| WEEK IN REVIEW
Art Deco Tours of Miami Beach: The Art Deco Welcome Center of the Miami Design Preservation League, located on Ocean Drive and 10th Street, offers three tour options: self-guided tours using iPod rentals, $15 ($10 for seniors and students); cell phone tours, $10 (dial 786-312-1229 and charge to a credit card); and guided tours, $20 (seniors and students, $15). Morning guided tours leave at 10:30 on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; night tours at 6:30 Thursdays.
The tour stops vary depending on the tour and the guide.
Miami Design Preservation League: www.mdpl.org or 305-672-2014. .
Unsecured Internet purchases could prove disastrous
Students who regularly make online purchases from campus computers or from the university's wireless network might want to take some precautionary steps before punching in their credit card numbers. “If [students] are using the encrypted wireless [network], I think that's fine," said James Shook of Technology Support Services. “[But] I don't think I'd be doing that on the visitor's [network], which anyone can get on."Students can obtain a password for the secured wireless network at www.nss.appstate.edu. Appalachian State also offers free anti-virus software with built-in firewall and anti-spyware protection at www.antivirus.appstate.edu. Students transferring data should do so from secure Web sites, which are signified by “https" in the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or a secure lock graphic, said Director of Technology Support Tom M.
Credit card industry tries to hook young people
All major banking institutions pay big money to colleges and universities for on-campus recruiting rights, offering students low initial interest rates and/or other sweetheart deals if they accept a credit card. The rest of us get solicitations through our phone or the mails.Seductive sales campaigns focus on high school graduates and for all kinds of items that TV, movies or society has told them they want, need, should have because they deserve it and others have, so why don't they? Car dealers offer "one-time sales events" to first-time wage earners, high-end electronic stores give 90-day-same-as-cash deals and guarantee that no one will be turned down, furniture showrooms offer newlyweds "no payments 'til next year," cell phones, Internet providers, cable companies, satellite dish outfits all make it sound as if you can't have a decent life without their help.All this has given birth to an additional parasite - the debt-consolidation, paycheck-cashing, payday-loan, instant-refinancing-of-your-car (and you get to keep your car - 'til they come to take it away) industry.Public schools teach kids how to drive, play sports, fit a condom, take birth control pills, find an abortionist or fill out a job application at McDonald's.
SLM hires Hewes in new job as credit chief
SLM Corp., the largest US student lender, has created the position of chief credit officer and hired industry veteran John Hewes to fill it. Hewes will oversee credit risk management and underwriting policies for private student loans, SLM, of Reston, Va., said yesterday in a statement. Hewes spent the last 22 years at MBNA Corp., the world's largest independent credit-card issuer, where he headed the consumer finance and business lending divisions, SLM said. MBNA was acquired by Bank of America Corp. in 2006. SLM, known as Sallie Mae, said in January that subsidy cuts for US-guaranteed loans are driving its focus on higher-margin private loans, and that it will become more selective in screening borrowers. Some for-profit education companies, including Corinthian Colleges Inc., have said Sallie Mae halted loans for students deemed high credit risks.
City given highest 'AAA' rating on debt issuance
Naperville has great credit. Standard & Poor's Rating Services has awarded the city its highest rating of "AAA" on new debt issuance and also reaffirmed the "AAA" rating on Naperville's existing general obligation debt, the city said Monday in a release. These ratings were awarded in conjunction with a coming debt issuance. "A 'AAA' rating is very hard to receive, and it's even harder to keep current each year," Mayor George Pradel said in the release. This year, however, marked the first time the city was rated under S&P's "Financial Management Assessment," a report card on the city's financial personnel and processes that include City Council oversight. Under this assessment, the city received a rating of "strong," defined by the S&P as being indicative of practices that "are strong, well embedded, and likely sustainable." Proceeds from the general obligation bond are earmarked to finance improvements to the city's electric system and other capital projects.
The Chronicle Sports Columnist Blog
At 16, I wasn't ready for the pressure, all the journalists, the crowd, it was really hard for me. I'm much more ready for it now." Asked if people might start calling him a star, instead of a prodigy, he said, "No, no. I'm a little bit famous, but for sure I'm not a star. Not a rock star or anything." . . . Federer won't take his semifinal tomorrow for granted, having lost to Gasquet (then just 19) in Monte Carlo. Federer's opinion on the Gasquet backhand: "Fantastic." . . . How bad was the wind today? Ferrero, who lost to Federer today, said it was "the worst kind of conditions to really feel the ball. Today was almost impossible to hit the ball three times nice." Just finished sending my column and notebook, and there's just no room in the Sporting Green to mention all the tremendous on-court moments that went down today.
Neiman Marcus reports February store sales decline
Upscale retailer Neiman Marcus Inc. posted a slight increase in revenue for the second quarter, but comparable store sales - a key indicator of retailer performance - for the month of February actually fell 7.3%. For the period ending Jan. 26, the Dallas-based company's revenue grew by 3.7% to $1.37 billion, compared to $1.30 billion for the same quarter one year ago. Neiman Marcus attributes its revenue boost to higher store sales and direct marketing efforts. Its adjusted operating earnings were $152.3 million, a 4.4 increase from $145.9 million a year ago. The Dallas shopping institution was purchased by Texas Pacific Group and Warburg LLC in 2005. It is the parent company of Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman department stores. Web site: www.neimanmarcusgroup.com .
MOVIE TIMES: What's Showing in North Iowa
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Open Mike: Models? Strip poker? Sign me up
Voters and computers aren't equipped to deal with reality, just numbers, and if they can eliminate a team because it lost a game — even one the refs lost for it — they're happy as clams. Oregon shouldn't be penalized, but treated as if it's record is what it is — undefeated, if not unblemished. By the end of the season, it will all sort itself out anyway. But Boren should keep his nose — and his opinions — out of it. University presidents should oversee their athletic programs to guard against abuses. They shouldn't get involved in the games themselves. It only serves to display their ignorance of the way things work on the playing field. Boren also asked that Pac-10 officials not work future Oklahoma games, which isn't a bad idea, but it is one that should be presented by the athletic director.
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