hirsday - June 12, 1997
"Vp The Battalion
-L/1F E/ S F 1^/ E S
iving credit where credit is due
limning the hard way: Students confront consequences of paying with plastic
By Jenny Vrnak
The Battalion
Credit cards may be to blame for putting more than one college student
in the hole.
JCollege-age students constitute more than half of the
Iple who are in debt and seeking professional help from
|National Consumer Counseling Service. It seems as
istudents have no problem using credit cards to pay
luxuries, even when they can not afford them.
|Dana Geffner, a senior elementary education major,
ilthat students have to be careful when it comes to
iiaging their money because it is easy to wind up over
Je'shead in debt.
jlhave to watch my spending,” she said. “I don’t let my-
■charge more than I know I can afford."
IMiat many students do not realize is that interest rates
}the best way to figure out the cost of a loan. When
(card companies tell a person they are qualified to
i a month’s minimum payment, this benefits the
ders, not the card holders.
fSome people say society is partly to blame for their
ilems. They think that by placing emphasis on wealth and material
e ms, society can make young people extremely conscious of their im-
f. Television and movies are not helping either — they only seem to
ipify these luxurious lifestyles.
ilot of college students are also pointing their fingers at the credit card
mpanies themselves. Many feel that companies make it too easy for
identsto receive credit they can not afford. It is not unusual for a stu-
Ihe
dent to receive offers over the phone or in the mail for cards promising
thousands of dollars in credit.
"I get offers for credit cards almost every day,” Geffner said. “I guess they
think that students are easy targets.”
However, some credit card companies deny this fact. Rosemary Pensinger,
a customer service operator at FirstCard Visa, said that
companies are not specifically targeting anyone.
“We go to credit bureaus and give them a list of
criteria,” she said. “The bureau then gives us a list of
names based on this. We aren’t specifically picking
out college students.”
Some students just get lost in the magic of the plas
tic. Because they are not using cash when they make
purchases, many people do not feel like they are spend
ing real money. That is, until the bill comes.
“It was sickening,” said Rachel Turner, a senior Eng
lish major. “I eventually had to cut up some of my cards.”
Even the companies admit that charge cards are a
risky bargain. Pensinger said that not everyone should
own a credit card.
“A credit card can be a temptation to some people,”
Pensinger said. “Many students aren’t in the work
force and the charges can add up before they realize how much they owe.”
With rising costs in tuition, student loans and tire increasing availability of
credit cards, staying ahead of the creditors and away from debt is not always
easy. Geffner said setting up a personal budget, strictly limiting luxury pur
chases and possibly cutting up a few cards may be some of the answers.
“Credit card companies aren’t blameless,” she said. “But ultimately, it’s our
responsibility to manage our own money.”
I don’t let
myself charge
more than I know
I can afford.”
Dana Geffner
Senior elementary
education major
WE« ed1t ,
A&M professor brings history to life
Photograph: Robert McKay
ffandiver shows his book, “Shadows of Vietnam"
By Rhonda Reinhart
The Battalion
Irom the time he was about 10 years old, Frank
/andiver knew what he wanted to do with his life.
The director of the Mosher Institute of Interna
tional Policy Studies said he got interested in military
history as a child when he went on a tour of battle
fields with his mother.
“I knew it from the minute I saw Vicksburg,” he
said. “I was hooked from then on.”
Vandiver, who has been a history professor at
Texas A&M since 1988, said sidetracking school was
an obstacle he faced in reaching his career goals.
Vandiver dropped out of school in the 7th grade
and began studying history, specifically the Civil War.
He went on to take the Graduate Record Exam at the
University of Texas and entered the University as a
history major on the basis of this exam. He received
his master’s degree there and his doctorate fromTu-
lane University.
Vandiver says skipping the undergraduate pro
gram angered a few people, but most people sup
ported him.
“My main lamentation was that I didn’t get to
make as many friends as those who followed the nor
mal school pattern did,” he said.
Vandiver has written 25 books, mostly about the
Civil War and World War I.
His latest book, “Shadows of Vietnam: Lyndon
Johnson’s Wars,” is a biography of Johnson that Van
diver calls his first venture with current events.
“I try to look at the war through Lyndon Johnson’s
eyes,” Vandiver said. “It’s no whitewash. I just try to
see it as he saw it. Anybody who writes a book about
Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War needs to wear
a bullet proof vest, but controversy sells books.”
Edith Anderson Wakefield, a research assistant for
“Shadows,” said she never felt intimidated while
working with Vandiver.
“Dr. Vandiver always made me feel like I was up to
the job,” she said. “Looking back, I am more intimi
dated now by what I did than I was then.”
Wakefield said she plans to do some writing her
self, and she would value Vandiver’s input.
“He’s such a skillful writer,” she said. “He makes the
characters come alive, and not all historians can do that.
He makes them stand up and walk off the page.”
Vandiver has also written biographies of Stonewall
Jackson and John J. Pershing, historical figures he
considers heroes.
“You may be whatever you resolve to be,” is a
quote from Jackson that Vandiver read when he was
nine years old. He said he didn’t appreciate the ad
vice until later, but it sticks with him today.
Please see history on Page 4.
\
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