4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 22.2008
FINANCES
Organizations counsel students on personal debt
BY RYAN MCGEENEY
rmcgeeney@kansan.com
When University graduates enter the workforce in the months following their walk down the hill, the mountain of accumulated debt from college may prove to be a heavier burden than they anticipated.
According to Robert Baker, education coordinator and counselor at the Housing and Credit Counseling Institute in Lawrence, people are using credit reports more often to determine eligibility for cell phone plans, insurance rates and even employment.
"You're just going to find that you have less choice in general for anything that involves a credit reference, especially for loans," Baker said.
Baker estimated that he and other counselors at the Institute saw between 40 and 50 KU students each month. He said many of them made their first visit when the six-month grace period on government student loans ended.
"When we see students post-graduation, often it will be at the end of summer or early fall," said Baker, who noted that graduates who seek debt counseling were often already reaching a crisis
point.
"They're seeing what that 10-year repayment schedule is. They're seeing what their final take-home pay is going to be, and there's a disconnect there."
John Wade, a psychologist with KU Counseling and Psychological Services, said debt often contributed to the stress that clients at the University's clinic were dealing with. Despite that observation, he said, there were no statistics pointing to debt-related stress as a primary complaint of individuals seeking psychological counseling.
"I've worked with clients for whom finances are a real concern
and stress in their lives," Wade said, "but I'm not sure if I've ever had a client whose main concern is just that. We're stressed because we're busy, because we're crunched for money, because our debt is increasing, and often, those issues stay in the background."
Baker said procrastination in dealing with debt issues further exacerbated financial stress.
"I would say that about half the clients we see wait until things are in the crisis stage," Baker said. "About 25 percent of all former students who come in with student loan concerns, it's not when they realize they might not be able to
afford it, it's when it's gone into default, and now they're in danger of garnishment or collection by a third party."
Stephanie Covington, associate director of the Office of Student Financial Aid, is part of the Financial Literacy Task Force, a project that began in August with the goal of educating students on the use of credit and other financial instruments. Covington said that a main goal of the task force was to preempt the difficulties that a growing number of students were encountering with their debt.
"We've looked at what's going on
nationally and want to be proactive in determining the needs of KU students," Covington said. The Office of Student Financial Aid posted a financial literacy guide on its Web site. www. financioaid ku.edu
"Finances are a big reason that students may drop out of school," Covington said. "There's a lot of data that suggests that students have, looking back, admitted to making mistakes with their money. We just want to make sure that students know what resources are available to them."
— Edited by Brenna Hawley
'Superstition ain't the way'
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A cat wanders through a backyard filled with pumpkins Monday in Kenova, W.Va. With only one weekend remaining before Halloween, opportunities to make traditional visits to pumpkin patches are running out.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN THE SEARCH FOR THE SHIRT ?
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GOTO to submit your ideas KANSAN.COM/THESHIRT
At the end of almost every day, Steve Sobczak recalls the same thing: He bought two bags of chips, two bottles of soda and lunch — all of which were on campus.
Sobczak, Kansas City, Mo. graduate student, is one of many students choosing to eat on campus to avoid wasting expensive gasoline, among other reasons. As a result, KU Dining Services is seeing more student activity and larger revenues than ever before.
DINING
editor@kansan.com
Campus eateries enjoy record profits, increased student traffic
BY JACOB MUSELMANN
Alecia Stultz, assistant director of dining retail, said every dining venue on campus had 100 more customers per day on average since last year. This increase is due, in part, to the enrollment of 30,102 students this year — the largest the University has ever had.
"It's almost awful — it's like I can't go fast enough," Emma Swendson, Atchison freshman and
Hawk Shop employee, said of the increased student traffic. "I'm getting frustrated, and so are they"
Each year, KU Dining Services tries to increase its revenues by 3 to 5 percent, Stultz said. Last year, the highest sales day for The Underground was $18,181. Stultz said the Underground surpassed that figure an average of once a week this year.
KU Dining Services spent about $8,000 this year for outdoor seating to alleviate crowding at The Underground. This is the third consecutive year Dining Services has expanded outdoor accommodations.
Because of rising food costs, students are also spending more when they eat at campus dining locations. The average amount students spend per visit has increased to $4.28 per meal, up from $3.98 last year.
"It's been challenging for us," David Mucci, director of KU Memorial Unions, said. "We weren't expecting the explosion in
food costs that we've had."
KU Dining Services also launched its "Lose the Lids" campaign, an effort to reduce waste by moving lids and straws beyond the cash registers in campus eateries. It resulted in a 60 percent decrease in 32-ounce lid usage since the beginning of the year, which has saved approximately 3,000 lids and $108.
Stultz said that the little money saved was always quickly spent elsewhere.
"That money can go toward four cases of crunchy chicken for the crunchy chicken cheddar wraps," Stultz said.
The next step for KU Dining Services was to use eco-friendly cardboard salad containers. The new containers are 11 cents cheaper than the old containers with lids. Stultz said Dining Services was trying to reduce its use of Styrofoam and petroleumbased products.
Edited by Mary Sorrick
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