UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, June 11. 1997
9
Divers find treasures in others' trash
One man's junk often becomes another's cash
Garbage for some people is a commodity for others. Many KU students have saved money and found valuable merchandise in dumpsters.
Rachelle Detweiler
Kansan staff writer
Cold dormitory floors made Rachel Milne, Halstead junior, a dumpster diver. She only had rugs covering the tile floor. And when she spotted a roll of green carpet in a dumpster, she hauled it out, scrubbed it and realized the value of garbage.
For some, diving is also an art form, like for John Hoffman who wrote the Art and Science of Dumpster Diving.
Dumpster diving is a way of life for some people. By not spending money on necessities, there is more money for luxuries. And it is an adventure, almost like getting a present every day wrapped in big metal containers.
Hoffman bases his lifestyle on dumpster diving, and he wrote that his home was furnished with salvaged furniture and that he has used dived deodorant and toothpaste.
The money he saves from diving helps him buy caviar to put on his dumpster-dived crackers.
He said that since the publication of his book in 1993, many opportunities had opened up for him, which included appearing on at least 60 radio shows throughout the United States, South America and Germany.
He said that he has had the same job and that he is currently working with psychiatric patients.
"When I'm working, I'll hear my voice on the radio," Hoffman said. "That's not good when you're surrounded by 60 paranoid maniacs."
Even though Hoffman has dumpster dived all his life, he wrote that he still was amazed at what he found in the garbage.
Milne said that she was surprised constantly that people throw away good, usable items. In cases like these, poking through trash helps her reap rewards from other's carelessness, she said.
"Many people look at it as trash," Milne said. "If it's out by the curb, they assume it's bad. It's a trash fear."
Milne said her thriftiness developed sub-consciously.
When Milne began college and money was tight, she started using garbage to save money. Milne now finds it hard to shop retail, and her thriftiness helps define who she is.
"It's a disease," Milne said. "But diseases don't have to be bad. It's the first good disease. Packrattiness."
"Many people look at is as trash. If it's out by the curb, they assume it's bad. It's a trash fear."
She said that getting caught digging through trash could be embarrassing but that it is unavoidable. Milne drove us to the dumpster behind Hastings Books Music and Video in the Southwest Plaza. Her car
To help explain her disease, Milne took me diving.
Rachel Milne
Halstead junior
already was full of odd bits of junk. A wire woman with a polyester shirt and ski cap rode in the back sea. And when the car turned, plastic farm animals rolled across the dash board.
When we pulled into the parking lot, three guys were walking into the store. "You go in the front," Milne said to the guys. "We'll go in the back."
Scavenging behind stores is the only way Milne would get a new book. She said that she rarely purchased new reading materials because if she could not find a book in the trash, she could read it free at the library.
Milne dived into the dumpster, picking up a board to move trash bags around. I was hesitant and spent most of the time staring at an employee taking a break behind Peking Restaurant.
We found nothing in the trash, but Tom Luxen, Hastings' manager, said that unsold books and newspapers were returned to regional or national vendors. Magazine are trashed, and the covers are returned to the vender.
As we drove to the next dumpster, Milne said that bad dive days did exist. The garbage is picked up too often at apartment complexes and all the good items end up in the junkyard.
Milne said that good dives at apartment complexes were usually spontaneous.
Hoffman said that dumpster diving deliberately was better than diving randomly. But he said that his book had helped dablers fine-tune their skills to find more diving opportunities.
Milne has developed an eye for spotting good garbage. Her favorite dumpster prize is a giant wooden television she noticed while driving home.
The television works, but it switches stations on its own, turns on and off by itself, and has sound and color problems, she said.
"We have not made a big issue if a person
"The first time anything went wrong with it, it did all its problems at once," Milne said. "It was a good show to put on for its new owner."
Anita Brown, supervisor of Lawrence's solid waste division, said that when an item was thrown away, it became city property
Joyce Simmert, an employee of Oaks Apartments, 1815 W. 24th St., knows that apartment complexes can be good dives. She said that divers cleared out most of the furniture and appliances before the trash collectors and that the divers were not a nuisance.
Even though dumpsters at complexes can be gold mines, Milne said that residential garbage was the best, especially in August when college students moved and junk was trashed.
"We have one guy that comes by everyday," Simmert said. "He actually climbs into the dumpster to get aluminum cans. We've never had any problems with him. He leaves no messes and cleans up before he goes away."
goes and removes items from the trash." Brown said. "So far no one has been charged for taking trash since the issue is not a pressing concern."
A person is more likely to have individuals press charges than the city. Brown said that it was better to ask permission before taking curb-side trash.
"When some people set items out, it's for the trash, and that's where it's supposed to go," Brown said.
Regardless of Brown's warning, an Ohio Street alley gave us our first find. Two broken fuses were wedged under a sack of flour. Milne wanted the fuses for an art project.
The problem was getting the prize from the dumpster. Neither of us could reach it and using sticks as diving tools only flipped flour over the dumpster's sides.
A tall man with long curly hair approached us. We stared into the dumpster, avoiding eye contact.
He stopped beside Milne and peered into the dumpster.
When he saw the fuses, he leaned into the dumpster, pulled out the fuses and dropped them into Milne's hands.
See DUMPSTER,Page 11
Student loans leading to deeper debts
Taking larger loans makes payback hard
Regina Cassell
Kansan staff writer
When Kristie Davis graduated from the University of Kansas in 1986, she only owed $5,000 in loans. The young nurse paid it off in a year and a half.
Davis thought her loan debt was average at the time. Today's students walk away from the University owing an average of $13,345 in loans, statistics show. In all, KU students borrow an average of $40 million to $45 million a year. Unfortunately, the number of students going into debt is growing.
