friday, december 8, 1978
daily nebraskan
page 3
Consumers warned against holiday credit extensions
By Kini Wilt
Holiday bill-paying is as much of a fact of life as last
minute Christmas shopping, and just as unpleasant. When
the holiday season is over, and the tree has been taken
down and the ornaments put away until next year, most
people sigh with relief that Christmas is over for another
twelve months.
consumer byline
That is, until the bills come in. But many credit card
companies and banks are again offering to extend credit
or delay bill payments, as they have done in Christmases
past, according to Janet Wilson, UNL consumer education
specialist.
"Some banks will tell consumers to skip their Decem
ber (loan) payments, or just skip the interest," Wilson
said. The delayeu payment will eventually be charged as
extra interest, she said, which is something many people
are not aware of.
"Holiday dollars" which are credit pans offered to
credit card and charge account customers, are popular and
used by stores arourid Christmas time. Brandeis is one
such Lincoln store, according to Wilson.
Credit extension
"Holiday dollars" customers are given a certain amount
n qi hdT3
If jjl t
UNL Department of Poli
tical Science is sponsoring a
symposium on "Humanistic
Perspectives on Agricultural
Issues" at the Nebraska Cen
ter Saturday, Dec. 9 at 8:30
a.m.
Today is the last day ap
plications are being accep
ted for the Nebraska Union
Board. Apply in Room 115
of the Nebraska Union.
Alpha Zeta is sponsoring
a Pancake Feed to raise
money for their scholarship
fund. The feed is Dec. 10,
4:30-7:30 p.m. in the
Nebraska East Union.
Dr. Norman Sutin, from
the Brookhaven National
Laboratory, will speak on
"Energy Barriers in Thermal
and Photochemical Electron
Transfer Reactions" Dec. 8,
at 3:30 pjn. in 112 Hamil
ton Hall. Coffee will be
served at 3 pjn.
Beta Alpha Psi sponsors
an accounting lab in CBA
Room 120 Monday, 3:30-5
p.m. and in CBA 123,6:30
8 p.m. Beta Alpha Psi mem
bers will be available to ans
wer or discuss any questions
you may have on beginning
accounting material.
Brown Bag meeting to
talk about campus environ-
short stuff CSL votes to keep
all duties but judicial
ment is Dec. 8, at 12:15
p.m. in the East Union.
Farm and Business sup
plements for the 1979-80
financial aids forms are now
available to those students
who did not receive one.
You may pick one up in the
office of Scholarships and
Financial Aid room 1 13 Administration.
calendar
8 ajn.-5 pjn.-ETV.
Pewter Room
12 p.m. -Muslim Student
Association, Room 202 A
12 p jn.-Student affairs
Brown Bag Discussion.
Room 232
12 p.m.-lO pjn.- Iranian
Student Association, S.
Conf. Room
1:30 pjn .-University
Information Hightower
news conference, Room 242
2 p.m. Task Force on
Nebraska Unions, Room
216
6 p.m.-lO pjn. Iranian
Student Association, Audi
torium 6:30 pjn .-Teachers Col
lege Women's Club dinner,
Ballroom
7 pjn.-Muslini Student
Association, Room 337
Booths
4 A -Ski Club
By Lucy Bighia
The Council on Student Life voted Thursday night to
continue functioning and keep all current responsibilities
except judicial responsibilities, and that such judicial
responsibilities be vested in another appropriate group no
later than the end of the 1979 spring semester.
CSL voted down two proposals, one presented by
ASUN and one by Chancellor Roy Young, which would
have restructured CSL.
ASUN's proposal restructured CSL to include four
students, four faculty members and four administrators
who would report directly to the chancellor.
The chancellor's proposal would have transformed CSL
to a student affairs advisory committee, which would re
port directly to Vice Chancellor Richard Armstrong.
ASUN president Ken Marienau said that making CSL
into an advisory committee would defeat the purpose of
restructuring CSL.
"I'm afraid that many items will be referred to that ad
visory committee that are now sent to ASUN," Marienau
said. "I see it as reducing ASUN's status if that committee
was set up."
In other action, CSL refused to act on an appeal by
Randall Jauken for the UNL chapter of YAF and UNL
YAF president Jeff Chizek.
Jauken said he was appealing because he and his clients
felt that the student court's decision in the ASUN-YAF
case went against the weight of the evidence. He also said
that many of the defendants' rights had been violated
during the proceedings.
CSL voted to advise Vice Chancellor Armstrong to con
struct an appropriate body to deal with the appeal, as
suming that something will be set up by the beginning
of next semester.
Red Cross
j is counting
of credit, with no billing or finance charges until
February. "You are given the so-called opportunity to
spend money now and not be billed for it until Febru
ary," Wilson said. "It tends to encourage overspending."
She said customers should make sure they are being
charged for waiting to pay, and cautioned that there is a
danger of becoming financially over-extended. No interest
is charged if the amount of the bill is paid in full, she said,
but most credit card customers are not required to pay
the entire amount, and do not do so. Then, interest would
be charged, she said.
A cash advance on a credit card is another popular form
of holiday credit. Wilson said a person wishing to receive a
cash advance would go to a bank that issues the credit
card, present the card and ask that a certain amount of
cash be put into his account. There is a charge for the
service, she said, and also added interest to pay when the
bills are due.
Payment plan
These delayed-payment plans have become increasingly
popular over the years, as credit and charge accounts have
been used more, she said. Some form of these plans is
available in every part of the country, according to
Wilson.
What if the bill is due and you can't pay? "Most
department stores are set up on a partial payment plan,
with a minimum amount you need to pay each time,"
Wilson said. "You should pay that first, but it does in
crease the amount of interest you end up paying.
"If you can't pay that, then, especially with a national
credit card, the store goes to a credit bureau. That can
affect your credit rating," she said. Before the credit
collection bureau is called in, the store or bank might
grant a grace period, she said, and simply add the unpaid
amount on to the next bill.
However, if the store decides to go to a credit agency,
it does not necessarily mean phone calls at 1 a.m., or
where you work. A federal law has recently been passed
which protects the person who owes money from being
harassed, Wilson said.
The law, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, is
designed "to protect the debtor from scare tactics,"
Wilson said. However, she said, this does not apply to
establishments that handle their own debt collections, she
said.
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