Pane 4 THE BATTALION - ^ THURSDAY, APR. 1, 1976 KECISTRATION* for AltT&CKAPT PAIR lie«|inss April ,S in CRAPTSHOP hi sc l»h. »45 - for sHlditiwhal info, first conic liasis Credit bureaus provide record 1 * APPLICATIONS NOW BEING TAKEN FOR 1976-77 OPAS HOST COMMITTEE APPLY IN STUDENT PROGRAMS OFFICE (RM. 216, MSC) BY APRIL 2. Associated Pres?, Inflation, recession and the grow ing demand for credit have focused new interest on the thousands of agencies that collect and report in formation about consumers and their spending practices. Contrary to popular belief, credit bureaus do not rate your credit- worthiness. They do n t decide whether you are a good 0 r bad risk. They don’t interview your neighbors to find out about you. The bureaus simply provide in- formation about your past bill paying record. The bank, depart ment store or other agency granting the credit makes the decision about whether to approve your applica tion. Credit bureaus should not be con fused with agencies which conduct investigations for insurance com panies and others, including poten tial employers. These agencies may indeed check your credit, but their basic aim is to provide detailed in formation. records. Here are some questions and answers about the subject: Q. What is a credit bureau? A. Associated Credit Bureaus, Inc., a trade association, describes a credit bureau as “a clearinghouse of consumer credit information” de- The granting of credit is a multi- billion-dollar business. The Federal Reserve Board reported that at the end of January, there was almost $161 billion outstanding on things like automobile and home improve ment loans, bank credit card ac counts and revolving charges. News Analysis Recently enacted laws give con sumers new rights regarding credit signed to give mexchants, banks and others an idea of how you have hand led your past financial respon sibilities. Q. How do I know if there is a credit report on me? A. Chances are, there is one. Records are started the first time you apply for a credit card, take out a loan, pay for something on time or open a charge account. Q. How can I find out what’s in the record? A. The Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1971 requires credit bureaus to show you your record upon presen tation of proper identification. The credit bureau also must tell you where it got the information and must give you the names of those who have received employment re ports within the past two years and those who have xeceived credit re- pox ts within the past six months. credit granter must tell you tl name and address of the bureau volved. If you haven’t been deni credit, but are still curious, try tl Yellow Pages. Look under crei bureaus or credit reporting agenci and call and ask whether your nan is on their records. Q. What sort of information is the record? A. Generally you will find yo name, address, marital status, , usan Q. How do I know which credit bureau has my records? A. If you are denied credit due to a report from a credit bureau, the though this may change in sot cases due to new-federal guarante against discrimination because sex, social security number, place employment and length of tit you’ve held your job, outstandi debts and the record of your rep; ut it ment. Federal regulatory agencies 'Americans pay price of inflation, delay for control of private business’ By J 1 ryan min er tr Caj lout to tl car : |e it n tli ;s oi t cit an N ihing he C xecte girl the DE CUEJtpjff Travel Tips cJ^Texico With vacation time fast approaching, many of you will no doubt be traveling to Mexico. Some of you might even be coming back. Here are some helpful hints. 1. A man on a burro always has the right of way, unless he appears to be a weakling. 2. In local cantinas, pouring a shot of Cuervo down a man’s collar is not thought to be humorous. 3. Falling onto a cactus, even an actual Cuervo cactus, can be a sticky proposition. 4. It is tough to find hamburger rolls in the smaller towns; it’s best to bring your own. Associated Press WASHINGTON — Because of federal regulation, it costs almost twice as much to fly fforn Chicago to Minneapolis as it does to fly between San Francisco and Los Angeles, even though the trips cover about the same distance. A New Jersey company wastes 90,000 gallons of fuel a year because the government won’t let the parent company’s trucks carry goods for its Florida subsidiary. Two groups filed competing appli cations for a radio station license in California’s Central Valley 26 years ago, but the government hasn’t made up its mind which application to approve. In 1972, growers left 14,000 tons of cherries to rot in orchards because of a federal marketing order de signed to keep prices up. Inflated prices, waste, delay: The BAHA’I CLUB will host a film presentation “THE NEW WIND” Thursday April 1, 8:00 p.m. Room 410, Rudder Tower these are the price Americans pay for federal agencies to regulate prices and control competition in pxivate business. These agencies’ defenders — in cluding gen exally the industries they regulate — say the costs of regula tion are justified by providing ser vices to sparsely populated areas, stabilizing prices and preventing strong firms from squeezing weaker ones out of business. But an odd