2B
Quick Looks
Monday May 8,2000
HOROSCOPES
Today's Birthday:
You're smart, lucky and thrifty this year, but your love will take you the furthest. Use it to make a wise choice in May. Move quickly to get the best deal in June. A neighbor teaches you a valuable lesson in July. Rest in August and play in September. Use your wits instead of money for the perfect December surprise. Be respectful in February and win respect.
Aries: Today is a 5.
You need to watch your money. A good deal could become available. You can get more for less if you're willing to shop for bargains. Are you going to spend more, just to look good? If so, guess again. You won't look better by spending more.
Taurus: Today is a 10.
You have been so strong lately, you may have convinced yourself you know it all. Even if you do, thinking that way is a mistake. Instead, let a friend teach you something. Having as wide a perspective as possible is wise, you know.
You may feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rules and regulations may be driving you berserk. Luckily for you, you're about to come up with a brilliant idea. This could help you make a fortune, so watch for it and write it down!
Cancer: Today is a 10.
You've got your team's support, and that's marvelous. You're not alone in trying to carry out your scheme. A lot of people do like you! And, that's about as good as it gets.
You may want to make a move that will increase your security. Ask a friend to put in a good word for you. Having somebody else vouch for you could tip the scales in your favor. Don't toot your own horn; that would have the opposite effect.
Leo: Today is a 5.
Sagittarius: Today is a 6.
Your Cancer friend can be insightful, if somewha confronting. If one gives you unsolicited advice today, listen carefully. This may not be pleasant, but it could save you money. Be nice even if you don't feel like it.
Virgo: Today is a 10.
You're attracting a lot of attention. This might inspire you to make a few changes, too. Your work environment is most likely where this transformation will happen. You could get some nice compliments, too. You earned them, so let them in!
Your intuition is working well again. If you have been negotiating an agreement with someone, ask for an older person's advice. The compromise you've both sought is nearby, but an objective person might have to see it.
Libra: Today is a 5.
Capricorn: Today is a 9.
Aauarius: Today is a 6.
This is a good day to discuss a delicate subject. You may have tried to keep this secret, but don't bother. Once you bring it into the open, you may discover that your partner knew all along. This con fession won't be as hard as you thought.
Pisces: Today is a 10.
The people you work with will be eager to follow your lead, especially if it's for a good cause.
Need more helping hands? More money in the account? Both of those are available. All you have to do is ask.
You've been working hard and studying. You may have qualified for a promotion, without even knowing about it. That's the best way to get it, of course. You have an advantage when they ask you!
Loan debts await KU students
Students to face creditors, banks at bottom of Hill
Seniors who have student loans soon will have to work monthly payments into their budgets.
Notes: Horoscopes have no basis in scientific fact and should be for entertainment purposes only.
By Scott Factor Special to the Kansan
More than 51 percent of all University of Kansas students receive a form of financial aid, and the average graduating senior leaves school $17,863 in debt, according to the 1999
University of Kansas Student Profile.
"My student loans are just going to be another monthly expense," he said. "It is just something I am going to have to live with."
Tyson Leyendecker, Omaha,
Neb., senior, has student loans to
help pay for school.
payments begin when a student leaves school. No interest is added for nine months, but then a 5 percent annual interest rate is added.
"I already have a job with an architecture firm in Kansas City, Missouri." Leyendeker said. "I am not worried."
For some seniors with loans, paying them back will not be a problem right away.
Brenda Maigaard, associate director of Student Financial Aid, said the University offered services to graduating seniors with
Other forms of financial aid that don't have to be repaid are scholarships and grants. The two most common student loans are the Federal Direct Student Loan and the Federal Perkins Student Loan.
"The thing I am most proud about is the fact that the Office of Student Financial Aid offers debt and loan counseling for graduating seniors during the last semester of school," she said.
loans.
Federal Direct Student Loan payments begin after a student leaves school. A variable interest rate is on the loan, but it is never higher than 8.25 percent.
With loan payments due soon, Boyer said she knew the importance of finding a job.
Jennifer Boyer, El Dorado senior, has student loans to help pay for college.
"It will be a hassle for me," Boyer said. "The payments will have to be figured into my monthly expenses."
"The better job I get, the less of a hassle the loans will be," she said. "If I start out making a decent salary, there won't be a great problem."
Federal Perkins Student Loan
Foreign students consider future plans
Continued from page 1A
Though she smiles, the statement is not much of a joke. Moreira is unsure what lies ahead, and her family's wishes play a big part in the decision.
"I got a job offer this week in New Delhi, India. It's crazy," she said. "It's not that I don't love Brazil — I do love Brazil, but Brazil's always going to be for me."
