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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1983)
features BattaliOfi/ParJ February 23, Despite Mexican efforts peso may still devaluate United Press International Border bankers and civic leaders will devalue no peso be fore its time. But the currency exchangers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border have frustrated the Mex ican government’s massive pub lic relations effort to keep the peso’s value at the rate of 149 against the dollar. Eventually, most border bankers agree, the peso will go down to 200 against the dollar, the victim of inflation, the world oil glut and a drop in Mexico’s gross national product. But the money exchangers in border cities like El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico are rushing matters. During a 24-hour period this week, one Juarez bank was able to exchange only $25 in Amer ican money while exchange houses in Juarez and El Paso were doing a booming business. Here’s the reason why: Thousands of Mexican na tionals work in El Paso and live in Juarez. Thousands more live in Del Rio and commute daily from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. The same can be said for the border cities of Presidio- Ojinaga, Eagle Pass-Pied ras Negras, Laredo-Nuevo Laredo, McAllen-Reynosa and Brown sville-Matamoros. Many of the Mexican nation als, sometimes called “commu ter aliens,” are maids. Others are farmworkers or factory workers earning U.S. minimum wages. Their American dollars, changed into pesos, provide them with a better salary than most workers in Mexico who earn peso salaries. The mininum wage in Juarez is about $2 a day for those lucky enough to have a steady job. Un employment in Juarez is about 40 percent and underemploy ment is so rampant officials have stopped counting. Other border cities have simi lar problems and complain of a population increasing faster than the economic system’s abil ity to accommodate them. The Mexican commuter aliens are important to Mexico’s economy. They return to Juarez and other border cities to cash their pay checks, buy groceries and pay the rent. Naturally, they look for the most favorable rate of exchange. The Juarez banks offer 149 pesos per $ 1. The neighbor hood money exchanger, howev er, offers 152 pesos per dollar. Meanwhile, the banks and money exchangers across the border in El Paso offer even more. The culprits in this crazy bor der economy are Mexican en trepreneurs anxious to grab dol lars before any official devalua tion. They deliberately offer more pesos per SI than the banks. The money exchangers want to be holding dollars when the peso is devalued again, sup- I posedly, sometime this sm Eager beneficiaries o! greed are not only then ter aliens but American!! who shop for ba Mexico. El Paso shoppers groceries in Mexico also their exchangeserv shopping in Mexican t ities is decreasing, how cause of more stringem t hecks by Mexican cu! cials to keep food home. J uarez bankers thn file complaints with the! attorney general’s office those money exchangersi ing in both El Paso and w ho are offering more than the governments rxi hange rate. •’[IRON] offers sights that no eye. no camera has ever before beheld ...a vision of the movies' future” 99tf Pitchers or Beer - Richard Sctvcfcel TRON'is about tot* you somewhere ytf: never been.-ato* a computer. , no mt' has ever looked fe this before:’ -David Anscn NEWSWEEK or Pepsi ivith any meal purchase at Know more art, please photo by Kachcllc Colburn or Yong Kim, left, submits two pencil sketchings to Kirk Kuykendall for Artfest, a student competition sponsored by the MSC Arts Committee. Entries for the contest are being taken at the MSC gallery through Friday. Alfredo’s Any Large Pizza at Papa’s Pizza 7m* Headaches: simple ailments, but causes still mysterious Papa’s Pizza Prices: Large 16" Cheese Pizza Any Additional Item 98 United Press International It’s the most common ailment in the country, affecting 90 per cent of Americans. It generates billions of dollars for aspirin manufacturers. But the simple headache is not yet understood. “It’s only in the past decade that we’ve begun to understand the pain mechanisms, and there’s still a lot to be learned,” says Seymour Solomon, director of the headache unit at Monte- fiore Medical Center in New' York City. Researchers know that peo ple get headaches for all sorts of reasons. Tension headaches usually result from psychologic al stress. I his in turn may cause tightened muscles, relay an elec- scalp muscles to contract toe* trochemical impulse to the hard or too long. Nerve endings brain, which interprets the sig- in the scalp, stimulated by the nal as pain. Super Big Papa’s Deluxe (This pizza has everything on it.) More than 30 parking spaces in rear. s 4 ! S|23 s 9 50 > Pitchers of Beer OPENING SOON SPEEDQUEEN SUPER STORE • Coin operated laundry • Attendant on duty • Free stemmers 1806 Welsh Just south of SW Pkwy. 7 a.m.-l0:00 p.m. Take out window or order and eat inside ALFREDO’S dining room. Same place, same owner Alfredo’s/Papa’s Pizza 846-3824 Taco AI Carbon 846-4066 509 UNIVERSITY AT NORTHGATE presented by MSC Cepheid Variable Thursday, February 24 7:30 and 9:45 Rudder Theater $ 1 50 the FLU TREATMENT IS HERE A study using the new drug Ribavirin is going on at the Beutel Health Center If you have Flu Symptoms - Fever - Muscle Aches - Chills - Sore Throat Come to the health Center within the first 24 hours of illness and ask for the Flu Doctors (day or night-Flu Fighters don’t sleep) HOCH You may win a paid vacation (about $112.00) in the Health Center Dr. John Quarles 845-1313 Good times offer mnif PLANT SALE! the COMMONS the QUAD FLCRfCUfTCtKE •CIUB- yTTVi -sSeSfr— LUBBOCK ST. PLANT SALE 1 J co SATURDAY FEB. 26 10 a.m. ’till 2 p.m. Name_ Addresa. City_ Specify quantity. Fourteen oz. glass mug for sale. It’s the two-fisted way to drink to good times and salute your great taste in drinks. Why not start a collection? Please send this coupon, along with a check or money order for $4.95 per mug (no cash please) to: Seagram’s 7 Crown Mug Offer, RO. Box 1622, New York, N.Y 10152 .Amount enclosed $ Offer expires January 31, 1984. No purchase necessary. New York residents add 8.25% sales tax. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for shipment. TAMC24 RHHHMBHHHBBHHHHHBHHHHHHI Seagram's © 1982 SEAGRAM DISTILLERS CO., N.Y.C. AMERICAN WHISKEY-A BLEND. 80 PROOF. "Seven-Up'' and "7UP'' are trademarks of the Seven Up Company.