Default [Q] Notification Bar Not Working?

It appears as if the notification bar on my phone simply doesnt work. Could this be because its not activated yet? I dont see how that would make sense, but its the only thing I can think of. I took it out of the box to play around with it and bypassed the activation screen, but the notifcation bar doesnt work at all.

Ive tried both pulling it down on the screen, and hitting menu then notifications - nothing happens either way. I downloaded a program (GPS test) from the market, and the notification that its done is just sitting there with no way to get rid of it...

~T.J.