alliance of consumer advocates and conservatives reject these arguments and say many agen cies powers should be drastically cut. Ralph Nader and Ronald Re agan, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Presideixt Ford are among those who have called for massive changes at the Interstate Commerce Commis sion, Civil Aeronautics Board and other agencies. Perhaps the clearest example of the costs of economic regulation comes with the interstate airlines, which are regulated as to fares and routes by the CAB. Airlines that fly solely within a state axe not subject to the CAB. Pacific Southwest Airlines flies thousands of people every day be tween San Francisco and Los Angeles for $25.50 one way. That’s a 347-mile trip within the state of California. The Northwest Orient fare be tween Chicago and Minneapolis — about 355 miles — is $45.37. Thus, that fare, controlled by the CAB, is close to twice the fare regulated only by a state government. News Analysis The CAB and major airlines argue that the concept of “public service” must be added to the cost equation. They say many smaller cities and towns would lose air service — or have it only at the higher rates — because such service is not profita ble. The CAB now requires carriers to fly such routes, and the carriers argue that the profits from other routes must support the money losing ones. /upfn&mka Eddie Dominguez ’66 Joe Arciniega ’74 Greg Price AVG t > it ^ % & NOON SPECIAL 0. MONDAY-FRIDAY 11-2 DAILY STEAKS & SEAFOODS Chicken Fried Steak, French Fries or Baked Potato, Salad and Texas Toast. 317 N. College 846-8741 $1.39 v_ JOSE CUERVO* TEQUILA. 80 PROOF. IMPORTED AND BOTTLED BY © 1975, HEUBLEIN. INC., HARTFORD. CONN. TONIGHT TONIGHT GREAT ISSUES presents THE NATURE OF MAN: PART II 5 5 THE speaks on THURSDAY, APRIL 1 8:00 P.M. RUDDER THEATER (m/c /tep Into the m/c circle ADMISSION: FREE w/Activity Cards $1.00 Others JAMES H. DOZIER Represents You in College Station THE RIGHT MAN For THE RIGHT PLACE Re-elect Jim Dozier in Place 6 (Pol. ad paid for by friends of Jim Dozier) “If you think those major airlines make any money by going into those little towns, of coxxrse, they don’t,” says Sen. Hubert Humphrey, D-Minn. “But it’s part of a sex viee. It’s like Rural Free Delivery. We’ve got a lot a city slickers that don’t think far mers ought to get their mail either.” Since there is little or no competi tion in fares among the airlines, the competition is reduced to expensive, but not necessarily significant areas — free champagne or drinks, stewar desses’ uniforms and the variety of meals. In general, the airlines which stay within a state do not offer such frills — another reason for their lower rates. A regulatory decision can mean millions of dollars for a company and touch thousands of people. Because of the complexity of the issxies and the constitutional mandate to hear all sides, agencies often take years to decide cases. But sometimes the cases stretch interminably. The Federal Communications Commission has been thinking about a petition from West End Radio Co. in Tracy, Calif., for a radio station license since Aug 31, 1950. And it’s also been considering the competing application from Olympia Bxoadcasting in Carmichael, Calif. The FCC’s file on the applications is thick, but it lacks one item: a final decision. At the ICC, it’s been 13 years since the Union Pacific Railroad asked to merge with the Rock Island line, which was in financial trouble. Thousands of pages of testimony have been taken on the issues. But now the Rock Island lixxe is bankrupt, and Union Pacific really doesn’t want to merge anymore. On Jan. 12, the ICC once again extended the time limits for another six months for anyone interested in the case to expxess an opinion. Just complying with agencies’ in tricate regulations on price and competition often costs money, fuel or other limited materials. For example, a Department of Transportation study discovered of t afi il w gui le c< T sl that a big manufacturer of buildi materials in New Jersey ships tin truckloads of goods a week from main plant to Tampa, Fla. The tru make the return h ip empty. This company has a subsidian southern Florida that sends tli truckloads of goods a week to east Pennsylvania. Rut the subsidiai ' ot< trucks make the return trip so ^ empty — because the ICC will ie ^ let a subsidiary’s trucks carry go for the parent company or vice ve The DOT study, which did name the firm, concluded that one company could save 360 miles of useless travel and 90 gallons of fuel a year just by rumfc trucks in a circuit from New Jers ' r Tampa to southern Florida toe^ sa ern Pennsylvania. The ICC won’t allow it. »— rationale is that allowing differ firms to carry one another’s good even when they are comnio owned — would undercut the hire truckers. ICC regulation of the truckin| -2 dustry is required by law to el nate destructive or unfair comi tion among the “common carrie the firms that haul goods for hii The ICC tells truckers perci what kinds of goods they can ca precisely what highways they use and what they can charge. 1 he ICC also limits competw- by denying thousands of applicate each truckers desiring to offer services. The major trucking firms bani- gether in “rate bureaus” that