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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 1983)
Page 4/The Battalion/Monday, May 2, 1983 Students can begin establishing credit before they leave school by Melissa Adair Battalion Staff To get credit cards you must prove that you are a “good” cre dit risk. But how? College students’ credit card applications are rejected every day. Usually students can’t prove they are a good risk be cause they do not have a steady income and have not established credit. Some local bank officers say most students aren’t aware of the various ways they can in crease their chances of getting credit cards. Consequently, many students think it is hope less to apply. Ronald Hale, executive vice president of First City National Bank in Bryan, said students first need to prove they are financially responsible. One of the best ways to do this is to start a checking and savings account, he said. But this defi nitely is not enough to establish a person as responsible with a cre dit card, he said. “In addition to starting a checking and savings account, you should also get to know someone within the bank,” he said. “It is important that some one in the bank knows you and can vouch for your responsi bility.” Neil C. Barnhill, manager of Chilton Credit Reporting in Col lege Station, said one of the best references to have when ap plying for credit is a bank refer- STAY IN SHAPE THIS SUMMER Exercise all summer (thru Aug. 31) for only $ 60! Offer good for all TAMU students & staff Also available: single summer session for $30. Call 696-7180 or come by 900-B E. Harvey Rd. BODr DYNAMICS Exercise Studio “First get a checking account ... and then borrow money from your bank with your savings as collateral and pay back each month as agreed,” he said. “This is an excellent way to prove that you are responsible enough to handle a credit card.” Barnhill said students have an advantage now that they prob ably won’t have once they leave the Bryan-College Station area. Once students get away from college, he said, no one cares if they went to Texas A&M, but as students they are usually given special consideration. “A&M students have a good record of paying their bills,” he said. “So many places, especially department stores, will usually give credit cards (to them).” “You should take advantage of the fact you are in college and establish credit now. Any credit you establish here will stay with you permanently and help you get more credit in other places.” Rick Welsch, credit market ing manager with Dillard’s, said responsible college students should be able to have credit cards. “As a matter of fact,” he said, “we have come to your campus to try to get students to apply for credit cards.” lllPGoodrich W/MHIGH TECH Hi . BRAZOS TIRE SERVICE AN AGGIE OWNED BUSINESS SINCE 1952 J. N. HOLMGREEN CLASS OF ’44 R. J. HOLMGREEN CLASS OF ’47 MIKE A. HOLMGREEN-MANAGER-CLASS OF ’77 2707 TEXAS AVE. BRYAN 823-0551 322-1425 Dillard’s usually restricts its solicitation to upperclassmen and graduate students, he said, but this doesn’t mean that underclassmen can’t get credit. Welsch said he recently com pared Dillard’s student accounts to the general public accounts. “I found that the college stu dents are handling credit cards as well as if not better than the general public,” he said. Bankcard manager Jerry Albright, with First Bank & Trust, said getting department store credit cards is definitely a positive step toward getting other credit cards such as Mas tercard and Visa. However, college students rarely meet qualifications for these credit cards. The minimum income re quirement varies from $ 1,200 to $1,800 a month. Most banks re quire two years of full-time work, two years of residency in one area, and credit references. None of the banks in the area have an annual charge. All but one charges interest from the date of posting. In other words, from the date a purchase is re corded on the credit bill, interest is charged until the bill is paid. The interest charge is usually about 1.75 percent a month. Minimum credit limits range from $200 to $500. John Kuss, assistant vice pres ident of credit at Brazos Savings, said the standards for getting credit cards are high because of the poor economic times. “Because of the economic times, people tend to use plastic money and then don’t have the real money to ... back it up,” he said. “And I think the require ments for getting a credit card will continue to get stiffer until unemployment goes down and the economy gets better.” But it isn’t impossible for stu dents to get the major credit cards. One of the best ways for col lege students to get one of these is to have their parents sign a guarantee for them, Albright said. The co-signer agrees to pay the for any debts the student fails to pay. “The guarantor process is a good way for students to estab lish credit,” Albright said, “be cause the credit card will... be in your name and only you and the credit card company will never know that your parents signed for you.” Kuss said many times a stu dent’s pride will keep him from getting credit through the guarantor process. “A lot of students think it is an insult to have their parents sign for them,” he said, “but it really is a good way to establish credit.” But bank officers warn stu dents it’s easy to abuse credit cards. Patrick Siegert, vice presi dent of University National Bank, said plastic money is easy to overspend. “The worst habit a person can get into is over spending with a plastic card,” he said. “It’s easy to get in over your head.” And Barnhill said this over spending can damage a person’s credit record for seven years. “Once you have a few credit cards it’s easy to get more,” he said. “Then you start to over charge and get in trouble. And when a charge is delinquent, it will stay on your record for seven years.” Barnhill said students can in crease their chances of getting a credit card by not applying for too many cards at once. “When you apply for more than two or three cards at a time, this scares off firms because they think you may get in over your head if you actually get all the cards you applied for,” he said. “They are afraid you’ll get over obligated.” Welsch said people need to remember that if they must be late on a credit card payment, it is important to call the creditor. DPS chase