European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 03, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters tuesday january 3,1995 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 British Pound. 1.60 dutch Fullder 1.69gerrrton Snork 1.52 note the rates Abov apply within the hos country. Flouret a expressed in Dollar to the by tilth 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 1". .v.,---- austrian Schilling. 10.9060 bal Iraln Dinar 0.377belgian franc .31.987 British Pound. 1.5775canadian Dollar. 1.3437 danish Krone. 6.0883dutch Guilder. 1.7180 French franc. 5.359german Mark. 1.5477 greek drachma. 241.5italian lira. 1,625 Kuwait Dinar .0.2993 norwegian Krone. 6.7685portuguese escudo. 159.1 saudi Royal. 3.7506spanish peseta. 131.82 Swiss franc. 1.2835 turkish lira. 38,700 not Fly lure arc expressed in Dorwart to in Brit ii Pound other currencies to the Dollar Odd quote $394.75 an ounce so Var quote $5.62 an ounce source merchant National Bank 4 Trust co. Aneth a trocht Tipre Apelle wins Over Washington a a Blind woman won a fight Friday with Smith Barney one of the nation s largest investment firms. From now of Harriet Afeld will get her monthly statements in Large  Barney under an agreement with the Justice department said it will offer All its visually impaired customers Large print statements and pay Afeld $l300 compensation. Irene Bowen Deputy chief of the jus Tice department s Public Access Section said Afeld of Clearwater fla., had complained to the investment firm last year that she could not see the statement s print which was smaller than that of a Normal typewriter. Smith Barney rejected her request for larger Type so Afeld filed a complaint under the americans with disabilities act. 1 Albany . A Woodstock did t bring the Windfall everyone in the area was hoping. Four months after the big concert made household names of mud people and nine Inch nails the Legal wrangling Over Money has begun. The town of Sau Gerties where the event was held is suing promoters and a group of disgruntled vendors is considering doing the same. While some Are disappointed that Woodstock did t make them Rich others Are Happy with what they be gotten and consider the Long Range benefits to the Hudson Valley area incalculable we probably got Over 1 million Dok jars Daniel Alfonso Chain Nari of the Ulster county legislature said about the county s take. I would have liked it to be 2 million it s better than1, but at least million is better than nothing Woodstock ventures and poly Rani diversified entertainment the promotion team behind the August festival has t said How much Money it made. The full accounting May be As much As a year away after sales of subsidiary product such As the compact disc Book and film Are figured in said Woodstock ventures spokeswoman Crystal Zevon the promoters Haven t even said How Many tickets were sold. The latest Esti mate is about 163,000 of the 250,000 that were available. At least As Many Gate _ a-. Everything that we promised we delivered. I Don t know on what basis they could be unhappy a a. In Michael Lang,".r a " Woodstock ventures crashers As paying customers attended authorities say. Vil for Ulster county Saugerties and the state of new York profits came from sales tax Revenue and negotiated deals with the promoters. V in return for permission to hold in concert promoters agreed to give Sau Gerties a $5.05 Cut of each $135 ticket sold. The town has already receive about $750,000, or the proceeds from about 150,000 tickets. But Saugerties has sued the promoters saying a breakdown in Security prevented the Sale of even More tickets. The Tow wants a state court to order a total payment of $1.26 million or what Saugerties would have received if the concert sold out. Ulster county received $1.40 per ticket and a portion of the sales tax  collection of sales taxes at the con Cert was difficult because a scrip system used to keep track of sales fell apart and Many vendors just dealt in Cash. Some vendors complained that their Booths were overrun and goods were stolen. A total of $529,644 in taxes was collected at the site said spokesman Karl Felsyn of the state tax department. Ulster county s share was $250,957 and the state gets the rest he said. Felsen said the state did t try to let expectations get too High and Only broadly estimated that it would get be tween $200,000 and $1 million in reve but Ulster county treasurer Lewis Kirschner said i think we got  the county however has no plans to sue. Michael Lang partner in Woodstock ventures conceded that sales tax reve Nues at the show were lower than expected but he said county officials should consider the hundreds of fans who bought Beer and food at nearby stores. Lang said officials should be thrilled not angry about what they got. Everything that we promised we delivered he said. I Don t know on what basis they could be  several former Woodstock vendors have joined together and hired a lawyer to press their Case most vendors lost Money with the losses totalling More than $1 million said David smythe who sold natural foods at the festival. Hit summer movies los Angeles a propelled by the lion King and Forrest Gump two of the highest grossing movies Ever Hollywood sold a record $5.4 billion Worth of movie tickets in 1994. _ the record tops the j5j5 billion sold in 1993, and was set despite several late season failures including Junior the Page master and Mary Shelley s Frankenstein. Summer was chock full of hits said William Kar Tozian president of the National association of Thea Ter owners noting that eight summer releases sur passed $100 million in ticket sales. And there was a depth of titles All  ten movies were expected to finish 1994 grossing More than $100 million and Many of those from the mask to True lies Are enjoying Strong returns Over seas. Several holdovers from 1993, Schindler s list and mrs. Doubtfire among them made most of their Money in 1994.the association using an average ticket Price of movie tickets the average Price for a movie ticket was $4.15 Las year including prices at discount Heaters and bargain matinees. Ticket sales Are up. As the Chart below indicates. _   1994 1989-.-. Is a. A re in $4,15, estimates 1.3 billion tickets were bought last year Topping 1989 s record 1.26 billion admissions. The average ticket Price was calculated by including the prices at discount Heaters and bargain matinees. In most major cities adult ticket prices Are $7 or More for evening shows. The record grosses come As the average production of chef sales up record Cost of a Hollywood film approaches $30 million. It takes another $14.1 million for marketing. Several 1994 films including Wyatt Earp and i la do anything struggled to recoup costs. Each Cost about $50 million to produce. Forrest Gump on the other hand with $297.2 Mil lion in ticket sales through last tuesday is the fourth highest grossing movie of All time. It trails Only . The extra terrestrial Jurassic Park and Star wars on the Domestic Box office charts. The lion King is right behind Forrest Gump with $295.1 million to Date. The year s other top 10 movie were in order True lies the Flintstones the Santa clause Clear and present danger Speed the mask Maverick and interview with the Vampire. 1.3 billion 1.26 billion. While local Box office perform acc often can predict a film s Overall Appeal some Domestic washouts 199 3 s Kevin Costner film a perfect world for exam ple play Well overseas. Last year s Speed grossed $121.2 million in North America and $148.1 million in the rest of the world