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College Credit Card Use Can Have Long Term Impact
A new poll says that nearly one quarter of college students graduate with more than $5,000 in credit card debt.
1 in 10 of those surveyed said they owed more than $10,000.
Some students sign up for credit cards on campus, when the card companies visit and offer t-shirts and other freebies. But of those students who did, 52 percent graduated with credit card debt.
According to a 2007 study by student-loan provider Nellie Mae, the average credit card debt for college students is about $2,748. For a person who makes minimum payments, it would take nearly 18 years and an additional $2,506.01 in interest, at a rate of 15 percent, to pay off that debt.
In addition, how you manage credit cards while you're in college can affect your credit score for years to come, advises an expert from TrueCredit.com, the organization that sponsored the survey of 3,631 college graduates or people who have attended some college. Those surveyed ranged in age 22-40.
TrueCredit.com offers tips to follow to stay on top of your finances while in school, follow link to see those. A new poll says that nearly one quarter of college students graduate with more than $5,000 in credit card debt. ... more -
Bartering sex for stuff or services
While she was studying in Brazil during college, the one thing Stephanie Gerson longed to do before leaving was spend time in the thick of the Amazon rain forest. Unfortunately, she couldn't find a tour that would take her past the forest's edge.
Survey at college finds 27 percent of men and 14 percent of women willing to trade favors or gifts for sex.
Survey at college finds 27 percent of men and 14 percent of women willing to trade favors or gifts for sex.
So, when a college-aged busboy at a resort she was visiting began flirting with her, she asked him if he thought a tourist could survive alone in the jungle.
"He laughed and told me I was nuts," says Gerson, 27, who works part-time in online marketing for a chocolate company in San Francisco.
Then he told her that he'd grown up in the jungle in a nearby indigenous community. That was all Gerson needed to hear. Although she wasn't attracted to the guy, Gerson flirted right back in the hopes that he would be her jungle tour guide. It worked. The busboy wormed his way out of work, and the two headed into the rain forest.
"It was amazing," Gerson says of her adventure in 2000. "We built our homes out of palm leaves, I saw animals I'd never seen before, he taught me the medicinal properties of all the plants, we picked fruit off the trees, we swam with and ate piranhas. And, of course, we had sex ... for almost two weeks."
Gerson never felt sleazy or uncomfortable with her unspoken arrangement with the busboy.
"It was a good barter both ways," she says. "I got to stay in the jungle, and he got to have sex with a cute, young American girl." While she was studying in Brazil during college, the one thing Stephanie Gerson longed to do before leaving was spend time in the thic... more -
Financial Advice for College Students That Your Parents Aren't Telling You
Between packing for college, buying school supplies and recovering from sticker shock, parents may be too bogged down to remember to pass on some financial words of wisdom as their child leaves the nest. To help college bound students build a foundation of sound financial habits, Better Business Bureau offers the following advice for parents to bestow on their freshman.
Last year alone, approximately two million students graduated from high school and headed to college. While most were equipped with bedding and books, many were ill-equipped on the subject of financial literacy.
According to a 2007 survey by Charles Schwab, fewer than half of teens considered themselves knowledgeable on how to budget money (41 percent), how to pay bills (34 percent), or how credit card interest and fees work (26 percent).
“College years are the time when many young adults establish habits they will carry with them for the rest of their lives and while it’s important that they tackle academics, its critical that they also learn everyday skills – such as how to manage their money – in order to become successful in life,” said Steve Cox, BBB spokesperson. “Aside from leading by example, parents have an active role to play in ensuring their children are equipped to handle their own finances away from home.”
BBB recommends that before parents wave goodbye to their college bound students, they sit down and discuss four key rules for managing personal finances:
1. Be responsible with credit cards.
2. Start saving money now, even if it’s just a small amount every month.
3. Pay your bills on time.
4. Guard your personal information.
Read the full article for more detailed information on the four tips. Between packing for college, buying school supplies and recovering from sticker shock, parents may be too bogged down to remember to p... more -
College Presidents Advocate Lowering Drinking Age to 18
The president of Butler University, joined by college presidents nationwide, is calling for lawmakers to consider lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18 as a way to discourage binge drinking on campus.
