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Wednesday, June 15, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Help arrives for debtors
By Aracelia Perez
Kansan staff writer
A new service in Lawrence allows people with serious debt problems to pay their bills, manage a budget and still meet daily living expenses.
Consumer Credit Counseling Service, a division of Housing and Credit Counseling of Topeka, opened in Lawrence on June 2. It is a non-profit organization set up as an alternative to bankruptcy for people who are having financial difficulties and are trying to pay their debts.
"Our clients generally fall into two groups," said Karen Hiller, director of the service. "The first group has gotten sucked into using credit cards and has a high-dollar credit debt. The other group has been living on the edge all along, and something such as an injury or layoff has pushed them over."
Consumer Affairs Association, 819 Vermont St., offered credit counseling in the 1970s, said Camille Dalager, its director. It was discontinued because it ran out of money. The service was brought back to Lawrence through CCCS because lawyers and financial planners, such as Lawrence's Harold Pearce, kept getting calls from people asking for help in paying their bills.
"I am a financial planner," said Pearce. "I give counseling on how to invest money, but people would see my name in the yellow pages and call."
Pearce searched for a service to refer those calls to. After realizing one was no longer available in
Lawrence, he and others, such as Dalager, lobbied for CCCs to come to Lawrencе and handle the demand for debt-counseling services.
In Topeka, about 40 percent of the people who have gone to CCCS for budget counseling have been placed in a debt-repayment program. In the program, a counselor meets with the debtor, puts him on a budget and sets aside money for living expenses. The client signs a contract promising to pay the rest of his income to CCCS, which then will distribute the money among his creditors.
If a debtor has credit cards, he must agree to relinquish them to keep from incurring any other debts.
The creditors, in turn, must agree not to call the debtor at home or at work, Hiller said. They also must agree not to garnishe wages, which may not leave the debtor money to pay his bills.
There are no second chances with CCCS. If the debtor fails to make his repayment once, the agency withdraws from the case. Then the debtor is vulnerable to any collection action that creditors might take.
The program is in a one-year trial in Lawrence. Its success will depend on the need for the service and creditors' willingness to cooperate.
"We want to make the service work in Lawrence," said Hiller. "Right now we only have appointments available on Thursday, but we hope to expand as the need increases.
"We're not talking overnight solutions. We're talking big. Budgets are
super tools that people need to get control of."
Since its inception in Topeka three years ago, the agency says it has returned more than $800,000 to creditors.
Although the average client at CCCS is in his 30s and has children, students often fall into financial difficulties because they have had to borrow money to attend school. When they graduate, they expect to find a job that will cover their loans as well as living expenses, Hiller said.
Often they have just bought a new car or have moved to a nicer apartment, and then the credit-card bills start coming in, and the money to pay isn't there.
This is where CCCS can help someone who is just starting out and doesn't want to ruin his credit.
The service is open to anyone. Appointments are available Thursdays through the Consumer Affairs Association. Debtors must pay a one-time fee of $20, which is used for administrative costs. Pearce has donated some office space at 706 Massachusetts St. for the program to use until it can get its own office.
Although the agency does receive some financing from the United Way, it asks the businesses that receive repayment through the program to donate 15 percent of the money they recover. Most agree because this is less expensive than lawyers' fees and court costs. Also, this donation is tax-deductible as a contribution or as a cost of collection. Hiller said.
On Campus
- An Affirmative Action workshop titled "Persons with Disabilities" will be at 10 a.m. today in the Pine Room of the Kansas Union.
An SUA movie, "The Pope of Greenwich Village," will be shown at 7 p.m. tomorrow and Friday in Woodland Park, the Kansas Union. Admission is $2.
A Midwestern Music Camp jazz concert will be at 7 p.m. Friday in Swarthout Recital Hall of Murphy Hall.
The Clyde W. Tombaugh Observatory in Lindley Hall will have an open house, if the sky is clear, at 9 p.m.
Friday
Two Midwestern Music Concert parks — choirs and orchestras at 1 a.m. and bands at 2 p.m. — will be Saturday in Crafton-Preyer Theatre
A workshop in "Training for Potential Strategies Intervention Model Trainers," given by the Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities, will be all day Monday through June 24 in the Pioneer and Rock Chalk rooms of the Burge Union.
A gallery talk by Stephen Goddard, curator of prints and drawings at Spencer Museum of Art, on "Prairie Print Makers" at 2 10am in the museum.
A conference on "Children and Poverty," sponsored by the department of human development and family life, will be all day Monday through Wednesday in the Watkins Room of the Kansas Union.
- Academic Computing Services will offer a workshop in "Intermediate Pagenmaker" at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Computer Center.
