7C
BUSINESS/Uie Oarlune $o!lt
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Death of a black business
Continued from page 8C
ing to buy the store, and
wheth^ BP approves or opts
to tear the station down, she
will open another business,
^ae said, ‘Tm going to do
what I was planning to do
when I bou^t the gas sta
tion.”
Wedding bells ring for planners
Continued from page 8C
profitable. She wants people
to be assured that this is a
huge industry
‘We’ve had folks fix)m col
lege graduates to empty
nesteis,” Howard said.
But there is one group of
people Idle program has not
seen yet - men. That is until
now. Troy-Mebane’s hus
band, Tferry, will be the first
man to participate in the
program after launching his
business, Foi^tten Groom.
Neither have given up their
full-time jobs, but hope to
one day
“We kind of joined forces
and he’s offering specialized
groom services,” TVoy-
Mebane said.
‘T think ev^yone should
own a company,” Howard
said. “Because nothing in
corporate American is guar
anteed anymore.”
Both TVoy-Mebane and
Howard believe
Heartstring’s benefits are
infinite. Howard said more
chents are inquiring and
asking questions about con
sultants’ formal training.
“These skills are ti'ansfer-
able to any type of event,”
Howard said.
The program offers one
class session that teaches
students how to develop a
contract, a fee structui'e and
close deals - all necessary
aoimen for the average busi-
nesspei'son.
TVoy-Mebane hked the fact
that the university allowed
her to network and even
taught her how.
‘Tt gave me the oppoituni-
ty to develop I’elationships
with people who are estab
lished as well as just starting
off,” she said.
From caterers to musi
cians, each class dming the
program introduces a new
vendor within the city of
Charlotte to provide infor
mation from different
aspects of weddings. This
gives students the oppoiin-
nity to learn firmi those who
offer their seivices for the
ceremonies.
We only brii^. the best of
the best to the wedding uni
versity to teach,” Howaixl
said.
Each class is held at a dif
ferent location in the area
that is beheved to be ideal for
fiitm'e event planning. TVoy-
Mebane plans to use one of
those venues, the Botanical
Gai'dens, for one of her
chents who is looking for
ward to over 200 guests for
her upcoming wedding. Her
chentele also consists of a
smaller wedding of about 40
people and Ti-oy-Mebane
said one of the most valuable
lessons she’s learned fi:um
the course is to pay attention
to the wants and needs of the
bride and groom.
“Listening and making
sm'e you and the cHent are
on the same page of music [is
most important],” she said.
Classes are held fom*
months out of the year on
Saturdays. Tb register for an
infomiation session or if
you’d like additional details
of the 2006 program, call
Wiahlhan Howaixl at (704)
376-9476 or email at
wiaandco(«.yahoo.com.
Nigeria challenges big oil
Continued from page 8C
Climate Justice Progi’am
which encouTEiges the enforce
ment of law internationally to
combat climate change, and
Friends of the Earth Nigeria
say approximately 2.5 bilhon
cubic feet of gas associated
with crude oil is wasted
through gas flaring everyday
This is equal to 40 percent of
all of Afiica’s natural gas con
sumption in 2001, while the
annual financial loss to
Nigeria is approximately 2
bfllion euros (2.5 biUion dol
lars).
Che Ibegwura fix)m Erema
in the Niger Delta highfighted
the social costs for Nigerians
living in that region.
‘’Our farmlands have been
polluted. We labor hard to
plant but httle comes out. (Our
roofs are corroded. Our ah’ is
polluted. Our children are
Intel chips
Continued from page 8C
What caused the bump in
the roadmap? Depends on
whom you ask. Jobs said at
the conference that IBM
never dehvered a chip that
could power a 3 gigahertz
machine, which he promised
would happen. Powerbooks,
Apple’s laptops, were also
prone to overheating, again
because of the IBM chips,
according to Jobs.
Some nameless IBM offi
cials have reportedly said
Jobs and Apple would come
up with the cash to develop a
more efficient chip for its
computers. No cash, no
results, said Big Blue.
So what happens between
now and January when
Apple may start shipping
these Intel-powered Macs?
Everyone’s mum. Employees
at Apple’s posh stores aren’t
allowed to comment to the
media, but they may be wor
ried. Consumers may hold
off purchases of new Macs
until the faster and maybe
cheaper computers are
ready And there’s always
the worry that current
machines wfll be obsolete
and not be supported by the
company
Who benefits the most
from this switch?
Consumers, eventually
Macs may become faster and
cheaper and open them
selves up to WTndows-based
games. Tlie Intel move could
also get a larger audience to
warm up to Macs, especially
if they become more
Windows fiiendly For Mac
diehards, that’s a scary
thought but if the past holds
any answers to these ques
tions one thing should be
clear - it’ll still be a Mac, just
with an Intel chip.
sick. Even tiie rainwater we
drink is contaminated with
black soot fiom the gas flares.
We cannot continue with this
suffering. We need to take
legal action to protect our
selves, our children and om*
future,” she said.
-Say Yes To Success!
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The Power of Change
Sooner or later, most of us will come
to a place in life in which wc want to
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Ironically, for most of hs, even those
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love to be able to get what wc really
want out of life without having to
change.
Of course, that is not possible. There
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But change does not have to be
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If you are not achieving the dreams
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Open yourself to the possibility of
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Rather than seeing change as a threat,
think of it as an opportunity to build the
life that you have always wanted.
Contact Dr. Arrington for details. 704-591-1988 cla(q maxiniumsuccess.com
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