Preventing further debt: The dangers of credit cards

By Jeff Trull

When I applied for and received my first credit card, I told myself that I would only use it to buy gas. I planned to pay the full balance each month, and use the card only to build up good credit. My plan couldn’t have gone more wrong. Now I, along with many other college students, have amassed fairly large credit card debt. The average undergraduate student owes roughly $2,200 on their plastic counterparts. The problem of credit card debt now appears intrinsic not only to adults in the United States but to college students as well.

My original allure to acquiring a credit card was to build up my credit score. At age seventeen I wasn’t entirely sure of the impact it would have. But my parents agreed that it would benefit me in the long run when I needed to take out a loan. I applied for a Visa card online and voila, it arrived at my door a couple weeks later. For the first few years, I stuck to my promise making one or two purchases a month with my card and then paying off the balance in full. I always made sure to pay every month and on time. When college rolled around, things began to change.

During my junior year of college, I decided it would be a good idea to get a “rewards” card. These cards offer cash back or airline miles for each purchase made. I thought it would be great to buy my groceries with one of these cards and earn five percent back on each purchase. For the first few months, I still paid off my credit card balance in full. But being back at college soon caught up with me. My part-time job did not bring in a lot of money, and I started to use my credit card for other purchases (I’ll admit, budgeting money is not a strength of mine). Soon enough, I could no longer afford to pay off my entire balance each month. Now that I carried a balance on my credit card, I learned what the letters “APR” stand for.

Annual percentage rate, or APR, is the interest rate applied to the loan amount (which is your balance) by the bank. Unfortunately, rewards cards typically have higher APRs, as mine was at 18.24%. On top of my lingering credit card balance, these finance charges were being tacked on. Ouch!

Credit cards are troublesome for many reasons. Credit cards are a means to pay for something — except not actually have to pay for it out of your pocket right away. They are often more convenient than carrying cash, especially when making large purchases. But, for those who struggle at budgeting like I do, credit cards can lead to spending money that hasn’t even been earned yet. I found myself making purchases with my credit card because I did not need to have the cash in hand, and I knew I wouldn’t really have to worry about having to pay for it until later on. Thus, I got burned.

I do think that it’s okay for college students to have credit cards. As long as students are responsible with them, there can be no harm. However, I would recommend that students have only one card. There is simply no reason to carry multiple credit cards, especially if you plan to pay off the balance each month. If spending does start to increase, having only one will at least keep some limitation as to how high the balance can go. It’s definitely important to set limits on spending and adhere to these limits.

Secondly, I would suggest that students educate themselves when applying and using credit cards. There are credit card offers flying around everywhere. Numerous offers arrive via my mailbox each week. There are cards with all sorts of brands and logos on them. Facebook even advertises a Chase +1 card, which is supposedly geared towards college students. There are all sorts of rewards, cash back, and zero APR introductory offers as well. Don’t be fooled: read the fine print. Know the APR of the card you are applying for and what the APR means. For example, the APR on the Chase +1 card is variable between 18.24 and 23.24 percent, which is fairly high. Since interest is compounded monthly on credit cards, roughly 2% interest will be applied each month for balances that carry over.

This may not sound like much, but when debt reaches the thousands, the interest piles up quickly. Interest will continue to add up if only minimum payments are made. Credit cards also have what’s called a minimum payment, which may only require 20 dollars at the end of the month on a balance of a few hundred dollars. Again, don’t be fooled. If only the minimum balance is paid, finance charges will be added to the rest of the balance. For a $1000 balance and an APR of 18 percent, paying only the minimum will take about 12 years to pay off the full balance and result in about $1,115 in interest over that period. Don’t forget, there are various fees if payments are not on time, or if credit limits are exceeded. Also, credit card companies can jack up the interest rate for these infractions.

The advertisement of credit cards to college students is somewhat disheartening. For example, vendors allowed into the UMass Dartmouth campus center in the past offered free t-shirts or other gifts in exchange for applying for a credit card. This is a trap! Of course students may not initially have the intention to use the card, but what happens when a new MasterCard shows up in the mail? Obviously at least some students use it. If they didn’t, why would they give away free stuff?

Most college students already carry debt in the form of college loans. To pile credit card debt on top of that can make life after college much more difficult. Also, credit cards often have higher interest rates than do college loans, sometimes two to three times higher when comparing percentages. Students don’t always realize the impact that excessive debt will have on their lives and the difficulty they may have repaying this debt after college. Sure, students may be making $30,000, but there are taxes, expenses, and other costs to consider. Having to pay off both loans and credit card debt can be tough.