"I wish that college presidents would attempt to deal with the problem rather than ignore it," said Jim Noffsinger, Indiana coordinator for SADD -- Students Against Drunk Drivers. "The (age-limit) law has been heralded as one of the most effective public safety laws ever passed." The college presidents, however, say the law actually encourages the worst kind of alcohol consumption.
College students, they say, will drink no matter what, and the law creates a "culture of dangerous, clandestine binge-drinking."
Fong is one of about 100 college presidents to sign a petition by the Amethyst Initiative to consider changing the legal drinking age in the U.S. Other prominent schools in the group include Syracuse, Tufts, Colgate, Kenyon and Morehouse. The only other Indiana university president to sign onto the campaign is Hanover College President Sue DeWine.
Not all university presidents in Indiana support the effort.
Purdue University President France Córdova did not sign the petition, but in a prepared statement, she said she supports finding new ways to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol.
Indiana University President Michael McRobbie has not taken a position.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 90 percent of all alcohol consumed by people younger than 21 is in the form of binge drinking. One study has estimated that more than 500,000 full-time students at four-year colleges suffer injuries each year related in some way to drinking, and about 1,700 die in such accidents.
The statement the presidents have signed avoids calling explicitly for a younger drinking age. Rather, it seeks "an informed and dispassionate debate" over the issue and the federal highway law that made 21 the de facto national drinking age in 1984 by denying money to any state that bucks the trend.
Drinking ages around the world vary, but in many European countries, it is 18. And the group behind the push notes on its Web site that the U.K., Germany, Australia, The Netherlands and Canada all had bigger declines in alcohol-related traffic fatalities than the U.S. during a 10-year period from 1982 to 1992 -- the time when the U.S. made 21 the national standard.
The Amethyst Initiative also notes that while adults younger than 21 can vote and enlist in the military, they are not considered mature enough to drink. The president of Butler University, joined by college presidents nationwide, is calling for lawmakers to consider lowering the legal d... more -
Are You Dumb or Just Plain Arrogant?
NEW YORK - Graduate students seem to be pulling out their credit cards more often to pay for school expenses - a trend that worries financial experts.
A study released Wednesday by Nellie Mae, a company based in Braintree, Mass., that provides education financing for college students, found that more than nine in 10 graduate students had at least one credit card in the 2006-07 academic year. Their average outstanding balance was $8,612, up 10 percent from the $7,831 average balance when the study last was done in 2003.
While most say they try to make at least the minimum payment every month, just 20 percent pay off their cards in full, so student's balances continue to grow.
One reason graduate students carry a lot of debt is that they've been building on the $3,500 in card debt they carried when they completed their undergraduate studies, said Marie O'Malley, a spokeswoman for Nellie Mae, which is a division of the SLM Corp., also known as Sallie Mae. And graduate students typically are eligible for fewer grants and scholarships than undergraduates, making them more dependent on their own financing.
More than 94 percent of the students used their credit cards for school-related expenses, especially the purchase of textbooks, school supplies and transportation. Nearly one-third used their cards for tuition costs, and more than one-third used them to cover college fees.
"We know there are more cost-effective ways to pay for college," O'Malley said, noting that most student loans carry lower rates and better repayment terms than credit cards. She added that it was unclear if graduate students were unaware of alternatives or didn't take the time to hunt them down.
Business students carried the highest average debt at nearly $14,000 followed by law students, and medical or dental students. NEW YORK - Graduate students seem to be pulling out their credit cards more often to pay for school expenses - a trend that worries fi... more -
Students stabbed to death and set alight
Two French research students found stabbed to death following a flat fire had been tied up and suffered horrific, excessive injuries, police have said.
The biochemistry students had been studying at Imperial College, London.
