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
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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 <k
what to charge for hauling. H
cartels, exempt from antitrust pi
cution, then challenge any attei
to have lower rates approved hi
ICC.
This keeps shipping prices hi
than they could he.
An Agriculture Departments!
found that shipping rates for ft
fruits and vegetables dropped 1
cent when the courts ruled
products exempt from ICC
sight. Another Agriculture
esh
:he
showed rates for dressed no
plummeted 33 per cent when
regulation was lifted
Tree rings tell his tor
Nature’s tape recorder, the rings
of a tree, can tell the history of
drouths, fires and a multitude of
events including the encroachment
of man.
A man who has assembled more of
this information than any other by
reading tree-xings will be the Cen
tennial Lecturer Thursday.
Bannister will discuss the wi
the laboratory in a lecture en
Dendrochronology, A Discuss
Tree-Ring Research” at 5 p ,
room 207 of Harrington Educ
Center.
SALE
SPECIAL SELECTION
ONE WEEK ONLY
Cc
up
I0J
chspli’s
TEXA!
8464
(I
The Black Awareness
Committee
presents
Black Experience
April 4-10
Speakers, music, art, food, come experience itl
/tep Into the m/c circle