As I prepare to enter the real world and get a job, I intend to start paying off my credit card debt immediately. As I pay them off, I intend to cut all (but one) of my cards up and toss them in the trash. I have learned my lesson the hard way, and I hope others learn before they make the same mistakes I have.

Sodexho: A goldmine at your expense

By Bob Sparhawk

Sodexho - simply dropping the name in a conversation can trigger the release of countless opinions, mostly all of which involve doctorate-level hamburger critique or the in-depth analysis of what exactly makes you haul ass to the nearest bathroom minutes after your meal. However, my discussion today has no gripes with the quality of food or service at the various dining locations. Let’s be realistic — it’s cafeteria food. We’re not going to get four-star dining, nor should we expect it. My beef, or rather 60%-beef, 40%-soy mixture (get it?) lies with the terms of the firm’s contracts with the school and Sodexho’s business practices.

Simply put, the contracts that the school signs with Sodexho entirely benefit the company, and place the student body (both figuratively and literally) at a disadvantage. I’m going to use the powers of basic multiplication to illustrate this.

Last year, I had a 10-meal plan as part of the compensation for my job. During the course of the entire year, I went to Res a grand total of (and I’m highballing this) 15 times. Now, with roughly 30 weeks in the year, my meal plan included the potential for 300 meals, meaning that I used roughly 5% of them. This means that 95%, or 285 meals’ worth of cash went straight to Sodexho.

With each meal costing an up-front cash value of $8.40 (the price of visiting Res without a meal plan), Sodexho made approximately $2,394 since I was bound into a contract with them. I realize that it really doesn’t cost Sodexho $8.40 per meal to feed us, but my point remains the same — any unused meals are a complete loss to the student, despite that fact that we are forced to pay for each one. This wouldn’t be such a huge problem if it weren’t mandatory for every student living on the east side of campus to pay for a meal plan. My gas tank sure could use those hundreds of dollars that I’m not seeing. Or my car insurance bill. Or my cocaine “problem.” Just kidding, I have my car insurance paid off for the year.

The main problem with this is simply how the pricing works out for students. Many schools have a declining-balance system for the meal plans, in which students receive a balance of cash or points at the start of the semester. Each item in the cafeteria costs a certain amount of the balance.

For example, a student might receive $1,000 of food balance in September. Going to the dining hall might include grabbing a $2 hamburger, $.75 glass of milk and a $.75 apple. The student will go to the cafeteria check-out, swipe his card, and have $2.50 deducted from the declining balance. Not only does this system benefit the student (in systems where unused cash on the balance can roll-over to the next semester), it drastically reduces waste. If you’re paying for every item, it’s doubtful you’ll see any of those idiots who take four plates’ worth of food and throw away three.

I’m willing to bet I’m not alone in thinking this is a much more effective way to reduce lines as well. Additionally, some schools allow the balance to be used at local restaurants off-campus (paying for Taco Bell on one’s snack pass would be more convenient at night than many of the campus options, and almost match them in bowel distress).

What’s worse is that there seems to be a cycle in which UMass Dartmouth has become a cash cow for Sodexho, and the school allows (embraces?) it because Sodexho is willing to put money into school improvements, attracting incoming freshmen. While this might sound like it works for the students, all the improvements are through the form of new Sodexho outlets - in my four-plus years here, I have seen the Oak Glen Grill, Sky Ranch, Commons at Birch and Jazzman’s Cafe all open, as well as watching two renovations of Res. While they are welcome, convenient options, each is overpriced (making your snack balance worth far less than its dollar amount) and simply another spot for Sodexho to eat up your money. It seems that the school and Sodexho are in a relationship that is mutually beneficial, but quite the opposite for the students.

Are the Res caf renovations meant to encourage students to come to the university, or provide a better experience to those of us that are already here? It seems to me that it’s a boost to form over function.

My primary issue with all this is that UMass Dartmouth is a state university — its purpose is to provide an affordable, quality education to students so as to make the Commonwealth a better place. The school’s relationship with Sodexho does not seem to have been created with that purpose in mind. Do you agree? Disagree? Contact Student Senate or Student Affairs with your thoughts, or write to us here at torch@umassd.edu.

UMass Ireland

Clovers hit campus

By Brett McCabe

UMass Dartmouth’s history goes back as far as 1895 when the New Bedford Textile School joined forces with the Bradford Durfee Textile School. Nowhere have I found anything about UMD being started by any Irish immigrants, yet I’m currently seeing people popping up with green UMD t-shirts and sweatshirts with clovers on them.

