Credit cards present benefits and hassles
By Julie Sobczyk
Start Reporter "
When Chad Duncan, a senior business ma
jor, first came to UNL, he got a credit card and
soon discovered the power it could hold.
With the power, he also learned that having
credit was a big responsibility.
Duncan said he got in over his head after he
began charging close to his $500 credit limit.
“I charged too much, and it took longer to
pay it off,” Duncan said. “I didn’t need to spend
that money.”
Duncan was not alone. Credit card compa
nies often aim their promotions at college
students.
Bruce Reid, executive director for media
relations at AT&T Universal Card Center in
Jacksonville, Fla., said credit card companies
targeted college students to form a credit rela
tionship with them.
“If we obtain the customer at a younger age,
we have a chance of retaining the customer for
a longer time,” Reid said.
Reid said AT&T Universal offered free gifts
at college campuses to entice students to apply
for Visa and MasterCard credit cards.
“College students can be attracted to a free
offer,” he said. “Hopefully a student won’t be
attracted by a free T-shirt or candy bar. Hope
fully the decision goes a lot deeper.”
Having a card could also offer students
many benefits, Reid said.
“It’s many students’ first time with credit,
and if it’s a positive experience, it can be
beneficial,” he said.
Another benefit of AT&T’s card is that in
addition to a credit card, it also can function as
a calling card and an ATM cash card.
One way to make the credit experience
positive for students is to pay closer attention to
student accounts. “We monitor the college ac
counts closer, set lower credit limits and higher
minimum payments,” he said. “Maintaining
credit is important, and blemishes can stay
with you for a long time.”
Gordon Opp, president of the Credit Bureau
of Lincoln, said a common way credit became
bad was by not making the monthly payments.
Delinquent accounts, which are noted on
one’s credit record, can make good credit turn
bad, Opp said.
Applying for too many credit cards can
harm students’ credit rating also, he said.
“That looks bad, because suppose you apply
for eight or 10 credit cards. If you max them all
out, you could be in debt,” he said.
Opp said students needed to realize the
importance of maintaining good credit before
they applied for credit cards.
“The way you use the power of credit can
matter for employment,” he said. “Some em
ployers do check, and it can matter if the job
requires you to handle money.”
Bad credit also can make it impossible for
additional cards to be obtained, he said.
If a student has bad credit, there is only one
remedy.
“Time erases bad credit,” he said. “There is
no other way, unless the credit card company
wants it to be erased.”
On a credit report, customers’ identification
information is listed, along with information
such as bankruptcies and tax liens, Opp said.
Credit history information, such as when
the account was opened, payment information
and the account balance also is on file.
For students who have bad credit, help is
available. Marty Habrock, financial counselor
at Consumer Credit Card Counseling, said the
agency could help students get back on track.
“We help them negotiate payments if they
can’t make them, and we do budget counsel
ing,” Habrook said.
The counselors look at the students’ in
comes and can help them work out a payment
schedule with their creditors.
“Credit card companies target students as
soon as they get on campus,” he said. “Students
don’t have the best income to comer debt, and
they can get behind.”
Habrook said his service was a non-profit
organization, and all counseling was free.
■ Problems with credit develop, of
course, when you miss monthly
payments. Accounts then become
delinquent, leading to a bad credit
rating. Applying for too many credit
cards can harm ratings, also, as
credit can spread out.
■ Good credit is important because
some employers, especially for jobs
where you would handle money,
check backgrounds. Bad credit
also can make it impossible for
additional cards to be obtained.
■ Bad credit can be erased only
with time.
■ Credit reports list customers’
identification information and
information such as bankruptcies
and tax liens. Credit history
information, such as when the
account was opened, payment
information and the account
balance also is on file.
■ For students with bad credit, help
is available through financial
counselors.
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respecting the rights of others. We will meet for 7 weeks, WEDNESDAYS,
February 1-March 15 from 2:30-4 50pm. If interested, contact Sue at Counseling
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The Computing Resource Center is offering free
microcomputer classes to UNL students. The classes
feature an introduction to Microsoft Word for the
Macintosh. No reservations are required. Call 472-0515 if
you have any questions.
Introduction to Microsoft Word for Macintosh
Monday, January 30 2:30 - 3:20 p.m. Andrews 17
ASUN invites
all students
to luncheon
From Staff Reports
ASUN will host its annual
luncheon with state senators at
noon today at the Wick Alumni
Center, 16th and R streets.