The bodies of Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23, were found in a ground-floor flat in New Cross, south-east London, on Sunday night.
They had suffered a total of 243 stab wounds to the head, neck and chest before being set alight. Two French research students found stabbed to death following a flat fire had been tied up and suffered horrific, excessive injuries, ... more -
tattoo.
Would you want a permanent marking on your body? If so, what would you get? This film explores the way a handful of college students answered this question, and what their tattoos mean to them. Would you want a permanent marking on your body? If so, what would you get? This film explores the way a handful of college students a... more
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Class of 08: Job Hunt
Its "The Graduate" updated for our times--what does the future hold for the Class of 2008 as they attempt to make their way in this world under an increasingly darker economic cloud. Will the high oil prices sink their prospects or will younger workers replace older more expensive ones as the children of late 80s finally get to work? Its "The Graduate" updated for our times--what does the future hold for the Class of 2008 as they attempt to make their way ... more
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Gas is $4 per gallon? Try solar powered travel!
Watch the video!
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Earth Healing Initiative: Menominee Indian Tribe of WI in Great Lakes 2008 Earth D...
Youth and adults at the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin plan three events as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge
(Keshena, Wisconsin) - As the students of all ages plan a major hands-on clean up of a tribal community and the recycling of electronics and proper disposal of unwanted medications to honor Earth Day 2008, adult members of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena, WI have already turned in several thousand pounds of electronic waste as part of a national Earth Day Project.
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin is collecting e-Waste all month including during the tribe's regular curbside bulk items Spring Cleaning collection on April 21-24 (Monday thru Thursday).
"We are getting lots of electronics right now," said Diana Wolf, the MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator.
The projects are part of the eight-state Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge sponsored by the USEPA. The events are being promoted by the interfaith Earth Healing Initiative that teams numerous faith communities and American Indian tribes with local challenge organizers to be volunteers and participants in the projects spread across the Great Lakes basin.
During the first week of April, the tribe’s drop-off sites collected several thousand pounds of electronics including 919 pounds of "low-grade circuit boards" removed from TV sets, stereos, high quality computers, cassette players and other electronics.
Wolf estimated that about two tons (4,000 pounds) of electronics will be turned in by the end of the month.
“We will do whatever it takes to do cradle to grave recycling,” Wolf said. "We are not making a profit off of it but it is the right thing to do."
On April 25 students at the Menominee Tribal School (k-8) will be cleaning the area around the school of litter and recyclables and other downtown areas of Neopit. The tribe's 234,000-acre reservation includes the communities of Keshena, Zoar and South Branch.
"The students will be picking up litter and recyclables - and anything that's on the roads or sidewalks or the yards," Wolf said, adding the students will be planting 50 saplings.
"We are inviting the parents to bring a potluck and there will likely be wild rice and other Native American dishes," Wolf said.
The lunch will include a drama performance and include Native Music involving the "Wind Eagle Drum" or the "high school drum" consisting of students who are learning the music of the Menominee tribe's history.
"Our school is very much a cultural-motivated school," Wolf said. "The school teaches about the Menominee culture and language. The students learn about our Menominee history and our language amongst the non-native teaching."
"My children speak fluent Menominee because they have been in the school for three years," Wolf said.
Menominee tribal college students are doing their part to protect the planet with e-Waste and pharmaceutical collections.
The College of Menominee Nation (State Hwy. 47/55) in Keshena, is accepting e-waste and unwanted medicines on April 22 from 9 a.m. to noon and accepting e-Waste from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the commons building.
The college’s Implementing Sustainable Development class is hosting the collection with help from the tribe's solid waste coordinator.
The e-Waste collection will accept electronics including old/broken computers, cell phones and batteries.
The pharmaceutical collection is accepting old and unwanted medications that must be in their original bottle or container.
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov
http://www.menominee.edu
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/earthWeekFlyer.pdf Youth and adults at the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin plan three events as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge ... more -
Earth Healing Initiative brings interfaith, Indigenous groups to Great Lakes Earth...
