Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Friday, April 22, 2005
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In my opinion
No tact in the Citi
As I was daydreaming my way
down East 13th Avenue earlier this
week, my thinking was interrupted by
a well-dressed young man handing
out fliers. I accepted one of the yellow
handbills. It featured a Subway logo
and the following beseechment:
“STUDENTS
FREE 6-INCH SUB!
13TH AND HILYARD
Participate in a 2 minute student
promotion
Student ID required”
A few hours later, when my stom
ach began to grumble, I walked to the
Subway to get my free sandwich. In
side the door to the right sat a profes
sionally dressed man. The table at
which he sat bore a banner with a
prominent logo: Citi.
Recognizing the logo of the credit
card company, I turned and walked
out the door, deciding a six-inch sub
wasn’t worth the credit card leeches
sucking me dry of personal informa
tion and sending piles of junk mail for
months to come.
Credit card companies make a spe
cial point of targeting college stu
dents, who have loose spending
habits and a lifetime of earnings
ahead of them — possessors of a
bachelor’s degree can expect to earn
an average of $2.1 million over the
course their working lives, according
to the Census Bureau.
The companies’ efforts have been
highly successful. Three-quarters of
18- to 24-year-olds carry credit card
debt from month to month, Knight
Ridder reported. Incredibly, people
in that age group spent nearly
30 percent of their 2001 earnings
paying off debt.
Credit card debt tremendously im
pacts students, who often have col
lege loan debt as well. This debt
CHUCK SLOTHOWER
TAKING ISSUE
pushes back the achievement of the
American dream for many young
people by delaying when they can
buy houses and cars.
On top of that, credit cards push up
prices for consumers. Credit card
companies charge retailers every time
a customer uses a card to make a pur
chase, and retailers pass on the in
creased cost to their customers.
Debit cards provide nearly all the
benefits of credit cards without the
usurious debt that piles on month
after month. The only thing credit
cards are good for, really, is spend
ing money you don’t have. And
that’s a bad thing.
The University has policies that
regulate what credit card companies
can do on campus. To reserve space
on campus, they must go through
the Scheduling and Event Services
office. That department makes them
pay for space — $400 a day for a
10-by-10-foot spot at the intersection
of East 13th Avenue and University
Street or $200 to $300 for space in
the EMU (the department charges
nonprofit and information-only
groups less money).
The University also forbids credit
card companies from copying or pho
tographing student IDs in an effort to
protect students’ privacy, EMU Direc
tor Dusty Miller said. He added that
credit card solicitation on campus is
“a huge issue. ”
“Honestly, it’s a concern, and I
think that’s why we have established
some safeguards that a vendor must
sign to come on campus,” he said.
However, what Citi has done is re
ally quite clever. By standing on
campus and handing out fliers that
direct students to an off-campus lo
cation, the company doesn’t have to
pay the EMU. Then, when students
go off-campus to Subway as the fli
er directs, all the little niceties and
protections the University provides
fall by the wayside.
It occurred to me that I might want
to speak about this with our friendly
local Citi representative. So I wan
dered back to Subway.
The friendly local Citi representa
tive — his actual relationship to Citi
group, the world’s largest financial
services company according to the
online encyclopedia Wikipedia, isn’t
clear — was inside the sub shop talk
ing on his cell phone. He hung up.
“You want a free sub?” he said,
pointing to the table with a stack of
credit card applications.
I identified myself as a journalist,
and he clammed up faster than a
bowl of Mo’s chowder.
“I’m not really allowed to discuss
what I do,” he said. “I could lose
my job.”
When my eyes wandered down to
his photo ID tag, he stuffed it into his
shirt faster than I would have pre
sumed possible. But if you want to
talk to him about why he’s participat
ing in a scam to get students hooked
on credit cards — or if you want to
sign up for a Citi card and a free sub
— he, or someone just like him, will
be at the Subway on 13th and Hilyard
today from noon to 7 p.m.
chuckslothower@dailyemerald. com
■ Guest commentary
Liberalism in classroom produces
a constructive look at 'objectivity'
Nicholas Wilbur’s guest commen
tary, “Producing constructive liber
alism” (ODE, April 8), effectively lo
calized the phenomenon of
liberalism in academia by discussing
his personal experience at the Uni
versity of Oregon. While I admire
Wilbur’s courage and thought in un
dertaking this loaded topic, I felt the
commentary failed to address key is
sues surrounding this not-so-new
trend of university liberalism.
First, I would like to make clear that
when it comes to popular images of
Bush-bashing, tree-hugging or plainly
“liberal" professors, perception does
not always equal reality. Still, the idea
of the “academic left” reflects some de
gree of truth; an important question to
ask, however, is “so what?”
