Technician
Two Cents
Shedding Jobs
“The employment outlook for
the next six months has weakened
further,” Sara Johnson, National
Association of Business Economics,
said. Large companies are still cutting
jobs due to a slow economy. Pfizer
Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. are
cutting 8,000 jobs each, Home Depot
Inc. is cutting 7,000 jobs, Caterpillar
Inc. is cutting 5,000 more jobs and
General Motors Corp. is cutting 2,000.
Currently, the economy is shrinking
at a rate of about 4 percent, slightly
slower than the projected 5.4 percent
of last quarter. However, the NABE
expects the country’s gross domestic
product to fall by more than 1 percent
in 2009.
Source: Associated Press
SECU Breach
The North Carolina State Employees
Credit Union announced a possible
security breach. The credit union is
asking account holders to monitor
their accounts for suspicious activity.
Account holders that may have been
affected will receive new cards and
PIN numbers. The old cards will be
deactivated on Feb. 9.
Source: WRAL.com
So long, Joe’s Place
Downtown restaurant Joe’s Place
will close Friday after years of serving
Raleigh. Owner Joe Sciolino said in
an e-mail to his customers that “it
is time for us to move on.” Sciolino
said he plans to continue selling
Joe’s Seasoned Salt after a vacation.
Joe’s Place nearly closed in 2006,
but canceled the closing at the last
minute. This time will be different. “...
you’re not going to talk me out of it
this time!” he said.
source: NewsObserver.com
LOOSE CHANGE
Former AIG executive Christian
Milton was sentenced to four years in
prison Tuesday for his involvement in
AIG investors’ losses. He will also have
to pay a $200,000 fine.
source: wsj.com
Wake County Commissioners will
vote next week on a 4 percent budget
cut. County Manager David cook
said he doesn’t expect any layoffs,
however.
source: News and Observer
Yahoo! reported a loss of more
than $300 million for the fourth
quarter Tuesday.
Source: wsj.com
The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and
NASDAQ each saw gains Tuesday,
though none were large. At the end
of the trading day, the Dow hovered
fewer than 200 points above the
8,000 point mark.
source: wral.com
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Features
A selection of bottled beer at Sammy’s Tap and Grill. According to owner Sammy Stephens despite the economy, business is remaining
Cheers, beer
steady. “We tend to have lower prices and I think that during times like that it can benefit your business,” Stephens said.
Area watering holes don’t know
what ‘recession’ means
Taylor McCune
Features Editor
If you thought last fall looked bad fi-
nancially, did you take a look at the
unemployment numbers that came out
Monday? More than 47,000 job cuts were
announced by companies like IBM, Cat-
erpillar and Pfizer, according to the News
and Observer. When the unemployment
rate is already 7.2 percent, numbers like
47,000 are downright terrifying.
But, if the Great Depression is any indi-
cator, there is one industry that should do
just fine in a recession. After years of pro-
hibition in the 1920s, the 23rd amendment
was added to the Constitution, making
alcohol legal again in 1933.
When times are tough, the tap is open.
Bars, mini-marts and ABC stores don’t
seem to have much to fear.
Jeff Mickel, general manager of the Fly-
ing Saucer, said business at the popular
beer hall has steadily increased since 2007.
Times are also still good at Sammy’s Tap
and Grill, according to owner Sammy Ste-
n Raleigh, NC 27603
Why settle for limited patio space when you can
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Business & Money
phens, who said the University helps keep
business steady.
College Beverage owner Raj Kumar has
seen a slight downturn in business, “no
more than 5 percent,” since last year, a
number that he says is “not much.”
But all three men noticed a change in
the buying habits of their customers over
the last few months.
For Stephens and Kumar, cheaper beers
are rising in popularity.
“Specials are a big deal,” Kumar said of
his beer sales. “Imports cost the same for
a six-pack as a twelve-pack of domestics.
People will buy the domestics.”
Stephens said his prices are generally
lower than other bars, but that some peo-
ple are selecting even lower-priced drinks.
“The person who comes out on a regular
basis, you’ll see them go for a lower priced
beer,” he said.
The Flying Saucer, which has beers on
it’s menu topping $40, is experiencing a
rise in higher-priced beer sales, according
to Mickel.
“We’re seeing an increase in more ex-
pensive beers. I think that has to do with
our UFO club,” he said.
