WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 10, 20XX
4A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
WEDNESDAY,OCTOBER 30,2002
FACE-OFF
Should credit card solicitors be banned?
Face-Off is a weekly project of the Kansan editorial board. Each Wednesday two editorial board members will argue opposing sides of a hot-button issue that affects students at the University of Kansas. We hope that this section will help students to understand both sides of an argument and
make better decisions about their own beliefs.
If you have a suggestion for a topic that could be used in Face-Off, or if you would like to join the editorial board, please call Maggie Koerth or Amy Potter at 864-4924. You can also email suggestions to opinion@kansan.com.
Protect KU students by banning solicitors
Credit card usage among college-age students can lead to serious problems. "Not only are more students carrying plastic — 92 percent carry at least one credit card by their sophomore year — but 21 percent of undergraduates who have cards are carrying balances between $3,000 and $7,000," in an article that appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in July. The statistics were taken from a study conducted by Nellie Mae, a national provider of higher education loans.
To combat credit card solicitors on campus, the Board of Regents voted Oct. 17 to ban solicitors for a minimum of two weeks at the start of the semester. In addition to the ban, the Regents said information about the responsible use of credit cards and the risks of credit card usage must be provided to students along with solicitation materials.
Jonathan Ng, student body president, said KU already had a temporary threeweek ban on credit card solicitation. The ban begins a week before the first day of classes and continues for the first two weeks of classes.
To implement a more permanent policy, Student Senate passed a resolution Oct. 9 banning all credit card solicitation on campus, but the final decision rests in the hands of Provost David Shulenburger. If approved, the resolution would go into effect next school year. If denied, the University would use the policy passed by the Board of Regents.
It is important that universities recognize the harm of credit card solicitation on
campus, where students are vulnerable to the temptation of instant credit.
Young people and credit cards are a "volatile combination" said credit counselor Kevin Ferguson, in an article that appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in July, Ferguson is a lead counselor at Consumer Credit Counseling Service in Atlanta. The national nonprofit agency provides debt counseling to 25,000 clients nationwide, and about a quarter of those clients are ages 18-24.
Students' financial stability is a greater concern than access to credit card vendors on campus. Congressional testimony given by Robert Manning, professor of humanities at Rochester Institute of Technology, showed students lack the foresight for financial planning. Students use summer earnings and college loans to pay off debts. They rely on a good job offer after graduation to pay off debts. Manning said this could be a problem for students because of the current economic situation.
"Record levels of loans and credit card/ consumer debt have coincided, for the first time, with the worst job market in over a decade," he said.
Until college students are better informed about financial responsibility and can handle the temptation of easy credit, universities are obligated to protect students so they will leave college financially sound and ready to tackle the real world.
Amy Potter for the editorial board.
Budgeting is student's responsibility
There seems to be no end to the paternalism displayed by many who seek to dictate the financial path of students. The paternalism won't end. The not-so-new notion of banning credit card solicitation on campus has popped up again.
The Board of Regents proposed a temporary moratorium on banning solicitations in June, and the University of Kansas adopted a similar policy this school year. Proponents look to rising debt levels as evidence of the bans necessity, but in truth their proposals are needless and cause more harm than good.
Attempting to regulate, or worse, ban completely, credit card solicitation on campus has little to offer in terms of reducing student debt load.
Instead, such approaches are dangerous in the message they send and insulting to the maturity of the legal adults whom are deprived of their considerable consumer power. That message from the administration is a powerful one; students are not to be trusted with one of the most necessary and
What's worse is the prospect that restricting advertising could further exacerbate the problem of student debt.
Every 18-year old will continue to routinely receive offers from a myriad of creditors despite regulations. Eliminating one avenue will have no effect on the ability of a student to hold a credit card but will affect the variety from which the student chooses.
The market forces, which normally keep rates reasonable and terms favorable, are damaged when the side-by-side competition offered on campus is removed. Prohibition-style limits will serve only to reduce the number of credit card choices on campus, not the number of cards.
As always, proponents will continue to reference the consequences of student debt as justification. The error lies in blindly believing that prohibiting solicitation can somehow alleviate the deeper issues at hand.
An article that appeared in The San
Diego Union-Tribune about a California law restricting credit card solicitations on campus. Perry quotes Steve Rhode, president of a nonprofit credit-counseling center, as saying, "Credit is like breathing in our society... The mistake most people make is saying, 'My child is never going to have a credit card.'"
Rhode grasps the concept in a way that this administration is unable to. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that 80 percent of students held credit cards. Restricting their solicitation on campus is unlikely to eliminate campus debt.
It is hardly consistent to shield students for their own good while they are in school, only to release them to the wolves when they leave it.
Of course students are let loose only when they are no longer paying tuition. Just keep in mind next time you pay tuition that the Bursar's Office accepts Discover and MasterCard.
Greg Holmquist dissenting.
