Wednesday, March 19, 1986
Page 2
Daily Nebraskan
ri
By The Associated Press
. ' jnlr' . -.
gesaoooyricea i.
New design aims to thwart counterfeiters
WASHINGTON The government
announced Tuesday design changes in
U.S. currency aimed at thwarting coun
terfeiters. The changes are the culmination of
several years of study into ways to make
U.S. currency more difficult to dupli
cate on sophisticated new copying
machines.
The Treasury Department considered
and rejected such radical changes as
using a different color for U.S. money
other than green. The changes an
nounced were considered so minor that
they are not likely to be noticed unless
the currency is studied carefully.
Treasury Secretary James Baker, who
announced the changes, said produc
tion of the new currency would begin in
about one year, with the first new notes
entering circulation in 15 to 18 months.
First time in 71 years
Trade debt makes
The main change announced was the
addition of a clear, polyester thread
woven into the paper. The thread,
which will run vertically on the left
border of U.S. currency, will be visible
to the eye when held up to the light but
cannot be reproduced by copiers, the
department said.
The other change will involve print
ing of the words "United States of
America" repeatedly around the por
trait in such small type that copiers
will not be able to reproduce the tiny
letters.
The department's changes, even
though minor, were not likely to calm
jitters among people who are suspi
cious of any changes in U.S. currency.
Ron Paul, a former Republican con
gressman from Texas, has questioned
u.s
WASHINGTON The deficit in the
country's broadest measure of foreign
trade hit a record $117.7 billion last
year, confirming i hat the United States
became a net debtor for the first time
in 71 years, the government said
Tuesday.
The Commerce Department said the
deficit in the country's current account,
which includes trade in merchandise
and in services, surged 9.6 percent
above the previous record deficit of
$107.4 billion in. 1984.
As recently as 1981, the country
enjoyed a surplus in its current account
because earnings on American invest
ments overseas, the services category,
were enough to erase perennial mer
chandise trade deficits.
"But the deficits in the current"
account have steadily mounted since
1982. This has had the adverse side
effect of pushing the country into the
status of a net debtor nation.
Simply put, that means foreigners
now own more U.S. investments than
Americans owe in foreign investments,
34 Nfbrttka Union
ft St., Lincoln. Ntb.
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something that had not occurred since
1914.
The final accounting of the country's
status as a net debtor will not occur
until later this year, but Commerce
Department analysts said the figures
released Tuesday indicate that a small
Given current trends,
the United States is
likely to become the
world's largest debtor
country sometime this
year ....
investment surplus of $28.3 billion at
the end of 1 984 was wiped out last year,
leaving the country $56.7 billion in
debt to the rest of the world.
This figure, if it stands up to revi
sions, means that the United States is
now the third largest debtor country in
the world, behind Brazil at $103.5 bil
lion and Mexico at $97.7 billion.
the government's motives. He contends
that the real reason the design of the
money is being changed is to find out
where people have hidden away large
reserves of currency.
But the Treasury Department insisted
again that it had no intention of forcing
people to exchange existing currency
for the new currency once it is in
circulation.
"Both the new currency and existing
currency will be legal tender and will
circulate side by side," the department
said in a statement announcing the
changes. "Old currency will be removed
from circulation in the normal course
of currency processing at the Federal
Reserve Banks and branches. It will
remain legal tender as long as it is in
circulation."
et debtor
Given current trends, the United
States is likely to become the world's
largest debtor country sometime this
year, and some economists are predict
ing the total debt could hit $400 billion
before it begins to improve.
These pessimistic projections are
based on expectations that the country
will run current account deficits for
some time to come.
"We are a net debtor and we are
going to becQme an even bigger net
debtor," said Roger Brinner, an econo
mist at Data Resources Inc. He pre
dicted that the current account deficit
of $117.7 billion in 1985 will swell to.
$126 billion this year before beginning
to decline slightly in 1987 as the favor
able impact of a lower value of the
dollar helps to reduce imports and
boost American exports.
Foreign investment in the United
States at the end of 1985 totaled an
estimated $1,009 trillion while U.S.
investment overseas totaled an esti
mated $952.9 billion, giving the deficit
total of $56.7 billion.
At,
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AIDS tCi-ZTtC.l
. LINCOLN Atka.tlC2dacta3 .
of thent positively, to an elicit by
the Nclradka Coalition for Gay ar.J
Lesthn Civil Rights and the Ne
braska AIDS preset to estaMh.h a
health care rrferrcl Kst, a ccJIUon
SPOkcf'ltUll h
" Abut;! 123 m r 1 pe: Maly,
akir;: ft.r rad L;,V;.:...ticn or
if3 they wouH be v.;:iir.;j to treat
gay or k-Jaz: patient.!, John Taylor
Needy 4,C:D ItiS'-re wore sent
early this ncr.th to physicians and
dentibU thro;:;,aut th? sizt ask
ing them to f.U out a form Locating
whether they would be comfortable
' treating gay or lesbian patients and
non-gay patients who may be at risk
for AIDS.
i The names cf doctors and dent-'
ists to be included to the referral
list will be turned ever to state and
county health departments and used
to direct patients, to sympathetic
physicians,
Marcos documents .
