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-
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“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.”
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W/MHIGH TECH
Hi .
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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the gi
rid,”
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The $‘
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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.
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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.
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