An Introduction: The interfaith Earth Healing Initiative and Earth Day 2008
Numerous faith communities, American Indian tribes and many others being encouraged to volunteer or participate in a large eight-state Earth Day 2008 project with events across the Great Lakes Basin through mid-May.
The new Earth Healing Initiative (EHI) is organizing faith communities. The EHI is one of numerous environment and Native American projects founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan.
Collection sites will accept old/broken computers, cell phones, TVs and other electronics to be recycled, and old/unwanted medicines to be properly disposed during the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.
The EPA is awarding grants to some of the collection sites where residents can drop off e-waste and old/unwanted pharmaceuticals.
The Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative, co-founded by the Cedar Tree Institute, have alliances with ten faith traditions across the Upper Peninsula, and the EHI is coordinating the same relationships with religious communities across the Great Lakes and beyond.
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Earth Healing official website::
http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org
EPA GLNPO Official challenge link:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/index.html
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/events.html
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EPA Press Release on challenge:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/D48F2AD96EC6...
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The co-founder of the Michigan Earth Keepers, ELCA Lutheran Rev. Jon Magnuson created the Earth Healing Initiative in March 2008 to spread the word about interfaith and Native American environment projects.
The EHI is offering free media assistance to environment projects including press releases, press contacts, internet and high definition digital videos, podcasts and vast internet postings.
For more details call Greg at 906-401-0109.
--- An Introduction: The interfaith Earth Healing Initiative and Earth Day 2008 ... more -
Solidarity for Schultz
On March 12, one of NC State University's most prominent student leaders was diagnosed with leukemia. Nick Schultz is the 2007-08 Leader of the Pack. On April 3, dozens of his fellow NC State students showed up with food and donations. And some shaved their heads to show support for this special student. On March 12, one of NC State University's most prominent student leaders was diagnosed with leukemia. Nick Schultz is the 2007-0... more
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Hofstra Univeristy Announces Medical School in Association with North Shore LIJ
Hofstra University School of Medicine in Partnership with North Shore-LIJ Health System Announces Appointment of Dean
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Vote: Are You Registered?
"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." --George Jean Nathan (1882-1958)
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Hofstra Students Gather for Super Tuesday Primary Returns
Hofstra students gathered to cheer on their candidates and watch the returns of the 2008 Super Tuesday presidential primaries. The event was part of "Educate '08," an unprecedented educational effort that will engage not only students and faculty but also the public in a year-long series of conferences, events and lectures leading up to the 3rd and final 2008 presidential debate at Hofstra University. Hofstra students gathered to cheer on their candidates and watch the returns of the 2008 Super Tuesday presidential primaries. The eve... more
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Dealing with Debt
With tuition costs on the rise students are facing a moutain of debt upon graduation. Ross McGraw is one of those students. He plans to go to law school, but he struggles with day to day costs. With tuition costs on the rise students are facing a moutain of debt upon graduation. Ross McGraw is one of those students. He plans t... more
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Protests force Facebook to change
Facebook members have forced the social networking site to change the way a controversial ad system worked.
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Puppy "Sorry"
Buckcherry is having a contest for their song "Sorry" and the one with the most views wins. So please look at it and rate it! Buckcherry is having a contest for their song "Sorry" and the one with the most views wins. So please look at it and rate it... more
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Required Friday Classes, A Sobering Idea
rying to curb students' "Thirsty Thursday" tradition of bar crawls and party hopping, professors at a Missouri college are urging universities to mandate Friday classes to encourage students to stay sober for at least one more night each week. rying to curb students' "Thirsty Thursday" tradition of bar crawls and party hopping, professors at a Missouri college ... more
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Students Push for clearer labels
udents across the country yesterday held demonstrations to pressure the Coca-Cola Company to be more transparent about the origin of the water it uses in its bottled water product, Dasani. udents across the country yesterday held demonstrations to pressure the Coca-Cola Company to be more transparent about the origin of t... more
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