Last time I checked, we were the Corsairs, not the Leprachauns. This is the first shirt to show up with reference to nationality. Will it be the first of many? Unlikely.

Is UMass Dartmouth going to suffer the same fate as the Red Sox Nation, or should I say “Pink Hat” Nation? What’s currently happening at Fenway is that many Red Sox hats and other assorted merchandise are being targeted to “casual fans,” such as the girls who want to show off that they like sports, too, but don’t know who Ted Williams is. Soccer moms and Laguna Beach fans alike are buying merchandise without the traditional red and blue in favor of “cute” colors.

And before UMass Dartmouth, the Red Sox were the first to include clovers on their green merchandise. Boston is known for the high population of Irish immigrants that moved there many decades ago. It makes sense that the Red Sox might include a clover on some of their hats. But there is no link to the Irish in the history of UMass Dartmouth. Hell, there’s not even a link between UMass and the Boston Celtics, for that matter. It just happens to be currently filled with a bunch of over-proud paddys who always get what they want.

Being Irish myself, I definitely notice the Irish pride that circulates through the North Dartmouth air. Unfortunately many of these people are just furthering stereotypes, such as that Irish people are really just a bunch of alcoholic potato heads. I’d like to think that we are not all like this. Do people do it because they feel that they need to live up to some sort of standard? Sean wants to be just like his old man so he dresses like everyone else, thinks very little of women, watches baseball on television, and drinks cheap disgusting beer every other night. His son will be exactly the same.

I’m not against being proud of your heritage or anything that makes you who you are, however it is pretty well-known that having too much pride makes you a jerk. So what does it look like when these spud-lovers march around campus in their clover shirts? It looks like our beloved school is full of egotistical half-wits. Please convince me otherwise, or maybe we should change our mascot from the French pirate to the Irish Harps.

INKLINGS

Celebration, destruction and baseball

A manual on how NOT to celebrate potential Red Sox victories

By Allison Reitz

The majority of current residents might not know the particulars, but UMass Dartmouth was a madhouse in October 2004. Curfews were imposed on specific nights of the week, and a stricter guest policy was imposed — after a certain hour, no one was allowed in and no one was allowed out. Police, dressed in full riot gear, lined the sidewalks of the freshman quad with trained dogs. The atmosphere was tense, and for good reason.

As you might guess from the date, this “lock-down” was triggered by the Red Sox’s bid in the 2004 World Series. After the Championship playoffs against the Yankees, student celebrations took a turn for the worse. What should have been a fun-filled celebration turned into a night of destruction.

From the safety of our dorm room in Chestnut, my roommate and I listened to the chaos outside: obscenity-laced chants, breaking bottles, shouts from police to move back inside, screams growing steadily louder.

Resident Assistants ran through the halls, taking count of their residents and begging everyone to stay inside. Explosions thundered outside as police used stun grenades to disperse the crowds. Helicopters hovered overhead, shining spotlights down on the offending rioters. Students ran through the halls with terrifying stories of arrests and injured friends.

At the end of it all, nearly 40 students were suspended, most of whom were underage drinkers according to reports by the Standard-Times. Light posts across campus were toppled. Cars were flipped. Fires raged, unattended. And, in the night’s confusion, numerous students were injured.

It was complete mayhem and a night that sticks in students’ memories for all the wrong reasons.

As the Red Sox gear up for another American League Championship Series, the administration at UMass Dartmouth is urging restraint and maturity on the part of celebrating students — and for good reason.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that what happens at UMass Dartmouth isn’t guaranteed to stay at UMass Dartmouth. As the actions of residents were broadcast on the evening news and reported by the local papers, everyone had a share in the shame — even those who didn’t participate actively in the riots. The perception created by these events reflected poorly on the campus as a whole and as students of this institution.

If we want to be respected as a university and as individual students, we need to act responsibly. As we cheer on the Sox this year, remember to keep the festivities under control. Shouldn’t a shot at the championship be enough fun for us? We don’t need to add drugs and alcohol to the mix — regardless of our age. Drinking, especially among underage students, is asking for trouble. Can’t we appreciate the Red Sox without being inebriated?

We should all work to set good examples for our peers and friends. Every person who will stand up and say, “Enough,” if need be, will help stop destructive behavior before it starts. Because what we do — and what we allow those around us to do — reflects on us. Everything we strive for in our studies and work shouldn’t be thrown out the window because of bad decisions in the heat of the moment.

