Long Island Business News

Schools, Students Both Benefit From Students Working As Employees

MaryLynn Greuter has a lot to worry about. A senior studying graphic design at Briarcliffe College, Greuter has all the worries of a full-time college student: exams, papers, maintaining a social life. And as an employee of the school - she holds a job in the college's Office of Academic Affairs - she has all the worries of a professional person: deadlines, bosses, being able to multitask.

Long Island Students Streaming Toward Health Care, Security

Kendra Klein graduated from William Smith College in Geneva last year with a bachelor's degree in psychology and international relations. Then she had a change of heart. A trip to Africa - where she saw firsthand the effects of AIDS - and a bout of hypothyroidism turned Klein toward health care. She soon enrolled in Stony Brook University's accelerated one-year nursing program.

College Board: Computers Return to Top of Fast-Growing List

If the job market has taught us anything, it's that some careers will come and go and others are here to stay. Lists touting the Top Careers for College Graduates have echoed that. But according to the College Board, this year's 10 Fastest Growing Occupations for College Grads largely involve computer systems administration and clinical healthcare - sectors that show no sign of slowing.

Online Option Fuels Future of Campus Bookstores

College Bookstore Theory 101: Better online than in-line. The orientation folders given to new Adelphi University students this year included instructions on ordering books from the Adelphi bookstore via the Internet, and Adelphi is not alone in this effort.

Peddling Pride: Campus Stores Offer Much More Than Just Books

Want an Adelphi keychain? How about a teddy bear with the C.W. Post logo on its shirt? A Stony Brook University notepad? Hofstra magnet? They may be called bookstores, but they sell a lot more than books (just as Burger King sells more than burgers). They are general stores in every sense; in addition to new and used textbooks, campus bookstores typically offer a wide selection, including school-logo apparel, magazines, caps and posters.

Ones to Watch at Long Island's Colleges, Universities

Meena Bose Peter S. Kalikow chair in Presidential Studies,

By Mixing Faculty, Colleges Hope to Match Student Diversity

Diversity is a buzzword in academia. Colleges and universities champion the need for a student body that is an ethnic, religious and linguistic melting pot mirroring the nation. But in addition to increasing the diversity of their student bodies, institutions of higher education are increasing efforts to boost diversity among faculty and administrators.

Long Island Minor League Baseball Team Full of Players Trying to Make Ends Meet

David Wright and Brad King share a vocation, but not a tax bracket. They barely share a planet. Both are baseball players and, yes, both play in New York. But Wright, Mets superstar and newly minted multimillionaire, performs in front of tens of thousands of fans at Shea Stadium and spends his off-days appearing on national TV with David Letterman. King, a platoon player for the Long Island Ducks, also plays before sellout crowds - much smaller, of course, at Citibank Park in Central Islip. H...

For Utility Player Rob Cafiero, Diamonds Are a Boy's Best Friend

Rob Cafiero is already ahead of the game. A backup on the Ducks, he is also manager of the Storm Baseball Academy in West Hempstead, where kids are taught the fundamentals of America's pastime. He stays with the kids until 3 p.m., then climbs into his Nissan Maxima and drives to Citibank Park for home games. Cafiero accepts that he probably won't ever get a chance to play in a Major League game. He was a star freshman for Villanova, but a wayward fastball led to a hairline fracture in his lef...

Long Island Developers Head for Spec Record As Demand Spikes

With demand high and space scarce, developers are proposing to boost the Island's Class A inventory by the largest amount in memory. Eight building projects should deliver 1 million square feet of spiffy modern space to a market that now has a little more than 14 million square feet of premium space, according to Cushman & Wakefield statistics. That's a 7 percent bump.

Technology Firms Slammed by Loss of R&D Credit Extension

The U.S. Senate's failure to extend a research and development tax credit attached to a contentious estate-tax package will add millions to the costs of research and development projects under way at some of the region's biggest tech companies. The tax credit, which allowed companies a 6-percent tax deduction on their research and development costs, expired on Dec. 31, but many in the technology industry counted on it being renewed last month.

For Charles Gordon, Investigative Counsel, It's All Lost and Found

Charles Eric Gordon doesn't eat meat - if you don't count fish - but he considers himself a stalker of prey. For me, I'm the hunter, he says. Atavistically speaking, someone in Russia, where my family's from, must have been a hunter.

New Fronts Open in the War for Video Viewers

It's been tough times for Cablevision Systems Corp. lately. On one front, the company is dealing with some hefty internal financial problems, delaying its second-quarter earnings pending an investigation into stock-option grants from 1997 to 2002. And on another front, it is facing increased competition from its main rival: Verizon.

Town's Hopes for Historic Designation Crushed. Again.

If at first the Town of North Hempstead didn't succeed in making the Roslyn Country Club a historic landmark, it tried, tried, tried (and tried) again. Last week, however, a state appellate court might have finally put the argument to rest: In a terse two-page verdict, a unanimous panel of the Appellate Division, Second Department, thwarted the town government's fifth attempt in endowing the club with landmark status.

Follow Ups

Plenty to toast about We told you last month that Wolffer Estate Vineyard winemaker Roman Roth was branching out. Less than two weeks away from sending out the first batch of his new label, cleverly called The Grapes of Roth, the German native has already sold about 45 percent of the 2,400 merlot-filled bottles he's drummed up.

New Kiosks Offer Grocery Shoppers Oppportunity to Rent Movies

For years, shoppers were able to rent VHS movies while picking up milk and eggs at Stop & Shop supermarkets. But those cumbersome cassettes consumed valuable space, so, by the mid-1990s, that story ended. Now there's a sequel to the idea of pairing grocery stores and movies. But this version has a new star.

The Blog Roll: August 11, 2006

Too lax on Mad Max New York wouldn't have been lenient had Mel Gibson put his anti- Semitic beer goggles on in Suffolk County, writes Miller Place lawyer James E. McElhone, pooh-poohing Los Angeles' s slap on the wrist for the embarrassed movie star.

It's Not Your Father's Mba As Schools Get Specific

The master's of business administration degree is getting a makeover. The MBA may still offer fundamental financial and management training, but it's no longer business as usual. Many schools are offering niche MBAs - letting students focus on specialized fields such as health care, sports management, entertainment and the brokerage business. These choices join traditional MBAs specializing in management, marketing and finance.

2 Minutes with David A. Sterling, Ceo of Sterling & Sterling Inc. Of Woodbury

For 17 years, David A. Sterling has been the top executive at the insurance brokerage his grandfather started in 1932. With terrorism and hurricanes lurking in the shadows, Sterling discusses how his industry has changed. Insurance companies are still reacting to last year's hurricane season. How has that mattered to Long Island? The issue is capacity. In the aftermath of Florida and Hurricane Andrew in 1992, a lot of Long Island homes were cut. That happened again in the wake of Katrina and ...

Letter: Lack of Sewers Hurting Suffolk

To the Editor: I read your article, "Down the Drain," in the July 21-27 edition.