Saturday, July 18, 1992 i Your business Is our business Neil Rachynski 365-7266 DEAL OUT THE CARDS American Express plans to tackle Visa by countering with Olympic Games advertising as well. Amex says the ads Visa has been running before the Summer Gaes in Barcelona are misleading and suggest that American Express cards are not accepted anywhere in the city. ON THE WorkPLACE The Canadian Imperial bank of Comerce says it took almost a year but their leading economic indicater shows the Canadian economy on the upswing for the first time since August of last year. Economic activity in April increased by 0.1 per cent. POP MAKER DOUBLES OVER Soft drink producer Cott Corp. expects to double its profits this year to $300 million. Thirty five per cent of Cott’s are in the United States. | Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER t’s not your average job. It’s about 7 p.m. as the lights go down in the bar, the music starts pumping, and she struts out on stage. Amidst the wolf- whistles and catcalls from the 40 or so men in the room the dancer begins — piece by piece — to strip. It’s her third show of the day and she will have another two to go before the evening’s over. “It’s a job,” says dancer Mindy Ross (her stage name). “I’m not here to meet people, as some might think.” Ross is, of course, attractive. It’s a job requirement. But the 26-year-old Burnaby resident is also a bright, articulate young woman. “You have to be | realistic,” she says, “you get older, you get uglier, so you have to look down the for almost three years, and says she only stays in it for the money. “I’m looking at buying a house right now. I couldn’t do that waitressing,” she said. “I can go intoa shopping market and buy whatever I want without looking at the price tag.” The dancers at Brewskie’s Pub in the Hi Arrow Motor Inn are usually booked from the Vancouver agency XDN, or Exotic Dance Network. Co-owner Kelly Lemcke says, “we usually get two girls for the week. They perform five shows each, or 10 shows a day.” Lemcke says the dancers are paid around $40 to $50 per show, which means they could earn about $1,500 for a six-day work New photo by Neil Rachynski Mindy Ross says myths about strippers are exactly that. And while men have their eyes on her, the 26-year-old Burnaby native has her eyes on a real estate career. business, but you get quite a few businessmen As for the dancers, Lemcke says the general perception of them is wrong. “Lots of these girls are university students or are taking correspondence,” he said. “It’s funny,” Lemcke says, “they could be your sister-type girl.” Ross says dancing is strictly a business for her. “Totally for money,” she says, “the nudity is just a shitty factor. “Actually, I live a pretty normal life. I don’t go to bars at night, I have a boyfriend and I’ve just taken up golfing.” Ross says it doesn’t really bother her when people call her a ‘peeler’ or ‘sleaze.’ “Usually, if they just sit down and talk to me I like to think I give them a different impression,” she said. “We can go talk and T’ll even buy them dinner — Ican afford to.” Ross, who took her stage name from an executive TV producer, says the first time she went on stage was horrible. “I threw up from nerves,” she said. “I think everyone should have to do it once because it takes a lot of guts. “I've never had a problem with nudity, although I graduated from a private Christian school week in the pub. Some have been known to attract as much as $3,000 per week. Lemcke says the patrons in his bar cover a wide demographic area. “We get everyone from 19 to 65-years-old in here,” Lemcke said. “The construction and millworkers are a big part of our and I kind of know it’s wrong with my religion,” she said. Ross is now looking towards the future. She says, “I’m using this as a stepping stone. I’m thinking of going into real estate. “I’m also thinking of going back to school but there’s no way I’m going to bea starving student.” Whoops! didn’t even own. Street. tions belongs to CP.” Looks like the city’s downtown revitalization committee had its eye on developing a piece of land it Canadian Pacific owns it. "That’s the land at the intersec- tion of 13th Avenue and 3rd Now the city is trying to ac- quire the land for use as a road- way. A letter from the city to CP says, “we discovered that what we thought was a road right of way within one of our major intersec- There’s no word about it yet from CP, but council hopes the company might do- nate the land for the city’s downtown re- vitalization project. eee Confused about the differences be- tween the Official Community Plan and the Community Development Plan? ; The OCP maps out the future of the city. It’s a plan that outlines, for instance, what parts of the city we want to restrict the develop- ment of light industry, or what kind of housing we need and where to put it. , ‘ | Neil RACHYNSKI The OCP looks 10 years down the road. And if council wants, it can ignore — the recommenda- = tions of the plan. What the OCP The doesn’t address is Bottom the fiscal implica- Line tions of develop- ment. That’s where the Community Development Plan comes in. It looks at the general direction re- garding servicing and, most im- portantly, the financial impact of the OCP. The city was just given $20,000 al Somewhat of an oversight for revitalization committee for its CDP from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. The city must come up with at least 25 per cent of the grant. Consultants will be brought in to put together the CDP which should go to proposal by the end of this month. eee Seen the unemployment stats yet? Well, you have the distinction of living in the highest unemploy- ment area in the province. The June numbers indicate the West Kootenay is at 14.7 per cent unemployment compared to the incial average of 11.3. The na- tional average is 11.6 per cent. Win or lose. it’s in The News. Jonathan Green 365-7266 WANNA BET? They've posted the odds for the 1993 Stanley Cup at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Las Vegas and the Vancouver Canucks rate an 8-1 bet. The New York Rangers are the favorites at 3-1 followed closely by two- time defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins at 4-1. Expansion teams Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning and the second-year San Jose Sharks come in just slightly higher at 300-1. HEARTS IN THE RIGHT PLACE In a show of support for ailing coach and general manager Cal Murphy, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will wear hearts on the helmets until his return to the sidelines. The 60-year-old Murphy underwent emergency heart transplant surgery Wednesday at, University Hospital in London, Ont. LocadaSPORTS Tee time at the Jim Young Tournament 3? . “}. The Vancouver Canucks were well represented at the annual Jim Young Celebrity Golf Tournament Thursday. Nelson native Greg Adams lines one up (top left) while former netminder Cesare Maniago (bottom left) tees one up. Troy Gamble (top right) takes time to accomodate some young autograph seekers while play-by-play announcer extraordinaire Jim Robson shares a laugh with Bob Addison of KBS. From the number of smiles seen and laughs heard, it would appear that a good time was had by all, again. News photos by Jonathan Green Vacation loan? We'll make it hay