Credit card firms prey on college kids

11/26/2007

It truly sickens me, a 20-year-old third-year college student, to accept the fact that credit card companies judge college kids as potential gold mines.

These companies set up shop in prime locations with heavy foot traffic on campuses and snare poor and financially ignorant college students by offering cheap stuff to all opening new accounts.

Besides the deceptive marketing strategy, recent studies have shown that a surprising number of universities are disclosing students' contact information to credit card-issuing banks and getting millions in annual fees. Why are they allowing our generation to be set up for financial doom?

According to the Oct. 1 issue of Business Week, California, Oklahoma, and Texas have recently passed laws restricting credit-card marketing on public campuses, joining 15 other states that already had such restrictions in place.

No longer can credit-card marketers lure students with free gifts, colleges are prohibited from selling student information for credit-card marketing purposes, and on-campus credit-card marketing has been curtailed, permitting marketing only on limited days and in certain locations.

The solution for Ohio is simple. Legislation that is working is in place in other states. Ohio needs to enact stricter laws that put an end to our universities selling us out, and place tougher restrictions on credit card companies eating us alive.

Emily E. Baumgartner

Westerville, Ohio

Problems like COSI drive people away

When I visit Toledo, I see a city with a lot of neat people. They have dreams, goals, and, most of all, are mostly all-around good people. COSI, Carty, school board, the zoo, Democrats, Republicans, CitiFest, Erie Street Market, and all the people that turn their heads are, unfortunately, what keeps me out of Toledo and what keeps sending people away from Toledo.

COSI and Toledo Zoo: No business can survive with hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Be open when people can come. I wish that I could have the taxpayers foot my bills on six hours a day of work.

Jack Ford wants to finance COSI with school money, or should I say taxpayer money? The taxpayers said no twice. Take the hint.

Erie Street Market and CitiFest: Thank God that Fifth Third Bank has a $40,000 over the limit availability. How many felonies would that be if it were my checking account? I knew when I walked into the office at Erie Street Market and there was cigarette smoke in the air and a full ashtray on the desk (after the ban took place), that management may not be top-tier.

Carty. Enough said.

Politicians are the true brains behind failure. I read on a weekly basis how you have made yet another move to secure your personal needs. Try to do one thing a day that you promised the voters and I bet this city improves 10-fold in a year.

My message to the people of Toledo is to take off the blinders. The people running the city have set records on how quick they can screw things up. I love Toledo and what it has to offer. Unfortunately the politics come with the deal.

Jason Craig

Perrysburg

Explain 'No' vote to children of area

Well, Toledoans have finally done it. The Nov. 6 election was an opportunity for us to show support for the education of our city's youth and 51 percent of the voters decided that COSI should close its doors. Way to go.

This just proves what people say about this city; it has a "brain drain." No wonder young people come to the wonderful University of Toledo and then move away. Who wants to raise children in a place where they are not valued?

What exactly do we have here for our young people? There are a few open basketball courts, the Hoop was closed, the Boys and Girls Club on Detroit Avenue desperately needs upgrading, National Youth Sports Program was sharply downsized, The Mid-City Athletic League needs more funding and sponsors, and now COSI will soon be closing its doors.

That levy was to give children more access to COSI. Now, instead of coming free on Saturdays, they won't be able to come at all.

To the 51 percent who voted no, explain to the children of this city why you said no to COSI and add your plan for what they should now do to learn science and math in a fun way.

L. Camille Mason

Maplewood Avenue

'Yes' voters could fund science center

By my calculations, if each of the 40,661 citizens who voted for the COSI levy sent a check to COSI in the amount of $185 (or if they made 5 payments of $37), this would provide COSI with the $1.5 million annually that the levy was expected to generate.

Sandy Bauer

Oregon

Metroparks, library, zoo could help COSI

The Metroparks and the library levies both passed. Because these levies are both replacement levies, they yield a considerable increase in revenue for these institutions - an estimated $4.3 million for the library and about $3 million for Metroparks. COSI, which was only looking for $1.5 million, was defeated.

In one way or another, these institutions are all working toward providing educational services for our community. It would be a tremendous act of cooperation if the library and Metroparks would join in with the Toledo Zoo in sharing part of their windfall with COSI for its continuing operation.

Wishful thinking?

Matt Welker

Suzanne Drive

Levy failed because museum is a loser

It is the opinion of The Blade that the COSI levy failed maybe because it was a new tax. That is not the case. The cost to taxpayers was nominal. The reason it failed was because, even with subsidies of rent and utility costs, COSI has been a loser from the outset.

There was no business plan presented with this levy. There were no new ideas to consider. Now we hear about making it a charter school. Will that include vouchers?

The Blade also noted that the other levies (library, Metroparks and TARTA) were successful because they were renewals. Wrong. They were replacement levies, meaning higher taxes.

Taxpayers who paid attention to this "no new tax" were overridden by those who voted with sentiment, not logic.

Tom Nowak

Orchard Trail Drive

Do not shut COSI, move it to Perrysburg

Don't shut down COSI. Move it to Perrysburg. I know a lot of people here who would welcome this wonderful gem.

Dennis Kraynak

Perrysburg

Some cannot afford even a small levy

I imagine it would be a mystery to The Blade's editorial staff why additional tax levies do not pass. People with six-figure or better incomes probably would not understand why a few dollars more in tax liability would make a difference. Perhaps you should ask someone on a small fixed income. I know they could tell you why.

However, you don't even need to do that. In the very same Nov. 9 paper in which the editorial appeared, there were a dozen or better full pages (in small print) of Lucas County Tax Delinquencies.

Also, a few weeks ago there was an article attesting to a very high rate of mortgage foreclosures in recent times.

Sometimes, the answers to what we may see as mysteries may really be right in front of our face or, as in this case, in our own paper.

Paul Wroe

309th Street