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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1998)
Battalion O pinion Page 9 • Thursday, October 1, 1998 Funny Money ftudents lack financial responsibility to handle credit cards A. 11 people long for the day they can leave their parents behind to ia ^“ p " mrsue greater things and lopefully make Mom and |(jen D ' )ad proud. But one thing they imme- iately realize is how hard it I jibe to live without their 1 we, guidance and, of course, ieir money. mi Pi They also find out just how real the RICHARD paddack their debts later than those who secure their credit cards through more conventional re cruitment techniques. Many students who have spent themselves into an unrelenting debt are in such a state of helplessness due to a lack of financial guid ance or knowledge that they are handing their bills over to the federal government. Until recently, the federal government has been more than coop erative iublii hi end d left a'Mar ier)ar rfatt B; (ring) 'ganit thergi ce,ih own c ;hrisl lieved van it rniedi hdo ishe 67 yart ie also six pa: ? toucl tal ran recei'i schoc Ills (15 82 ■ world” can be. Hie scariest and lost stressful aspect (being alone or free, oWever you may view iying home, is deal- ig with finances. Hore and more col- ■students are falling ■to one of the most wed and abused peniding tools in America He credit card. Hie credit card, like the Hk, has been known to ick the materialistic and teble minded into thinking ley are not spending real loney. All too often this re- ilts in people spending utside of their means. But, >0 Hredit card is much more owerful and definitely in a 'ague of its own. The misuse or abuse of a leek can result in fines and ics,[whereas a credit card in destroy your credit his- iry before you even have ae. Unfortunately, more TIM KANG/T hi: Battalion ^ pm ore students are find- g out at an early age how mgerous plastic can be. 1 The reason this phenom- lon is occurring could be Bmse obtaining a credit ■ has become as easy as g jng on the dotted line. in Pap i>vr students can even get tfrjhift or Frisbee out of ars t oc ledeal - Solicitors for credit card companies have (Come more prevalent on college campuses the past few years. All students have seen em and maybe even signed up. Either at the )ok store or during spring break, wherever I A-joung money-hungry students congregate, ’ f wredit-card companies are close at hand. [ 1 .. These kinds of gimmicks are popular in en- 3 • ' (ang students to get credit cards easily. the AgU ig one* Larry Si die losii s lossti he teaffi ist natic team A r urn ? 1995 A y were ggies. According to a survey by the U.S. Public Aerest Research Group, college students ho obtain credit cards this way often end pwith bigger unpaid balances and pay off in footing the bills for these delin quents. No one wants to have to declare taank- ruptcy before their 21st birthday, but it is hap pening and much too often. The U.S. Senate recently passed an amend ment to the nation’s personal bankruptcy laws making it more difficult for people to sweep away debts in bankruptcy proceedings. Another amendment by Sen. Christopher Dodd was recently passed, at a vote of 97-1, seeking to restrict credit-card marketing to people under 21. This new amendment would require the underage applicant to provide the signature of either a parent or guardian willing to take financial responsibility. The measures taken by the Senate are cer tainly necessary. Students across the nation who received credit cards through tables on campus had a higher average unpaid balance ($1,039) than those who did not ($854). An Associated Presssurvey showed that 60 percent of college students pay their credit-card bills in full each month, 40 percent of all consumers pay theirs. Statistics also show the average student car rying a credit-card balance carries be tween $500-$600. A credit card can be a life saver in a fi nancial emergency and a great tool in building credit for the future. But there are many misconceptions pertaining to the use and the purpose of credit cards. The more credit cards you own does not necessarily mean a better or stronger credit history. Many students do not real ize one national credit card is all you need to build a credit record. To all those who do not understand the purpose of a grace period, it was de signed to allow you a sufficient amount of time to pay your credit-card bill in full and avoid fi nance charges and interest. You can build a record without carrying an unpaid bal ance. If you have to carry a balance, pay as much as you can afford to pay each month. By all means do not pay just the minimum amount or you to may be calling Uncle Sam. It is sad to see that many students are hav ing to call the federal government for financial help instead of parents. But the fact of the matter is many students are not responsible enough to have credit cards. After all, that is why they are going to school anyway. Richard Paddack is a senior journalism major. Society tests ex fixation, new limits with scandal coverage ex — it is al lways on our minds, and it is always Bur television. 