Much like many other graduates, Moreira is not yet able to support herself financially. Because of her international situation, finding employment is complicated, and she has had to look internationally for jobs.
In contrast to Moreira's situation, Losey's post-graduation plans are stable. She has been a U.S. citizen since 1988 and has been married to a Wichita native since 1984. Losey, her husband
"I can't afford the plane ticket to India; I need my parents' help, but they don't know," she said. "They really want me to come home to Brazil. The future's really up in the air right now."
and her daughter live in Lenexa, where she teaches French full time and Spanish part time at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School.
Despite differences in plans, Moreira and Losey said they felt the same on one point.
"Even though I am an American citizen," Losey said, "I feel I will always be a foreigner in this country."
Moreira said, "I'm always going to be the foreigner, no matter what."
Because they have seen alternatives, both have a greater appreciation of the opportunities offered by attending Kansas.
"I really feel that in this country, if you're not lazy, you can make it." Losey said. She explained that the education system in France was more selective, and that even those who earn a degree upon graduation face a 15 to 16 percent unemployment rate nationwide. Losey, who returned to graduate school as a mother, also said she appreciated the opportunities for nontraditional students to earn a degree.
"It's more expensive to go to school here, but
here you have the opportunity to go to college in your early 30s, which is very difficult to do in France," she said. "I'm not even sure it's possible."
Moreira's experience with the Brazilian education system has helped her appreciate KU as well.
"In Brazil, teachers will do everything they can to give a bad grade," she said.
It can even be a challenge to earn the opportunity to get those bad grades, she said, because of difficult entrance exams.
"I have friends that have been trying to get into college for three or four years," she said. "In a way it is a very middle-class dream because not everyone can go to school."
Realizing that "middle-class dream" will be a welcome relief, and Moreira expressed sentiments about graduation that can be understood worldwide.
"I'm so ready right now," she said. "Ready to go home for weekends and not have homework—not think!"
Credit cards leave seniors with real-world problems
By Craia Hartman
Special to the Kansan
Justin Harrington, Topeka senior, didn't plan to move home after he graduated.
Credit cards can be temptations to college students strapped for cash. But for some University of Kansas seniors, that temptation has landed them in a world of problems.
"I have been on my own for four years now." Harrington said. "The last thing I planned on doing after college was moving in with my parents."
Harrington faces the same problem many KU seniors confront near graduation — How do you get rid of credit card debt?
"I owe almost $6,000 on four different credit cards," Harrington said. "They just added up so fast."
Harrington said he initially planned to have only one credit card, which was to be used only for emergencies.
so he could pay off his credit cards. He added that because all of his cards had at least a 19 percent interest rate, paying them off would be more difficult.
Harrington said the increasing bills started making it difficult to pay his other monthly bills. He said that several times he paid one creditcard bill with one of his other cards.
Harrington said he would be forced to live at home for a while after he graduated to save money
"It might take me some time to pay them off, but there is no way around it." Harrington said.
"My mistake was that I started using it for food, new tennis shoes, and worst of all, bar tabs," Harrington said. "From then on my financial situation got worse and worse."
Jeff McCoy, Overland Park senior, said he also had accumulated a fairly large amount of credit-card debt throughout his college career.
"It all started on Wescoe Beach when I applied for a credit card just so I could get a free candy bar," McCoy said. "When I got the card in the mail a few weeks later, I treated it like it was free money, but of course it wasn't."
McCoy said that he had only one other credit card in addition to his first but that they were both at their maximum limits.
"What is really killing me is that I am only able to pay the minimum payment each month," McCoy said. "The debt just is not going away."
McCoy said he was unsure how he would handle his payments after he graduated but that it would probably make his paychecks seem smaller.
However, students who want to get rid of credit card debt have several options. Organizations such as Consumer Credit Counseling Services offer free
help to people trying to pay off credit cards. They will send proposals to creditors to get better terms for debtors, such as reduced monthly payments and reduced or eliminated interest and late fees. Quite often they can consolidate all of credit-card payments into one easy monthly payment.
Sue Rocha, a representative from Commerce Bank, said that the bank directed all delinquent customers to Consumer Credit Counseling Services. If the customers are accepted into the program, Commerce Bank lowers interest
rates and stops all penalty pricing against the customers. Once three consecutive payments are received, Commerce Bank reconfigures customers' three-month history to show they are working with the debt service. As long as the customer maintains payments, Commerce Bank tries to lower payments if necessary, she said.
Rocha said that customers in the program would be reported to the credit bureau as being with Consumer Credit Counseling Services rather than as being delinquent.
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