Twenty-seven senators have
accepted an invitation to the
open event, and Shawntell
Hurtgen, Government Liaison
Committee chairwoman, said ,
she expected about that many to
attend.
Hurtgen said the format for
the one-hour-lunch would be
one-on-one.
“It’s just a good time for stu
dents to be laid back and talk to
state senators or ASUN sena
tors, to tell them what they’re
concerned about,” she said.
Hurtgen encouraged all stu
dents to attend, especially since
the Legislature is deciding the
university’s budget this year.
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Literature - French - Geology - German - History -
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Columbia University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution.
Work-a-Day program
lends a helping hand
By Ken Paulman
Staff Reporter
Lawyers don’t work for free.
That was the myth that more than
100 University of Nebraska College
of Law students, faculty and staff
tried to dispel Saturday at Work-a
Day 1995.
Work-a-Day, a nationwide com
munity service day, is sponsored by
the American Bar Association. The
event provides law students with an
opportunity to become more aware of
the needs of their community by do
ing service work. This is the fourth
year the college has participated, ABA
Law Student Representative Shelly
Pogreba said.
The volunteers met at 8 a.m. at the
College of Law to pick up their as
signments for the day. Some of the
community centers involved included
Cedars Home for Children, Lincoln
City Mission, Capital Humane Soci
ety and Lighthouse.
The volunteers worked mainly on
tasks that the centers were normally
too busy or understaffed to complete,
such as cleaning and maintenance.
By 9 a.m., law students Mandy
Trimble and Michelle Halleen found
themselves scrubbing down walls at
Cedars Home for Children. Even in
the midst of a seemingly thankless
task, the volunteers stayed upbeat.
“This has inspired me to go home
and clean my own apartment,”
Trimble said.
But both the volunteers and the
centers’ administrators knew the im
portance of the work.
Trimble said the event demon
strated the need for more volunteer
work in Lincoln.
“We never have a shortage of places
to go,” Trimble said.
Stephanie Buchanan, support ser
vices coordinator at Cedars Home for
Children, said she appreciated the
volunteers’ efforts.
“Volunteers do over half of our
work,” she said. “We wouldn’t be
able to do this without them.”
T.J. McDowell, facility manager
at Lighthouse, agreed.
“It’s very helpful,” he said. “We
don’t always get people helping us.”
Forensics team’s season
off to an impressive start
From Staff Reports
At a university where sports can be
king, it becomes easy to forget other
competitors.
Even the most vocal ones.
But the Comhusker Forensics team
is not letting obscurity stand in the
way of its accomplishments. The team
has placed in the top five at every
tournament it has attended this year,
including second-place finishes at
Nebraska Wesleyan and Wayne State
tournaments, said graduate assistant
David Tschida.
“We’re off to a lot faster start this
year,” said Kara Hitchcock, a senior
speech communication major.
Team members compete in a range
of events. Public speaking events,
such as informative and persuasive
speaking, require competitors to write
and present their own material.
Interpretation events involve read
ing dramatic scenes, poetry and other
selections. Competitors also go head
to-head in debate.
Individuals compete to qualify at
national tournaments at the end of the
year. The most prestigious of these is
the American Forensics Association
tournament held in April at the Uni
versity of Wisconsin at Eau Claire.
Hitchcock already has qualified
for the tournament in one event.
Besides the thrill of competition,
being involved in forensics has many
other benefits for its participants.
“It’s something I enjoy,” said Carla
Ward, a sophomore psychology ma
jor, “and you also leam very useful
and practical skills.”
Impact
Continued from Page 1
“We have people on our ticket
from every different area of campus,”
she said. “We will represent students.”
Marintzer said the ticket consisted
of individuals who had worked with
the university administration and fac
ulty, as well as a crew of new faces.
“So far, we have a good slate of
very good, resourceful people who
are working hard toward campus
wide goals,” he said.
The key to Impact is teamwork,
Hurtgen said. Through serious team
work, she said, party members are
working together to reach out to stu
dents.
“As a team, we’re trying to go out
to students instead of making them
come to us,” Hurtgen said.
Hurtgen and Marintzer said con
cerns such as student advising, park
ing and building maintenance had
been expressed by students.
Impact seeks to include students
in ASUN and to make promises that
can be kept, Hurtgen said.
“We’re working hard,” she said.
“We are aggressively making stu
dents a part of the system they’re
paying for.”