3S nine! The intermin- itercep®g of sex and ppular culture ? excels nothing new. me gaiiHenturies tats people have got- i Bill 5'ffl injured trying to recreate posi- ns heiH from the Kamasutra. And no He cJi latter what the plot was, Shake- STEVEN GYESZLY almost always managed to delude at least one brief scene of ;s - TP couple getting involved. Howev- hed tl4 at least Shakespeare was cre- a cateSHve enough to blend the private Isoscotftty into the storyline, iwnsiol Times have changed, ird. In modern society, the depiction ?r suresex is much more blatant. In to- vayv 'ky’s media, sex is used for shock right lvalue, a method of getting atten- lineiiHunder a guise of respectability. One of the most obvious exam- a part (Ics of this phenomenon is in the ory a# e Id of music. manliHfaen Alanis Morrisette’s song "exasd® Oughta Know” was released, j. (Cople were amazed, and not just ifeuse the Canadian version of ; - TpPbie Gibson was classified as iia m s,i'alternative.” Music critics ap- natioitjPded her for her frank lyrics and ^ wa < or “breaking down boundaries” ardsi-Bdy because in her song she ;e , fed her ex-boyfriend if his cur- 3S T t v Cut paramour “[would] go down it j S ii;! )n you in a theater.” , It is a free country, so anyone Be oitBthe right to sing a verse or a j(j about fellatio, but should _h 0U! Aey really be considered some g ■’ sort of visionary for doing so? ^■t is akin to praising people -Vebb zinwl Who write letters to Penthouse for their creative writing skills. Even the normally staid field of classical music now uses sex to appeal to the masses. One album cover by the teen-age classical vi olinist Vanessa Mae showed the artist in a skimpy wet T-shirt. An other violinist chose to be pho tographed wearing nothing but a strategically-placed violin. What next? The Three Tenors naked? It is a tragic day for music lovers when someone looking for a piece by Brahms must buy a CD in a plain brown wrapper. The world of print is just as bad. The cover of popular maga zines for both men and women boldly print the results of their latest sex survey and include arti cles such as “Seven Secrets of Hot Sex.” As a direct result, there are people who actually think na ture’s most exquisite expression can be reduced to a list of helpful hints on page 63 of a publication sold by the gum rack at 7-Eleven. Here is the eighth secret the magazines forget to tell you: if your favorite technique comes from Cosmo or Men’s Health, you are using the same set of moves as your 14-year-old sibling. Due to recent political events, even so-called serious newspa pers and news magazines now print stories that read like the plot of a rejected “USA Up All Night” movie. Gilbert Gottfried would not even touch these stories, yet arti cles detailing who did what to whom make the front page. If sex sells, then many news journals must have really increased their circulation recently. There are many things one will never understand about television programming, such as why those annoying Olsen twins from “Full House” have a new show. Even more questionable are television programs that pretend to broach the subject of sex in some sort of educational fashion. One such example was the re cent television special, “Sex with Cindy Crawford.” Feigning to be an in-depth look at sex in Ameri ca, it actually consisted of “ex perts” divulging nuggets of wis dom such as “sex can be enjoyable.” Wow. That is an amazing insight. In addition to the earth-shatter ing revelations, viewers were also treated to various individuals im parting some of their moves. The show defended itself by saying sex is a natural act almost every one participates in, so it is only natural to talk about it. This is a valid point. However, just be cause most people brush their teeth does not mean that anyone wants to hear how others wield their toothbrush. Our collective environment constantly bombards us with triv ialized images of sex. Yet there is no need to be reminded of sex, because sex is not the type of thing one tends to forget. Sex should not have to be used for shock value, nor should a discus sion of the topic be used as a method of titillation. To paraphrase a line from the movie Chasing Amy, modern so ciety likes to think it is some kind of sexual Marco Polo, discovering exciting new continents. But the reality is it has all been done many times before. And it has all been done with more class than the current culture can muster. Steven Gyeszly is a senior finance major. Everett speech distorts services We are appalled by The Battal ion’s failure to report on the un truths that Carol Everett dissemi nated at her speech in Rudder Theater Monday. Her assertion that sexual educa tion consists of teaching fourth- graders how to masturbate in groups and middle-schoolers to mistrust their parents and seek out abortions