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http;//www.thechariottepost.cx3m 8C CIbarlotte BUSINESS THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2005 Sports 1C PHOTO/WADE NASH Eugene Brown details a car at South End Car Store on South Boulevard. Road work a headache on South Boulevard By CHeris F. Hodges clierviJiodge^f&ilhecliaTlottepnstrom If driving down South Boulevard through the water main construction is enoi^h to make you want to curse, imag ine trying to run a business. That’s just what Lamonte Brown, owner of South End Car Store, is faced with. “This is really inconveniencing my cus tomers,” he said. “It’s a strug^e for th«n to get over here and get their car serviced” South End Car Store is a detailing and repair shop. But Brown said that because of dust from the roadwork, not too many people are bringing their cars in to have them wEished. “I look out of my window and I see a lot of frustrated people,” he said. And those frustrated drivers aren’t becoming new customers either. “Car washes have dropped tremendous ly,” he said. This time last year. Brown said he noticed that there was more drive-through traflSc to his shop. This year, there has See SOUTH7C PHOTO/MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM Vendors showed off their products at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem. Winston-Salem merchants benefit from arts festival SPECIAI. TV TIIE POST WINSTON-SALEM — Downtown mer chants have hired more employees and plan to stay open later this week for the National Black Theatre Festival, which ran through Saturday The festival “is like Christmas in July This is a huge opportunity” said Dana Suggs, owner of Body and Soul, a bou tique and art gallery on TVade Street. When the 2003 festival was held, Suggs’ shop had been opened just one month and she wasn’t prepared for the extra customers. This year, she hired two extra employees and operated a second cash roister to handle the crowds for the bien nial theater festival, which. Like many other business owners, she also kept later hours. Theater-festival officials estimate that this year’s event could pour as much as $15 million into the lcx:al economy TTiat’s up from $11 million that festival-go^ See DOWNTOWNfZC PHOTOAVADE NASH Women and men can stay cool and dress professionally by wearing lighter fabrics and keeping the neck area free of heavy jewelry. Dressing for business cool What’s appropriate for summer? By Sheijy Maysonave SPECIAL TO TIIE POST The sizzling temperatures currently spreading aax>ss the nation are testir^ indi vidual career grit and com pany dress policy bound aries. Summer dog days nat urally create the desire to kick back a bit, but clothing that keeps bodies cool usual ly isn’t appropriate attire for the office. Hot-weather fashions always show more flesh than their businesslike opposites, and that can be distracting. Think of it this way can you imagine Donald Trump wearing a sleeveless muscle shirt with cargo shorts and flip flops to seal a deal? Or what if Condoleeza Rice wore a tank top with Capri pants to meet* with foreign dignitaries? Highly success ful people don’t let weath^ conditions interfere with their business image or what they’re trying to accomplish. People make assumptions and draw conclusions based upon visuals, and negative perceptions affect your opportunities and success potential. Therefore, slack ing off on your biisiness image in the summer months places you at risk of being underestimated all year roimd. Is it even possible to look highly professional and stay cool at the same time? Soaring temperatures create challenges, but you can raise your professionalism and lower your body tempera ture with these beat-the- heat tips: • Select cool fabrics, like tropical weight wool. Surprisin^y tropical weight wool is the coolest and most professional-looking fabric for warm-weather business suits or separates; it breathes, is exceptionally light wei^t, and is wrinkle resistant. Other cool fabrics are cot ton, silk, lin^, and rayon. However, tropical wool pants OT* skirts will look dressier while keeping you cooler than heavy cotton varieti^, like khakis. Avoid polyester, in all gar ments and linings; it does not breathe so it traps in and escalates body heat. • Keep your neck cool. Human necks are tempera ture sensitive and affect the entire body. Place a cold water bottle or soda can on the back of your neck and hold for a few minutes and your overall body tempera ture wiU instantly drop. For men, dress shirts a mere one-half size larger in the neck than their normal size creates some breathing room and air flow. For ulti mate cooling, choose dress shirts made of 100 percent cotton. Women can opt for open collars or scooped neck tops, those that are not low cut. Avoid wearily heavy neck laces or scarves and wear your hair in a tailored up-do stjde ifitis long. • Keep your wrists cool. Wrists embody a pulse area. Cold objects placed on the wrist pulse lower your body temperature. Simply push ing up your sleeves also has a cooling effect. Men can roU up sleeves on long-sleeve shirts to mid- arm length (below the elbow) and appear more powerful ffian when wearing a short- sleeve dress shirt. If your company has a business casual policy, wear long- sleeves rolled up or dressy knit shirts that come to the elbow paired with dress See HOT/7C «)#OI Driueto recniit newuideo gamers By Greg Bluestein TIIE ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA — In the popular video game “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,” players assume the lead chai'acter of Carl Johnson, a down-on- his-luck criminal who roams city streets, stealing cars and helping gang members knock off rivals in drive-by shootings. “CJ,” as he’s known by his pals, is black - and to some in the video game industry that’s a problem. A growing number of people in the boomirg industry beheve thei’e should be more black and Ihspanic heroes and heroines instead of hoods and hood lums. “Not everybody goes outside with bling-bhng and listens to rap music aH day” says Amil Tbmhn, a black 15-year- old from Baltimore who plays hours of video games each day Among those trying to paint a diffei'- ent racial picture is Mario Armstrong, who hosts a weekly National Public Radio program on technology He and two fellow black colleagues have start ed the Urban \^deo Game Academy, a virtual piugrammiig boot camp for minorities. “It’s been said that a bunch of nerdy white guys are creating these games,” Armstrong said. “The problem with a bunch of white guys creatirg the games is that the story isn’t being created with balance.” Rou^ily 80 perc^t of video game programmers are white, according to preliminary results of an International Game Developers Association survey of some 6,000 in the industry About four percent of designers are Hispanic, and less than three percent are black. The institute, formed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May See DRAWING?7C Bankruptcy law changes America’s finances TIIE ASSOCIATED PRESS On October 17, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act will go into effect. This new law will have a great impact on consumers, as it will make it much harder for debtors to wipe out credit card debt. Arlene (Jordon Oliver is a partner at Rattet, Pasternak and (Jordon Oliver LLP, a law firm in New York State specializ ing in bankruptcy She is also chairperson for the Bankruptcy Law Section of The National Bar Association. Q: How will this new law impact peo ple who are in financial trouble and may need to file bankruptcy or Chapter 7? A Anyone who seeks to file (for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy), will be forced to undergo a “means test”. The “means test” requires inter alia, that their gross income will be measured against the state’s median. If their gross income is higher than their state’s median income, they wiU not be able to file Chapter 7, but will be forced to file a Chapter 13 or Wage Earners Bankruptcy 'Hiis means that they will have to repay their existing debt using a portion of their income over 5 years. In addition, this new law will require that before filing, debtors will be required to take credit counseling class es. This will prolong the filing process which could cause debtors to lose their See BANKRUPTCY/7C Gordon
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