Vuitton values: the delicate balancing act of luxury for the masses.
Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, by Dana Thomas, New York: Penguin Press, 373 pages, $27.95 IN SEPTEMBER 2005, following the worst natural disaster in American history, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) began distributing $2,000 debit cards to Hurricane Katrina's neediest victims. The cards carried a...

PEOPLE IN ENERGY: Kelly G. Maguire Named CFO of Biofuel Energy Corp.
ENERGY RESOURCE-23 May 2008-PEOPLE IN ENERGY: Kelly G. Maguire Named CFO of Biofuel Energy Corp.(C)2008 JeraOne - http://www.jeraone.com Kelly G. Maguire has been named vice president-finance and chief financial officer of Biofuel Energy Corp., a development stage ethanol production company. Maguire will replace David J....

Refund anticipation loans taxing wallets.
The news: It's tax season, and flashy advertisements are luring people into "refund anticipation loans," which put money in people's pockets months before many file their taxes--often at exorbitantly high interest rates. Behind the news: Many of the refund loan businesses in Chicago...

Innovation takes banking to the people.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In keeping with its position as the leading African bank on the continent, Ecobank has taken the lead in introducing innovative retail products in the market. The objective is to tap into two key areas: the preference for cash transactions and the high proportion of...

Robotic system dispenses customized dressings.
SAN DIEGO -- Imagine being able to touch a screen to custom order a wound dressing that ~ meet the individual needs of a patient, and receiving it in less than 2 minutes without leaving the clinic. During a poster session at the annual meeting of the...

AAA Offers Enhanced Prepaid Visa Card Program.
ENTERTAINMENT CLOSE-UP-20 April 2008-AAA Offers Enhanced Prepaid Visa Card Program(C)2008 - CloseUpMedia - newsdesk@closeupmedia.com AAA announced that it has enhanced its prepaid card products using Visa and MetaBank as key program partners. The new AAA Visa TravelMoney card and Visa Gift card are now available...

Trends in special education: accountability, progress monitoring and data management pose challenges and opportunity.
How is the landscape of special education changing? For 20 years, we've fought for access to the general education curriculum, getting kids included. And now with IDEA 2004 and particularly with NCLB, we've turned from access to accountability. Our kids count now. So we have a renewed...

Bank of America Launches U.S. Olympic Team Advertising Campaign.
ENTERTAINMENT CLOSE-UP-24 June 2008-Bank of America Launches U.S. Olympic Team Advertising Campaign(C)2008 - CloseUpMedia - newsdesk@closeupmedia.com Bank of America, the Official Bank Sponsor of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, announced the debut of its U.S. Olympic-themed advertising campaign. The multimedia campaign rallies support for Team...

Travelex Cash Passport Prepaid Foreign Currency Card Debuts.
TRAVEL AND LEISURE CLOSE-UP-15 May 2008-Travelex Cash Passport Prepaid Foreign Currency Card Debuts(C)2008 - CloseUpMedia - newsdesk@closeupmedia.com Travelex Cash Passport, the first prepaid foreign currency card in the United States, launched on May 1. The card, which travelers load and lock-in their rate for British...

Global Payments to Provide VIP LightSpeed Cash Access Services to 4 More Hotels.
TRAVEL AND LEISURE CLOSE-UP-18 June 2008-Global Payments to Provide VIP LightSpeed Cash Access Services to 4 More Hotels(C)2008 - CloseUpMedia - newsdesk@closeupmedia.com Global Payments, a company in both payment processing and gaming cash access services, announced agreements to provide its VIP LightSpeed suite of cash access products...