A support group for "Smart Women Who Love Too Much" will be at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in conference room #1472, Resource Center, 708 W. Ninth St.
A Midwestern Music Camp faculty-staff recital will be at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Swarthout Recital Hall of Murphy Hall.
- An IBM-compatible workshop in "Special Features of dBase III" will be at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Computer Center.
An unclassified staff meeting will be at noon Wednesday in the Jayhawk Room of the Kansas Union.
Grad's death prompts journalism scholarship
By Aracelia Perez
Kansan staff writer
Sue Parell, a 1978 KU graduate and co-anchor at television station WTOL in Toledo, Ohio, considered herself a reporter first. Now, a scholarship in her memory will aid in the education of future journalists.
Parcell died June 8 of a brain aneurysm. She was 31.
"Sue Parcell was a humanitarian," said Patr Spunk, news photographer for WTOL.
in memory of her interest in humanity,her family and the University of Kansas have established a scholarship in her name.
The scholarship will go to a woman who wants to pursue a career in broadcast journalism, said Mary Wallace, assistant dean of journalism. The requirements and terms of the scholarship have not been established.
After graduation, Parcell spent nearly 10 years working at television station WDAF in Kansas City, Mo.
Howard Bernstein, a producer at WDAF, described her as the personification of professionalism with the ability to handle any assignment.
While on assignment in China, she became ill with viral gastroenteritis and viral encephalitis. She was in China to check on the Toledo Zoo's progress in getting on loan two giant pandas from China.
In November 1987, Parcell joined WTL as co-anchor.
She returned to Toledo to recuperate. It was not known whether the diseases contributed to her death, James Patrick in a news release.
Contributions to the fund are coming from Parcell's family, WDAF, WTOL and several viewers in the Toledo area. Cosmos Broadcasting, parent company of WTOL, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the employer of Parcell's father, also will contribute.
The family requests that memorials be sent to the Sue Parcell Scholarship Fund in care of the School of Journalism.
Lawrence City Band begins park concert season tonight
By a Kansan reporter
The Lawrence City Band will sound off with its first concert of the summer season at 8 p.m. today in the bandstand of South Park.
The concerts traditionally are conducted by Bill Kelly, but the first two concerts this summer will be conducted by Robert Foster, the University of Kansas' director of bands. He has conducted the band on many occasions, and he has played trumpet in the band.
"When Bill needs me to help, I'm happy to help." Foster said. "It's about a 50-piece band, made up of a real neat cross section of the communal
The concerts in the park usually draw hundreds of listeners, who seat
He said the first concert would feature a piece the band had never performed before, "Circus Band March" by Karl King. The performance also will include marches by John Phillip Sousa.
themselves on blankets and lawn chairs and often bring picnic suppers, Foster said.
The concerts will be held every Wednesday at 8 p.m. through July 27, said Fred DeVictor, director of Lawrence Parks and Recreation.
Foster said the Lawrence Band could trace its history to the first musical group in the Kansas Territory, a band formed in Lawrence in 1854.
The series is co-sponsored by Lawrence Parks and Recreation and Local 512 of the Musician's Union.
Story Idea?
Coming this FALL to NAISMITH HALL
DINE ANYTIME
Call 864-4810
Naismith Hall, already known as Kansas' prestigious private residence hall, now
announces "DINE ANYTIME' an innovative idea in meal service that guarantees you'll never miss another meal again because of a class conflict. With this new program you can dine anytime between breakfast and dinner Monday Friday.
Now leasing for FALL '88 semester.
For more information and a tour come by or call.
with host Rachel Hunter An evening of good music, humor and fun featuring special guests:
Last Kansas Exit Streetside pianist Jack Winerock Bluestem The Imagination Workshop
★ Bill Crahan ★ The Imagination Workshop
WHERE TO CALL? Readers who have ideas for stories or photographs may call the Kansan at 864-4810.
Saturday, June 18 8:00 p.m.
LIBERTY HALL
(7th and Massachusetts)
For ideas about campus and area coverage and On Campus items, ask for Brian Baresch, campus editor, or Jeff Moberg, assistant campus editor.
TICKETS: $3.00 gen.admission / children under 12 free but must acquire ticket. Available at: Liberty Hall box office / Massachusetts Street Music / Litwin's West in Topeka KANU Studios. Call 913-864-5100 to order by credit card - MC/ VISA/ AMEX.
For sports, ask for Tom Stinson, sports editor.
r or photos, ask for Dale Fulkerson, photo editor.
To discuss problems or complaints, ask for Laird MacGregor, editor, or David White, managing editor.
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