European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 20, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes Money matters tuesday december 20,1994 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 british1 Pound. 1.60 dutch Guilder 1.72german Mark 1.54 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 rate that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies. " austrian Schilling. 11.084 Bahrain Dinar. 0.377 belgian franc 32.395 British Pound 1.5620 Canadian Dollar. 1.3937 danish Krone .6.1755 dutch Guilder. 1.761 French franc. 5.43 German Mark. 1.5734 greek drachma. 242.85 italian lira. 1,645.50 Kuwait Dinar .0.29975 norwegian Krone. 6.8715 portuguese escudo. 161.62 saudi Royal .3.7502 Spanish peseta. 132.30 Swiss franc. 1.3315 turkish lira. 37,830.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $379.50 an ounce Silver quote $4.79 an ounce sources merchants National Bank & Trust co. And the associated press Gas prices dip As dealers await clean air fuel los Angeles a Gas prices dropped nearly a Penny a gallon during the past two weeks because of lower crude Oil prices and retail Price reductions to make Way for reformulated clean air fuel an analyst said sunday. The latest Lundberg Survey of 10,000gasoline stations nationwide showed the average pump Price including All grades and taxes was 119.94 cents per gallon a 0.95 cent drop from the dec. 2 average of120.89 cents. The latest Lundberg Survey was take Friday. At self service pumps the average per gallon Price of regular unleaded was 113.11 cents Middle Grade unleaded was123.83 cents Premium unleaded was 131.95 cents and leaded regular was 117.59 cents. At full service pumps regular unleaded was 147.75 cents Middle Grade unleaded was 156.38 cents Premium unleaded was 163.65 cents and leaded regu Lar was 140.83 cents. Firms unwrap ethics rules on giving and receiving Boston a is that bottle of wine you got from a customer a Token of appreciation or 9 Subtle attempt to gain influence such questions Are getting a lot More attention in corporate boardrooms especially now during the height of the gift giving season. While politicians have struggled forbears with the political correctness of giving and receiving business people an their employers Are getting More and More concerned about it. Some firms have adopted Zero Toler Ance policies prohibiting the giving and receiving of gifts. Others Are adopting sliding Scales allowing the Exchange of say pen and Pencil sets but not item valued at More than $50. The concern is that every quid has a quo " said Peter Mccanch vice presi Dent of Commonwealth films the bos ton based company just released an educational film spelling out guidelines for giving and receiving gifts a series of corporate Legal counsels asked common wealth to make the movie. The government has strict rules on gift giving. Procurement officials Are not allowed to accept gifts of value defined As anything Worth More than $10. Other Federal employees Are not allowed to accept presents Worth More than $20 each or accept More than $50 Worth of gifts from the same company in a Calendar year.-, but in the corporate Arena rules vary. Companies with defense divisions ten to be conservative since they Deal closely with the Federal government and its strict ethics Laws. Others especially those in the entertainment advertising and Public relations Fields tend to be More Liberal. Laura Nash a lecturer at Boston University and author of the 1993 business ethics Book Good intentions aside said businesses began examining their gift giving practices in 1977, when the foreign corrupt practices act was  Law sparked by questions about payments . Corporations made to overseas governments outlawed pay rents to both foreign and Domestic Polit ical officials for business  said the discussion has been renewed As companies have gone global and had to confront different business customs in different countries. The Best Way to resolve problems Nash said is for a company to develop strict set of guidelines. Peggy Williams an executive at Tan dem computers inc. In Cupertino calif., said her company sends letters to sup pliers each year telling them not to Send gifts. If they do they risk losing contract with tandem. A framed copy of the com Pany policy hangs in the main lobby. We re concerned that people Are try ing to influence a decision. We re also concerned with creating the appearance that somebody is trying to influence a decision said Williams who is also chair woman of the ethics committee for the National association of purchasing Man agers. V a when suppliers give gifts anyway Tan dem tries another solution. It donates the gift to Charity. Then it makes the largely symbolic gesture of asking the supplier to credit tandem for the value of the gift on the next Bill it sends to the company. We d rather have the companies spend tie Money on improving their product and reducing their costs Wil Liams said. Our letter usually makes the  saudis open Burger Mecca Manama Bahrain a the world s newest Mcdonald s is off limits to most of the world but it s not lacking potential customers. The fast food Chain opened an outlet last week in Mecca saudi Arabia the holiest City of islam. Only muslims Are Al Lowed to enter Mecca. The construction of the Mcdonald Shad been kept under wraps and was announced by the company s vice president for International operations Roger a Lexell at a news conference in Bahrain. Mecca is being developed by the government of King fahd into an ultramodern City it caters year round to hundreds of thousands of muslims who make the pilgrimage to the grand mosque audits Kaaba shrine toward which 1 billion muslims around the world turn in prayer five times a Day. Mecca is most Active at the annual Hajj or pilgrimage when about 2 million mus lims gather in the  used at the Mecca Mcdonald s Branch As in other Muslim countries will be halal from animals slaughtered according to islamic rules. A couple of adventurous youngsters size up a shiny new train that was unveiled last Bahrain s first Mcdonald s is to open week in Pratten Switzerland. The Plush City night line train will soon be running thursday followed next week by one in from Zurich Switzerland to Vienna Austria and from Vienna to Cologne Germany. Dubai United Arab emirates. Toying with a new train blockbuster throws High tech Block party Albuquerque . A blockbuster entertainment corp., the company that made take Home movies a nationwide phenomenon has developed an attraction it Hopes will get people off their sofas handout of the House. The company was set monday to open its first blockbuster Block party an indoor entertainment Complex with High tech games for adults. Blockbuster officials said the Complex will be aimed at the 18-to-45-year-old Market an age group for which few High tech attractions have been designed. The Complex Cost $5 million to $8 million to build the same Price As a second prototype to open next month in Indi Anapolis. The concept was born last year with Bill Burns and Fred Brooks president and vice president respectively of blockbuster s entertainment Center division. Veter ans of Walt Disney co., they figured huge theme Narks could t survive in midsize cities with populations of250,000 to 1 million. There Aren t Many markets with the population base tourists and climate that let you do a major theme Park Brooks said. But there Are always secondary and tertiary markets that have enough population to do  in Albuquerque that something is the Block party. The Complex is housed in a 40,000-Square-foot build ing and once you enter it looks like a City Street at dusk. On one Side there s a fake manhole cover with steam pouring out. Part of the other Side looks like a fire station with simulated flames shooting out the win Dows. Among its High tech attractions Are a motion Simula Tor ride in which participants strap themselves to chairs that move following the bumps and twists of an action film shown on a multilevel screen. There Are also a virtual reality Section a High tech Maze patterned after an amusement Park fun House and a game room designed to make players feel As if they re inside a huge pinball machine. In addition the Complex has a restaurant a room for private parties and a gift shop. Adults looking for More traditional activities like Bowling miniature Golf Anco swimming won t find them Here. If you bore people in a local Market arid Don t give them a reason to come Back you re in trouble Brooks said. That s Why we staved away from conventionalthings.". In keeping with its High tech orientation customers won t pay for rides and games with Cash. They la buy fun cards for any Dollar amount they want then slide the card through a machine that will tally purchases Inan electronic account