PERSPECTIVES
Show real patriotism, go out and vote on Nov. 5
We are, supposedly, a country dedicated to our idea of democracy.
We have our flags on our cars, our patriotic songs written by semi-famous country singers, and our ridiculous bumper stickers with the words of a dying man on them, i.e., "Let's roll."
We are determined to kill the Commies, terrorists, and just plain old "near" people of the world, as long as we can hold onto our Jr. Whoppers, Late Night Cinemax, and legal prostitution in the state of Nevada.
We strut around post-Sept. 11 with this thought in our simple little heads that this is how we have been acting all along, that we didn't just need a plane to fly into a couple of skyscrapers for us to
be as patriotic as all get out.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think this patriotic bandwagon all of America has jumped on needs its tires shot out.
As Nov. 5th approaches, it will be interesting to see just how many of the patriots of America will be willing to take the cell phone off their ear, or tear themselves away from a Spongebob Squarepants rerun to take five minutes to vote.
GUEST COMMENTARY
By the way, I did say opportunity, not right. Voting is not a right. America
More than half of the people of this country who are registered to vote are throwing their opportunity away in the Stars and Stripes trashcan they bought Sept. 12.
Meagan Kelleher opinion@kansan.com
could easily be another country, where we aren't as fortunate.
Instead of listening to tear-jerking renditions of "The Star Spangled Banner," the men of this country could be standing in line waiting to put in their "yes" ballot for Saddam Hussein.
According to the Student Legislative Awareness Board, 3.428 newly registered student voters are going to be
ratting all over themselves trying to get to the polls on the 5th. If only we were that lucky.
Oh, but silly me, I forgot how patriotic we all suddenly are.
I forgot that we care about this country, we care when we pollute it's water and it's air, we care when we cheat on our taxes, and we care when the Big K closes because where are we supposed to find discounted "America Rocks" window decals now?
Challenge those 3,428 registered voters to find their way to the voting booths. I challenge every registered voter in Kansas, Nebraska, or whatever state you may be in that will be holding elections in November.
1 challenge those people who aren't
registered to get up off their lazy haunches, stop complaining about the state this country is in and do something about it.
If you can find the energy to watch the America's Tribute to Heroes, then I think you can direct yourself to the nearest elections office and register yourself.
If you are such a pro-American patriot then you will vote because you actually do care, even if your vote is a miniscule percentage in a final tabulation.
If you don't, you are nothing but a hypocrite wearing a stupid flag t-shirt.
Kelleher is a Omaha, Neb. sophomore in journalism.
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For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
I was just wondering whose bright idea it was to actually admit Eric Borja to the Journalism school. If someone could let me know, that would be great.
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This is to all the KU drivers out there: I am a
pedestrian, and I have the right of way. Thank you.
front of Wescoe. I don't want to be walking around campus with a advertisement on my butt.
When you don't want to do homework, anything can be a good distraction.
front of Wescoe. I don't want to be walking around campus with a advertisement on my butt.
Note to GSP girls: the 6th and Crestline bus does not go to GSP. Do not get on the 6th and Crestline bus. Do not ask the 6th and Crestline bus driver if he goes to GSP. He does not. Do not argue with the 6th and Crestline driver when he says he does not go to GSP. He knows better than you. Do not pout when you cannot get to GSP, it's your own fault. In conclusion, GSP girls, do not get on the 6th and Crestline bus.
front of Wescoe. I don't want to be walking around campus with a advertisement on my butt.
To the person in their SUV who splashed me as I was walking home in the rain, thanks a lot you son of e... motherless goat.
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front of Wescoe. I don't want to be walking around campus with a advertisement on my butt.
I understand the popularity of using the biggest canvas on campus, the sidewalks, to voice opinions. But let's lay off the seats in
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I'm thinking that a lobotomy on Eric Boria would reveal a Nerf football soaking in Natural Light.
I'd just like to say congratulations to Carrie Robertson for the Zeta Tau president, and tell her that her first order of business should be to take the chalk away from all the members to keep them from writing on the sidewalk.
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For all you geography scholars out there, the Grand Canyon river is called the Colorado. Thank you.
Yeah, for every day this semester, this guy wore a visor to class, and this is a first day of the whole semester that he didn't wear a visor. Just thought I'd let you guys know, and Mizzou sucks.
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The cat's sitting on the other side of the room, and we can hear her nore. Is it bad that she snores louder than most humans?
It is a tragedy to have midterms on Halloween.
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This rabbit showed up in our back yard, and we gave it some candy corn so it would go away. But it didn't eat our candy corn, and now it's just been sitting out in our backyard staring at us. Can someone tell us how to make the rabbit go away?
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Deep thought from Jaimie. Did you know you have to add meat to Manwich?
With the weight of the world bearing down on me, I look to Homar Simpson.
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Fact of the day: The Inu are a group of Japanese inhabitants who only live in the northern part of the island.