"The bad news is that more and more students are taking out loans every year," Julie Cooper, associate director of the Office of Financial Aid, said. "If you don't need it, don't take it." she said.
A student with the average loan will be paying $164 dollars a month, according to the committee's fact sheet. In addition, the committee estimates that a salary of $19,642 will be necessary to pay off the loan, considering that 10 percent of gross income goes to repayment.
Frank DeSalvo, chair of the Student Affairs Research Committee, said his committee is working on educating students about going into debt.
"We're hoping the information will cause people to think about borrowing money," DeSalvo said.
DeSalvo said the fact sheet was based on research conducted by the committee a few years ago.
"Our effort is to distribute this information and make it readable for students," DeSalvo said.
Tabbath Householder, Lamar, Mo., senior, said she would graduate with more than $15,000 in loans.
"We're hoping the information will cause people to think about borrowing money."
Student Affairs Reasearch Committee
"I had a feeling that I'd have a lot of student loans," Householder said. "My parents can't pay for everything."
"I was able to pay off my loan quickly because I wasn't married, and my only debt was my school loan," said Davis, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in nursing.
With an interest rate of 8 percent, it would cost $61 a month for 10 years to pay off a $5,000 loan. Of course, making bigger monthly payments not only wipes the debt away faster, but it also ends up saving the borrower interest money.
Depending on the amount of money owed, most students pay off their loans on a standard 10-year repayment plan.
Householder said that she expected to take the full 10 years to repay her loans and that she was working on paying off a minimal credit card debt.
Based again on an 8 percent interest rate, a student owing the average $15,000 is looking at paying $182 dollars a month for 10 years.
According to the College Press Service, the average student loan was $7, 675 in 1990 and $2,500 in 1980.
Freshmen don't think about all the money they will owe four years down the line, said Cooper, who encourages students to study the short- and long-term effects of borrowing money.
Growing student debt goes beyond traditional school loans. Some students have found themselves owing a less friendly establishment: credit card companies. Four years of living on credit and taking out loans to pay for college can create real pressure to find a job and establish a budget immediately after school.
Credit cards end up costing everyone, Cooper said. The University quit accepting credit cards for tuition payment earlier this year because it had to pay every time a student used a card. Students may not think about how much money a credit card really costs them, Cooper said.
"We've seen it more in the last 10 years that at age 18, students have credit cards and are used to more things," Cooper said.
A set budget can keep students from racking up a crushing debt when they graduate. Although repayment options seem to only apply to graduating seniors, it's important to think about how large amounts of money will be paid back before borrowing.
"Credit cards start with the extras, but then the payments make it necessary to use it for the necessities." Cooper said.
"Students need to realize the short- and long-term cost of something," Cooper said. "We're seeing too many people resort to bankruptcies."
Cooper said some student's parents ran into money problems and then the problem filtered down to the student. Bankruptcy is an option the Financial Aid office works to avoid. Cooper said.
"When you don't make a payment for 180 days, your loan is in default," said Karen VanMeter, who manages the lender relations and college services for the Lawrence branch of SallieMae, a national agency that buys loans from banks.
Students in debt
Understand who owns your loans and communicate with them
Put money toward principle
Take a class on debt management if you're having problems
Know that credit cards are very dangerous
Always pay more on credit cards and loan payments when possible
Know your rights as borrowers
VanMeter said students should keep careful track of all loan papers and promissory notes.
Avoiding default keeps the federal government from garnisheeing wages and withholding tax returns.
SallieMae, like the federal government, gives students a variety of loan repayment choices. Although lower monthly payments end up costing students more in the long run, these options are available to keep students from defaulting on a loan, VamMeter said.
"I think most people are overwhelmed and don't know where to start," Van-Meter said. "It's our job to make it understandable."
Students can also examine incomebased plans where a percentage of their earnings are set aside for loan payments, VanMeter said.
Forbearance gives students a period of time to stop payments without a reason, but interest does accrue and is added on to the balance, VanMeter said.
The biggest thing for students to know is that they need to communicate with their lenders
Both Cooper and VanMeter recommend that students consider using their graduation money to pay on the principle of their loans. Any payments made during the grace period help reduce the amount of money a student pays interest on.
The Associated Press
Supplier indicted for concealing origin of tainted berries
SAN DIEGO — A strawberry processing plant that sold berries tainted with hepatitis A to the federal school lunch program lied when it claimed the fruit had been grown domestically, an indictment unsealed yesterday charged.
Andrew & Williamson Sales Co. concealed that its strawberries were grown in Mexico when it sold the berries, the indictment charged.
It is illegal to sell foreign-grown produce to the National School Lunch Program, which is administered by the Department of Agriculture.
The contaminated berries sickened 198 Michigan students and teachers in April, hospitalizing about 20. Children in other states were vaccinated as a preventive measure because they may have eaten berries supplied by A&W.
A&W and former president Frederick L. Williamson were charged yesterday with one count of defrauding the United States, three counts of
making false statements and 43 counts of false claims.
Williamson resigned after the outbreak. He was scheduled to be arraigned today.
A company salesman, Richard H. Kershaw, pleaded guilty in May to three counts of misleading the government. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 11 and authorities said he would testify against his colleagues.
The government has not filed charges against the company related to the contamination. Federal officials said scientific limitations prevent identification of the source of hepatitis A.
The company said in a statement that it cooperated in the investigation and was wrongly charged.
"We operate from a principle of playing by the rules," the company said. "We believed we were following the law."
Hepatitis A is an infectious disease that causes liver inflammation. Symptoms are fatigue, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea and jaundice.