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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 2000)
Credit-card companies catch college students ■ Students shou Id be wa ry of the consequences that can accompany credit-card use By Jeff DeMoss For The Emerald Before you sign up for that shiny new credit card you saw advertised in the EMU or down by the book store, remember the old saying that there is no free lunch. Or dinner, or plane ticket or whatever you plan to buy with your newly acquired plas tic piece of purchasing power. In response to the rising cost of tu ition and life in general, or for what ever personal reasons, college stu dents are turning more and more to credit cards as a means of financing their higher education. According to the Consumer Fed eration of America, a consumer ad vocacy group, approximately 70 percent of four-year college stu dents have one or more credit cards. Of this 70 percent, almost three fourths have revolving debts of $2,000 or more. Credit-card compa nies are well aware of the huge cus tomer base that college campuses provide and are marketing cards to students more aggressively than ever. According to the CFA, student debt has tripled since 1990. This phenomenon has triggered concern among academics about the potentially harmful effects of debt on students’ lives. Dr. Robert D. Manning, a sociologist at George town University and conductor of a recent study of credit-card use among students, believes that ex cessive credit-card use by students has created unforeseen social con sequences that both college admin istrators and the credit-card indus try purposely ignore. Manning’s study produced a long list of negative effects that he attrib utes to student debt, including anxi ety, depression, damaged personal relationships and lower grades be cause of the need for students to sac rifice study time in order to work off their debts. Good credit is an important asset for students as they begin their pro fessional careers. Without good credit, it can be difficult or impossi ble to obtain a mortgage, car loan or other major purchase, and some em ployers will not hire an individual with scars on his or her credit histo ry. Students can and do use credit cards responsibly by keeping track of their finances and making regu lar payments. “Most of them are ex tremely responsible and handle credit cards as well or better than most adults,” said Brian Dalphon, a spokesman for MBNA Corp., the largest issuer of student credit cards in the country. Manning, however, believes that new college students are often un able to see the long-term conse quences of their immediate actions and often use new credit cards im pulsively. Some students echo this sentiment. “My first card felt like instant freedom in my hand,” said Phil Ger hards, a senior art history major, who “maxed out” his first credit card in a few weeks. Gerhards man aged to pay off his card before doing permanent damage to his credit rat ing, but many thousands of students don’t realize their mistakes in time. In an extreme case in 1997, the par ents of University of Central Okla homa freshman Mitzi Pool attrib uted her suicide to problems with debt. Manning blames the credit-card industry for its failure to warn stu dents of the consequences of going into debt and for its eagerness to give essentially unsecured loans to teenagers who lack experience in their econom ic affairs. Despite Manning’s opin ions, which consumer J protection agencies such as the CFA largely share, college campuses contin ue to serve as a lucrative market for credit-card companies, which are increasing their pres ence on campuses na tionwide. Many universities of fer “affinity” cards — credit cards with a uni versity logo in which a small percentage of each purchase made with the card is donat ed to the university (the University has such an agreement with VISA). First USA, another major college card issuer, recently do nated $16 million to the University of Tennessee for exclusive rights to market their card on the UT cam pus. MBNA has donated big bucks to several schools, including $2 mil lion to Manning’s own Georgetown. As a student, the best defense against out-of-control debt and ag gressive marketing is always knowledge; learn how to manage your debt and under stand t h e terms of a credit card agreement before sign ing it. Helpful information can be found at www.consumerfed.org and www.studentcredit.com. _AIR_ ” FORCE " IID sophomores & juniors AFROTC is looking for qualified University of Oregon students graduating in 2002 to become officers. Our “STAR” program is an accelerated commissioning program uniquely designed for college juniors! loterested io becoming a pilot or oavigator? The Air Force has many career opportunities. Plus GUARANTEED SCHOLARSHIPS for qualified juniors! We offer experience and leadership, skills coveted in today’s job market. Call Major Tighe-Smith for more details, 1 -800-633-7352, ww.orst.edu/dept/afrote. 009723 AIM Midi Oregon Daily Emerald P.O. Box 3159, Eugene OR 97403 The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Friday during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the Univer sity ot Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. A member of the Associated Press, the Emerald oper ates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prose cutable by law. NEWSROOM — (541) 346-5511 Editor in chief: Jack Clifford Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard Community: Darren Freeman, editor. Andrew Adams, Rebecca Newell, reporters. Freelance: Serena Markstrom, editor Higher Education: Simone Ripke, editor. Brooke Ross, Kristy Hessman, reporters. In-depth: Ben Romano, reporter. Perspectives: Michael Kleckner, editor. Jayna Bergerson, Bret Jacobson, Pat Payne, Eric Reiffer, columnists. Pulse: Monica Hande, editor. Josh Ryneal, Ma son West, reporters. Sports: Jeff Smith, editor. Scott Pesznecker, asst, editor. Peter Hockaday, Adam Jude, Rob bie McCallum, reporters. Student Activities: Jeremy Lang, editor. Emily Gust, Beata Mostafavi, Lisa Toth, reporters. News Aide: Suzanne O’Kelley. Copy: Sara Lieberth, Katie Mayer, copy chiefs. Jessica Davison, Lori Musicer, Tom Patterson, Jessica Richelderfer, Rebecca Wilson, copyedi tors. Photo: Catharine Kendall, editor. Dan Brunell, Kevin Calame, Erin Swanson-Davies, photogra phers. Design: Katie Miller, editor. Azle Malinao- Al varez, Russ Weller, designers. Bryan Dixon, Giovanni Salimena, illustrators. On-line: Carol Rink, editor. Timur Insepov, webmaster. ADVERTISING — (541) #6-3712 Becky Merchant, director. Erin O’Connell, Van Nguyen, advertising assistants. Doug Hent ges, Nicole Hubbard, Trevor Kuhn, Jesse Long, Adam Rice, Hillary Schultz, Chad Verly, Lisa Wood, advertising sales representatives. CLASSIFIEDS — (541) S46-4S4S Trina Shanaman, manager. Kara Fallini, Tara Rothmermel, Amy Richman, assistants. BUSINESS — (541) 346-5512 Judy Riedl, general manager. Kathy Carbone, business supervisor. Sarah Goracke, reception ist. Greg Gallo, Masohiro Kojima, John Long, Gretchen Simmons, distribution. PRODUCTION — (541) S46-4S81 Michele Ross, manager. Tara Sloan, coordina tor. Laura Chamberlain, Jiliian Johnson, Melis sa O’Connell, Laura Paz, Ross Ward, designers.