is misleading. Sexual ed ucation aims to prevent pregnancy and teach reproductive health. Internships offer Aggies valuable experiences W ELIZABETH STRAIT "hen it is time to go out and get a job, students can no longer expect to get by with good grades and a few extracuricular ac tivities. There is an extremely competitive job market out there and students need real work experience. Gone are the days when com panies looked for a fresh young person right out of college. A search through job listings shows it is common to see entry- level jobs requiring job experi ence. So how do students get ex perience? By interning. Internships offer students countless advantages besides the experience necessary for them find jobs. An informational pamphlet from the Texas A&M Career Cen ter points out internships provide students the opportunity to earn money to help defray college ex penses, identify specific areas of interest they may not currently be aware of, make valuable network ing contacts and learn about the workplace in general. The Career Center defines an internship as a work experience that is related to a student’s ma jor field of study or career inter ests and is typically full-time in nature for one term either during the regular school year or during the summer. Internships may also be six-month assignments or even part-time for a specified time period. A particular job may sound great sitting in a classroom, but once students get out and really try it, their mind can quickly change. As they discover that one job may not be right for them, they may find another they love. Sometimes the only way to find the perfect job is to go out there and stumble upon it. It is often difficult for students to make career contacts, but in ternships can make it simple. Af ter spending a little time at a job, students can easily make impor tant contacts that can help them get the kind of jobs they want when graduation rolls around. Many times employers hire their MAIL CALL What type of reasoning allows her to link the rise of child abuse and the legalization of abortion? Perhaps the most enlightening factoid Everett presented was that abortion clinic workers were mostly “pained people,” such as incest survivors and lesbians. Not only is that opinion bigoted, but ignorant. Everett’s statement that Planned Parenthood refuses to educate pregnant women on op tions such as adoption goes against Planned Parenthood’s eth ic and is simply not true. Everett said pro-lifers do not have to worry about the pro interns full-time after graduation. Students may not take advan tage of internships because of the misconception internships are not paid positions. Actually, many in ternships pay well and that is al ways an incentive to get out there and get experience. Sometimes, the most desir able positions are not paid, but students still have the opportuni ty to earn college credit for their work experience. And while earning extra cash is nice, the benefits of “real world” experi ence are priceless. Most important, internships give students a chance to gain ex perience not available in a class room. There are many opportuni ties at A&M to learn how to interact with different people and gain leadership experience, but that simply cannot measure up to the experiences available beyond this campus. Internships are a lot easier to find than one might think. Stu dents should begin looking at the Career Center. Internship opportu nities are posted on the Internet or students can call companies and ask if they offer intern posi tions. Students can also find list ings of internships pertaining to a particular major in academic ad vising offices. Basically, the opportunities are out there, it is just a matter of tak ing advantage of them. For many students, working in addition to going to school is not the excep tion, but the rule. So rather than flipping burgers to survive, why not get some practical work expe rience and get ahead? Internships are arranged around student’s schedules and employers who deal with interns realize in terns are there as students, so em ployers are flexible about allowing study time — a perk not always available in other jobs. For those who may not need a job to get through school, getting out and experiencing the real world is still a good idea. Intern ships are a tool for gaining experi ence in a future career as well as a way to weed through jobs and finding the perfect nitch. No one wants to spend the rest of their life doing something they hate. Elizabeth Strait is a junior journalism major. choice movement because pro lifers are the ones having the ba bies. This leads people to be lieve that pro-choicers are against pregnancy. Pro-choice advocates believe in family plan ning, be it pregnancy, adoption or contraception. It is about choice not judgment. Just because Everett led a morally corrupt lifestyle does not mean she needs to make general izations about abortion providers. Kimberly Ngo Class of ’99 accompanied by 15 signatures