ends in wreck; 4 dead United Press International TAYLOR — Four people died Saturday in a high-speed, head-on collision between a car carrying three teenage girls and an auto fleeing with police in hot pursuit. The Department of Public Safety listed the dead as Gay Brinkmeyer and Donna Kay Hobbs, both 19, and 18-year-old Cheryl Wade, all of Taylor and an unidentified victim in a car drven by 20-year-old Jesus Esta- ban Arellano of Houston. Arellano was listed in critical condition at Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Texas. n—n x n CT? m m m m Around To Math contest winners announced The winners of the annual Freshman and Sophoi Mathematics Contest, held April 20, have been annoum They are: Sophomores: 1st place: Huan Giap Quoc, nuclear engineering 2nd place: Michael K. Ewert, mechanical engineering 3rd place: Charles Bennett, physics Freshmen: 1st place: Lance Mandell, computer science 2nd place: Edward S. Bolme, chemical engineering 3rd place: Celeste Wilcox, chemical engineering First place winners were awarded $100, 2nd place receivs im" $50, and 3rd place received $25. The prizes were provida by the Hillel Mathematics Award Fund and the Robert! Smith Memorial Fund. ’s tha re flo< f stud intil 2 Lane wins photograinmetric award Hal B. Lane III, a former student at Texas A&M, has bee awarded the 1982 Bausch and Lomb Photogrammetn: Award. Lane, who has a bachelor’s degree in engineering techno ogy from Texas A&M, is presently a surveying party chief; Watson and Associates, a consulting engineering and sur Pv D< consulting engineering nd. He was presented with thi iOL'S ;ymg company in Midland. He was presentee vard at the national convention of the American SocietyoBwercar Photogrammetry in March. Photogrammetry is recording, measuring and interpretftounce ing photographic images and patterns of electromagnelit ction it energy to obtain information about physical objects and tht id-raise environment. The award was established to stimulate in npaign terest and skills in photogrammetry among college student! agan th Lane receives $250, a trip to the annual ASP convention three years paid membership in the society. EDCI opening summer math clinic T he Department of Education and Curriculum Instructioi is opening a summer math clinic for area elementary and junior high school students. The clinic will be held Jul; 11-29. The deadline for registration is June 1. For mort information, contact Dr. Clarence Dockmeiler at 845- " If you have an announcement or item to submit for this column, come by The Battalion office in 216 Reed McDo nald or contact Cheryl Burke at 845-2611. “Ifwef to sup great ispect t y this c< the gi rid,” ht. The $‘ id-raise iwd of tgan a: ional F Amonj: ity Lear an., wl Stror two m enced I ith. Tower, “Taylor police and a DPS trooper were pursuing the vehi cle, and it crossed the centerline into the oncoming lane and hit the other vehicle head-on,” said DPS spokesman Larry Todd. Troopers said the accident occurred at 12:10 a.m. about 6 miles south of Taylor on Texas Highway 95, ending a chase that reached 100 mph. NEED CASH? We offer premium dollars or used Books... tloupotsti Check on our Trade Policy HHr7iTSm*77STT3HIH I and Save 20% More. Waco man sentenced in girlfriend’s murder United Press International BOSTON, Texas — A Waco man who attacked his own lawyer in court has been sent enced to life in prison for mtir- dering his girlfriend in a grocery store shoot-out that also injured one man. David Leslie Culverhouse, 27, was convicted Friday and taken to the Texas Department of Corrections prison at Hunt sville. Culverhouse shot and killed Donna L. Ray of Grand Prairie after chasing her into a north east Texas grocery store Jan. 9. He is to be tried later in the wounding of Layton Cum mings, 30. He was arrested the following ^ day after spending several hours barracaded in a motel room with several weapons. Culverhouse, who Wi day went beserk in the troom, attacking his attoi Joe Shumate of Henderson tified in his own defensebi* fused to answer attorneys^ tions. Rusk County Judge Donl heard the trial in Bowde Co because of extensive public Henderson. Witnesses said Wednesb outburst came after the presented Cummings asitsf witness. Culverhouse lunged to* Shumate with a stainless water pitcher and struck t the face several times, bre>l his nose, /t He was restrained by than a dozen deputies to en( incident. ^ Lobby groups to pay concert security costs Delicious Food Beautiful View Open to the Public ^ “Quality First” ^ United Press International AUSTIN — The University of Texas agreed Friday to recon sider a request to permit Willie Nelson to perform on campus after two parimutuel betting lobbies agreed to pick up the $10,000 tab to provide security for the country music star. Nelson had offered to per form a free concert May 25 at Memorial Stadium to open the Texas Special Olympics for mentally retarded athletes. UT denied the request last week because the Special Olym pics could not pay security costs, and university officials said it would be inappropriate for the school to pay it. The Texas Horse Racing Association and the Texas Greyhound Association, both trying to push parimutuel wa gering bills through the Texas Legislature, offered Thursday to donate $10,000 for security. “If that’s the problem, it’s solved,” said Bobjohnson, a lob byist for the Horse Racing Asso ciation. Denis Poulos, state ditf for the Special Olympics, earlier UT officials rejecteii concert because of security and because they believed son would attract “und ( ables.” UT officials denied the) barred Nelson from perl f admit* 1 ing, and expressed for the performer Austin. “The Special Olympics the ones who withdrew th* quest to have Nelson come" they heard of the costs volved,” said Dr. Ronald Bn’ vice president for studentai at UT. Brown said other would have to be worked but that the biggest h# p appeared to be cleared offer of money from pti' sources. Poulos said he was the offer, adding, “Thisisa j the offer, adding, Thisisa 1 ! ■ |« where we put aside our poli 11 nj £ and other associations and" 1 If || together for the bettermen mankind. Unitei h the nrman vices I ter of nding | nounce< lectior n his wer tolc dence iganom Even tl is at ha m say t are g wer saic Tower t staging niversit le the f n elect* :e Reco c dt ; Jitr, eat Dree tec, pro C met