- WASHINGTON The United
States on Tucsiay i'o the Philip
pine giA'cmrcr.t a t-- containing
j -
crs vt-w nc."i:.'t.l in thtir
fefJi s hilvt yei r's cc;.t vtUlon for
's':l'$ f.::.i"annc:,r.cij TuvS'!r.y'a
f;.ur,l:;icn to n a: ".Lo c:s 1 regard
cuto'rr J;r i-er r:a tf their pro
fessien, e:?cci.!!y the-"1! v.ho do
innovative wc: h.
Tha Tcac! ; h i icz Education
FourJitioa's fsiicut is Lrbara
Jtor-.nt-.:, rt.r.i.. r t)U Chrh-.ta
UcAiWik, iiC'-v i ; f r. lir;c-1 to te the
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i:;ur.bMs r-fthw c'-vttle (lillengcr
liter l',l.:.'S cnJ.: Z:,
- WAS'lINCTON The U.S. govern-
metit is engaged in a campaign of
"disir-furmstion" aimed at prevent
ing technical information about
" several wet-pons systems from reach
ing the Sovin Union, Aviation Week
& Space Technology nagozinp re
ported this week. .
The magazine reported that the
program, initiated by the Defense
Departmertt and Central Intelligence
Agency, hoj been under v,ay for two
years and applies both Jo aircraft
and we "pon3 develcrnicr.t projects. -n
1 The-w v;as no ime d fxt? response
to the rcrrt frr.a ths rcr.tason.
u
. agrees to acid iraiim
prog
ira mm
WASHINGTON - The United States,
under pressure from the Canadian
government, agreed Tuesday to begin a
long-range program to combat future
acid rain pollution threatening the
environment of both countries.
Although officials were still working
on the wording of an;announcement to
be made today, the; Associated Press
learned the United States had agreed
in principle to endprse a report pre
pared for both governments.
The long-awaited U.S. statement
appeared to represent a triumph for
Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulro
ney, who made the issue the key item
on his agenda for his meetings this
week with President Reagan.
A senior U.S. official said Reagan
and Mulroney also agreed to sign a
five-year extension of the North Ameri
can Air Defense agreement.
And the Canadians announced that
Mulroney had agreed to participate in
the construction and operation of a
manned space station that the United
States wants to put into orbit in the
mid-1990s.
The U.S. official, briefing reporters
at the White House after Reagan and
Mulroney opened their two days of
summit talks, said the leaders reached
agreement on the sensitive acid rain
issue in their first few minutes of pri
vate conversation.
One Canadian official said Mulroney
told aides after his discussion with
Reagan that he was "encouraged" by
the president's position on the acid
rain question. Asked if Mulroney was
told what Reagan would say today, the
official would say only, "I guess he has
some impression."
Presidential spokesman Larry
Speakes said those details would be
announced at the conclusion of the
talks today, when each leader would
make public remarks.
Canadian officials, however, said use
of the word "agreement" was mislead
ing, saying "there is still some crunch
ing to be done."
The Reagan administration has in
sisted for five years that more study
was needed to determine what the
sources of the acid rain problem are
and what action should be taken.
Prob
Salvage ship recovers
Challenger booster part
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The Navy reported Tuesday a salvage ship
had retrieved from the ocean bottom a piece of booster rocket wreck
age that might provide a clue to what caused the explosion of space
Challenger.
The Stena Workhorse hoisted the 500-pound, 4-by-5-foot chunk to the
surface from a depth of 650 feet, 32 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral.
Officials were not sure if the part is from the left or right solid rocket
booster. But if it is the right booster, it could be critical to the investiga
tion because it could contain the segment joint believed to have started
the accident Jan. 28 that killed the seven-member crew.
The presidential commission investigating the explosion has concen
trated on a joint between the bottom two segments of the right booster as
the most likely source of the problem.
Launch film shows a puff of smoke in the joint area on liftoff and a
tongue of flame flashing from it 58 seconds later, 15 seconds before the
blowup.
Investigators believe O-ring seals designed to prevent hot gases from
escaping through the joint may have been at fault.
At a NASA laboratory at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, forensic
experts continued identifying astronaut remains recovered from Chal
lenger's shattered cabin, which was located 100 feet below the Atlantic
surface.
Air Force official calls
astronaut memos 'cheap'
SPACE CENTER, Houston A top Air Force official has sent a per
sonal letter to chief astronaut John Young denouncing Young's criti
cism of NASA management as a "cheap shot" that is dividing the
astronaut corps from the rest of the space agency.
Col. Richard L. "Larry" Griffin, head of the Air Force's 2nd space
wing and the twin brother of a former Johnson Space Center director,
told Young in the letter that "you have taken such a cheap shot, I just
cannot remain silent in good conscience."
Griffin wrote the letter in response to a series of memos written by
Young that were slipped to the media. In the memos, Young accuses
National Aeronautics and Space Administration management of sacri
ficing crew safety in the interest of a space flight schedule. Young
claimed that management was giving in to pressure to launch the shut
tle when there were unresolved safety issues.
"You criticizing anyone for 'pressure' is ludicrous when the primary
axiom in the astronaut office is, 'Don't cross John if you ever want to
fly.' That's pressure!" Griffin said, according to the Houston Post.
Griffin continued: "As a matter of fact, largely due to your example,
your attitude pervades some of the astro corps with the likes of Sally
Ride also portraying NASA management in some sort of we-they
confrontation."