The UFO Club is actually a challenge
of sorts. Members attempt to drink 200
Our Patios Are
Great For Grilling!
n 828-6278
wednesday, january 28, 2009 • page 5
Focus on
enjoying
college
N
ow I was just a me-
chanical engineering
major, so please don’t
hate on the way that I write, I
already know it sucks.
I’ll start
off with a
litt le info
about my-
s e l f . I ’m
from a little
town called
New Bern,
N.C. There’s
Edwin Moon a decent
2007 Alumnus,
mechanical engineering number of
us New Ber-
nians that go to N.C. State. You
may have heard of Pepsi-Cola —
it was born there. Anyway, I went
to NCSU, graduated a little over
Matt moore/Technician
a year ago, and I’ve ended up in
Montgomery, Ala. (it’s not as bad
as it sounds). Yes, I have gone to
“Flea Market Montgomery” and
yes, I’ve seen Sammy Stephens
and yes, he is just as crazy look-
ing in person. If you don’t know
what I’m talking about, type in
“Flea Market Montgomery” in
YouTube. I am also a guitar hero
extraordinaire, and even though
I’m out of college, I still love Ul-
timate Frisbee.
One crucial mistake that I
made was that I didn’t start look-
ing for a job until a month before
of the nearly 300 different beers the bar
I graduated. That was stupid.
offers. Since fewer than 200 are under the
Don’t do that, start earlier. I then
$5 or $6 range, to complete the challenge,
“Beer Knurds,” as they are called, must
sat around Raleigh looking for
a job for about 3 months. It was
drink more expensive brews.
fun, but terribly unfulfilling;
Mickel has also noticed that happy hour
refer to the sentence above on
is getting busier.
how to avoid doing that. I then
“We’ve seen an increase in our after-
interned at Bosch for six months
work crowd,” he said, but wasn’t sure if it
and then I ended up here in Ala-
is because of the economy.
bama working for Hyundai as a
So far, neither Mickel or Stephens have
“mechanical engineering spe-
noticed a rise in drunkenness or mental
cialist.” I can’t technically call
breakdowns at their bars.
myself an engineer yet because
However, with the economy heading
it’s illegal.
farther downhill, they may.
Okay, enough about myself,
“We’re expecting an uphill battle,”
I’m supposed to be writing about
Mickel said of the coming year. “We hope
you, and what I think you should
we’ll be able to maintain.”
do while in school. My advice to
Stephens’ plan for the future centers on
you is to savor your time while
promoting his specials and low prices.
you are in school and while you
“If anything we’re trying to promote the
are in Raleigh as best you can.
extraordinary specials that we have,” he
I like lists, so I’ll list the three
said.
things to savor the most (i.e. the
Bull market or bear, Mickel isn’t too
things I miss the most, not nec-
concerned.
essarily in any order):
“We have a saying in the company,”
• Summer vacation
Mickel said. “People drink when they’re
• College!
happy, people drink when they’re sad.”
• Bojangles and Cookout
This past summer was my first
post-school summer and let me
tell you. It’s rough. My sugges-
tion for summer vacation is to
work someplace awesome like
a summer camp, or go travel
someplace awesome. Perhaps
backpack Europe or something.
Unless you’re going to become a
teacher, these are most likely the
last summer vacations of your
lives. Do something cool.
Next is to simply enjoy the
college experience. College
is great, it’s probably the first
time you’ve lived away from the
parents. Hooray freedom! It’s
no secret that you go (I went)
to the best school in the damn
country. Enjoy it! Most of the
people you frequently see now,
you will probably seldom see, if
at all, later. I know you’ve been in
school basically your entire life
and many of you probably want
out, but it is a huge transition
going from school to work and
one should enjoy the hell out of
these times because they won’t
come back again. Being a super
senior, I was blessed with even
more time to enjoy college life.
Lastly come the eats. Oh how
I miss Bojangles and Cookout. I
missed Bojangles so much that
I got it at the Charlotte Airport
where a 4 piece supreme dinner
was $8.50. EIGHT FIFTY! I got
it anyway, now that’s love. And
can’t forget about those scrump-
tious Cookout trays. The later it
is, the better!
Nominate your favorite alum-
nus or alumna to write a post-
college report for Technician!
Send your choice with contact
information to features@techni-
cianonline.com