It is not, as Wilbur so strongly put
forth, an “injustice” that public uni
versities are frequently politically
charged environments. Political ac
tivism on college campuses, regard
less of ideological affiliation, can be
seen in part as a testament to profes
sors’ success in challenging students
to think critically about the world
around them. While I admit that in
structors (usually poor ones) may
heuristically promote a “liberal” at
mosphere toward these ends, cham
pioning a false sense of classroom
“objectivity” is a far greater disservice
to the student than taking a few jabs
at George W. Bush. An obvious para
dox of attempting to take the politics
out of education is that it inevitably
and unjustly thrusts the government
into academia, constituting a major
threat to free inquiry and expression.
Education should not necessarily, as
Wilbur implies, function to “balance
what is commonly known" with “criti
cal liberalism” as much as it should
work to prepare students for citizen
ship in a world that is complicated and
ever-changing. Stimulating and pro
moting students’ critical thinking skills
is paramount to achieving this goal.
Perhaps most central to understand
ing the “dilemma” of university liber
alism is a rejection of the assumption
that students are passive, impression
able receptors of their professors’
“liberal” opinions. In fact, “liberal
bias” in academia has a way of rein
forcing and proliferating the views of
conservative students just as it has a
way of “disseminating” liberal ideolo
gy. To substantiate this assertion, one
need not look further than the eye
rolling and frustrated devil’s-advocat
ing that represent daily acts of resist
ance to liberal idealism, anti-Bush
diatribe or “political correctness” in
the college classroom. My own experi
ence, no less subjective than Wilbur’s,
leaves me questioning popular media
images of the university freshman be
coming politically “enlightened" or
“corrupted” by leftist professors.
Finally, one cannot help but find hu
mor in recent conservative attacks on
liberal academia ostensibly trying to
protect students while in reality belit
tling their own intellects. In order to
reasonably discuss university liberal
ism, perhaps we must first abandon
the romantic quest for true “objectivi
ty” in the classroom.
Joe Feldman lives in Eugene
■ Out loud
“That is a fucking landslide.” — Future
ASUO President Adam Walsh on April 15, af
ter learning that his ticket won by 317 votes.
“I’m saying to the University, the larger
campus, I can no longer have students pay for
your land bank.” — University Housing
Director Mike Eyster, on using University
Housing funds to purchase property for a non
housing purpose.
“Housing is trying to get the institution’s at
tention about a real imperative — the need to
improve our housing stock.” — Vice President
for Student Affairs Anne Leavitt, who oversees
the housing department, on the issue of mod
ernizing the residence halls.
“I’m so dirty now, but it’s worth it, helping
out a good cause.” — Sophomore Lauren
Skansgaard, after volunteering during Ben &
Jerry’s “Free Cone Day” on Wednesday, which
helped raise money for charity.
“When a company wants students to go to
Cancun and get drunk on film I certainly don’t
help them.” — University EA company repre
sentative Nick Stoolman.
“I feel awkward from my interaction, but I
value what he has brought to the community.”
— Graduate Toby Hill-Meyer on Wednesday,
discussing a Eugene man discovered to have
been impersonating a professor on campus.
“I promise they will eat something (they
have) never tasted before.... People will be sur
prised when they peel off the chocolate cover.”
— Ryan Vise, spokesman for the International
Student Association, about his International
Week event, “Food Factor,” scheduled for today.
“The University of Oregon is an environmen
tal leader nationwide and so it’s fantastic that
on Earth Day we were able to make a bold new
initiative.” — University Sustainability Coordi
nator Steve Mital, commenting Wednesday on
the future of a wind-powered EMU on.
“Disadvantaged students really need all
kinds of encouragement to get them involved
in their own education and get them into higher
ed when they’re not likely to be able to pay for
it.” — Hillsboro Sen. Charles Starr, reacting fa
vorably to Senate Bill 300 on April 13. The bill
allows high school students to take post-sec
ondary courses for college credit.
“The current medical leave policy is outdated
and does not represent best practices for re
sponding to students’ need for medical leave to
deal with serious health conditions.” — A no
tice concerning changes to the University med
ical leave policy, which will be discussed
April 25 in the EMU.
“How long will we have to go this alone?”
— Human rights and environmental lawyer
Jerome Verdier, speaking April 14 to the
need for worldwide focus on Liberia’s road
toward democracy.
“It’s a chance to be outside and get fresh air
before I lock myself in my office all day.” —
Graduate student Sarah Mazze on Wednesday,
discussing Earth Day and the benefits of alter
native transportation.
— From Daily Emerald news reports
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