shops sept. 29, Over a week be Foremost americans began lining up to and mire Stallone s world famous Muscles inthe Warner Brothers release. Novikov expressed Surprise Friday that american viewers had not yet seen the film. I guess our pirates Are getting smarter he chuckled. Maybe he s right. The film is the first . Movie by a major producer to appear in pirate form in Russia before its . Debut said Gennady Josefa Zichaus Public relations manager for the Russia distributor gemini films. The specialist which also stars Sharon Stone was taped during a preview show ing with High Quality video equipment then sent to Moscow and dubbed int russian by skilled pirates Josefa Zichaus said. Josefa Zichaus was not impressed wit the Quality of the video. But at least the camera used in the taping was relatively steady unlike in the pirate video of Las year s Jurassic Park. The Jurassic Park video was taped with a hand held camera in a movie theater and during a suspenseful Chase scene the camera slipped and filmed the theater ceiling. The Quality was not bad. There were no feet Cut off or distorted Heads in this one Novikov said recalling common complaints about pirated videos. Buyout decision by Mike Causey v Washington Post Washington Between now and March 31, about 40,000 of the 378,000 Federal workers who Are eligible for regu Lar or Early retirement will get a buyout offer / ,."most of them will be workers making $35,000 or More a year who Are in accounting procurement or budget positions or who Are managers and supervisors in Headquarters operations. If 40,000 workers take the october through March buyouts 1.5 million White Collar workers won t be taking them. Buyouts will be a Flash in the pan for the folks left behind. In Many in stances those who remain on the payroll will be around for several decades. After the buyouts government May be better or worse. But it definitely will be differ. As agencies downsize eliminating 12 of every 100 jobs during the next couple of years most workers will be asked to do More with less help. Some people will get promoted Many workers will be transferred As agencies reorganize or consolidate. Some will be fired during a reduction in Force. Survivors of the buyouts most peo ple will be operating in a smaller fed eral establishment that is being re invented by the Clinton administration. The new government is supposed to eliminate red tape and layers of management while insisting on diversity in the work Force. /. Of  /. " whether you go with the buyouts or stay in the new bureaucracy you have some Homework to do. J buyouts Are definitely not for every one. But if you Are sure you want one of the payments a maximum of $25,000 before deductions you will need to move quickly. Past buyouts in almost every Agency have been oversubscribed meaning that a lot of people who decided to accept offers acted too late. If you Are sure you want a buyout and you Are offered one run Don t walk to the person Nel office. By v. A a would be buyout takers might want Totake a look at the new 33-Page fact Book your buyout offer published by the Federal employees news digest. It costs$7 and can be obtained by calling 703v 648-9551. 6 v 7 the fact Book tells what a buyout is How it differs from Severance pay which can be Worth up to a year s salary who in t eligible for a buyout How much the penalty for Early retirement a 2 percent pension reduction for each year the Reti ree is younger than 55 is and what to do with Thrift savings plan accounts. If you Are part of the vast majority who will not be offered or taking a buyout the question is what next what does downsizing and reinvention mean to iridis Vida employees Albert g. Young a retired Commerce department manager has written a Book called downsizing the . Government. Young says there is much waste but Little fraud in the government and he applauds efforts to streamline the establishment. /.-.,  he in to however is a cheerleader for Clinton advisers. He believes they Are on the right track with Many of their revisions but Are guilty of painting an Overly Bleak picture and of sometimes overstating problems to make their Point. Young thinks that the government can be fixed but that government workers should t be terrorized in the process. The Book costs $19.95 and can be obtained by calling 703 338-2925. Double debut two concept cars the Ludo left and the modes were unveiled by on gasoline or electricity. The Ludo which can be trans by the French automaker Renault at the Paris Auto show formed into a station Wagon also is an environmentally Friendly which opened thursday. The modes can be run interchange a vehicle. Denver s new electric train system hits the rails Denver a sparkling White train cars who shed Over electric track last week As the City unveiled its new Light rail system that will carry about 14,000 people a Day through the Down town area. Gov. Roy Romer mayor Wellington Webb and 32 people selected for the inaugural trip sped in separate cars to a downtown ceremony Friday where hundreds of people waited. Later the car were opened to the Public for a weekend of free rides. It was smooth and quiet Webb said after stepping Oft the train. We really have to Start getting motorists accustomed to looking left and right because they May hot be Able to see it or hear  nine cars have smashed into the train during testing. The 5.3-mile Light rail system is officially a demonstration project. But Webb said he Hopes to Lay tracks to other parts of the six county area and eventually to the new Denver International Airport. The $116.5 million system under consideration for at least 20 Vears was much anticipated in a City that is still waiting for the Pew Airport to open. Problems with a High tech baggage system have delayed the opening for months. The rail cars filled quickly after the Cere Mony which included music from an or Chestra and a purple headed Mascot resembling a mouse with Butterfly wings. Senior citizens broke into wide grins As they saw modern incarnations of the old Denver trolleys. The old trolley service was discontinued in 1950. At noon the Light rail cars were so crowded with strap hangers that they resembled new York City subway cars. The capacity of each Light rail train is 225. I decided when they started building the track that i would ride on the first train said Lee Haller 85, of Denver. Starting monday trips were to Cost 50cents or $1, depending on the time of Day