This year represents not only a second chance at a World Series title, but also an opportunity for UMass Dartmouth students to build a new reputation for this campus. We don’t want a repeat of this university’s most recent rioting events. We don’t want to be represented as out-of-control and immature. We can help maintain the peace across campus and celebrate the success of the Sox, but we need everyone’s cooperation. Please do your part!

Kudos to Clarence Thomas

By Lee Lukoff

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the only African-American on the high court, recently gave an interview with “60 Minutes” where he addressed his detractors and promoted his new autobiography entitled “My grandfather’s son.”

In the interview, Thomas rebuts his critics who often deride him for the beliefs he has. Thomas touched upon divisive issues such as racism, affirmative action and his infamous confirmation hearing where he was accused of sexually harassing colleague Anita Hill.

Thomas, who rarely speaks against the constant criticism he has faced from liberals and even members of his own race, decided that he had enough. Thomas stated that he was never keen on giving interviews because he didn’t care much for the press, and I don’t blame him for holding this view. After all, it was the media who resorted to racially charged allegations against a man during a time when he was receiving the highest honor one can achieve in the legal field: a Supreme Court nomination.

The media vilified Thomas during his 1991 confirmation hearing, accusing him of sexual deviance, a historically racist claim made to discredit African American men. Thomas recalled the committee hearings where his former colleague Anita Hill accused him of sexual harassment while both were employed at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Thomas described her allegations as a “high tech lynching,” which I believe it was. It’s a common practice that the Senate and the media will do anything to discredit a conservative nominee preaching the politics of personal destruction instead of questioning the nominee on issues relevant to the law. Thomas was narrowly confirmed on a 52-48 vote that made his confirmation the closest in the 20th century.

The left has unjustly criticized Thomas because he opposes affirmative action and government-funded social programs that a majority of African Americans support. Thomas told “60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft, “It’s fascinating that there are so many people now who will make judgments based on what you look like.”

Despite the constant criticism, Thomas has stuck to his core belief that the constitution is color-blind and that preferential laws should be struck down. By strongly asserting his right to be a free thinker Thomas revealed the importance of not judging a person’s views by the color of their skin.

In a day where minority groups are often characterized as adhering to one particular viewpoint or political orientation, Thomas is a model for not adhering to the status quo.

Being perhaps the most influential African-American in America, Thomas shows courage by standing up for his beliefs under intense scrutiny. Thomas deserves great respect for dispelling common stereotypes and following his own personal beliefs as opposed to attaching his beliefs to a particular group.

I believe that if more people were free thinkers like Thomas, racial/ethnic stereotypes could be eliminated and people would come to respect one person’s opinion on a particular issue regardless of what group they may come from. For his intellectual courage under intense scrutiny, kudos to Clarence Thomas.

On coming out: Joining the GLBT community

By Adam Lawrence

Coming out: the phrase conjures up all sorts of images to different people — very different images, depending on who you might ask.

For some folks, it’s a “Will and Grace” episode. For others it’s an admission of abomination. For those of us in the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender) community, it’s a rite of passage.

In years past (not long past, really), to come out as gay was nothing short of shocking as well as potentially dangerous. There are places where it’s still that way. I’m simply lucky enough to be writing this in one of the more tolerant places in the world. In any case, though, progress has been forthcoming, and it’s simply been a hard slog getting there for our spiritual forebears in the quest towards cultural and legal equality.

One oft-overlooked and underrated part of activism has got to be that simultaneously cathartic and nerve-wracking process of coming out (I say process because it’s really an ongoing thing rather than a one-time event). It allows for a certain ideological and emotional parity with anyone else who feels comfortable talking in a straightforward and honest way about who he or she is. It’s not about wanting the opportunity to march in a parade, or to make an ostentatious display of one’s personal behaviors — it’s about openness and transparency of communication.

Growing up, I, like many, longed to see people like me portrayed in the media in a real and honest reflection of normal GLBT folks. The idea that I could simply be a dude who digs dudes without any sort of societal projections of what that ought to mean appealed to me, even if it wasn’t particularly realistic.

With each revered figure I knew who was able to be open about who he or she was, I felt less alone — less like some sort of social leper. Things could be ok, it seemed. I didn’t have to hide, I didn’t have to try and change that aspect of myself. Sweet relief. That helped pave the way for me to tell others about who I really was, not who somebody told me I ought to be.

To come out helps the queer community as a whole as much as it helps the individual doing it. When you come out, you’re not just opening a new line of communication with the world, you’re extending your arm to the next generation, still hoping to see cool people who are, indeed, like them.

If you can, and you haven’t — why not?