The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 19, 2000, Page A7, Image 7
Students and Finances
BY WlLLIESHA C.LAKIN
Staff Writer
“As my grandfather used to say, ‘Credit cards are gonna ruin this
country.’”
Junior Jonathan Coleman, a management and marketing major,
perhaps summed up college students' financial problems with some
age-old advice.
With the start of the year 2000, some things seem to have stayed
the same. Students all over the United States have a financial
dilemma or two at one time or another in their college careers. The
nonri for many college students seems to be getting student loans and
paying them off years after graduating.
Coleman recognizes his positive budgeting attributes.
“I'm a good manager of mon
ey,” Coleman said. “[I]
just don't spend
11^ it until I need it.”
Coleman is like
V many students who
take advantage of their
V bucketing habits early in
W their collie life.
f Michelle Wright,
assistant director of the Of
fice of Financial Aid and
Scholarships, hopes students
make plans for their college
funds as early as high school.
Her office even presents col
lege nights for high school students to plan for financial aid.
“Think futuristic,” Wight said. She described the financial aid
process as something requiring “timely” completion, because many
scholarships and aid programs have limited funding. She warned stu
dents not to “rely soley on” financial aid, and she recommended par
ticipating in the work-study program if a job is necessary. Work
study may be easier for students who have time management concerns.
Wight also noted theimportance of staying on track with the fi
nancial aid application process.
“Keep up and follow through,” Wight said. “Be mindful of the
entire process. Be aware of all the options.”
Students who come to the financial aid office can be referred to
other sources for help with “debt management” and other tips on
handling funds, such as online sources, especially for scholarship
searches.
“The financial aid office is a good place to start, Wright said.
MoneyCentral.com, a site run by the Microsoft Network, de
votes pages of financial articles for parents of college students.
Tips include pre-paying for fixed expenses such as tuition. The
site emphasizes “non-tuition expenses” that must be budgeted as well,
such as travel expenses to and from school, entertainment expenses,
food, clothing, and essential needs like medical and dental fees and
insurance. The site even recommends keeping a journal of daily
spending. “Record your money habits for three days,” the article be
gins. “Write down every penny you spend.” The site also mentions
online banking, in which parents and their college-age children can
keep up with accounts.
Another online source^ Edu.com, gives important tips about bud
geting as a college student. This site recommends saving all receipts
for expenses to compare budgeting with
actual spending costs, i ne
site suggests reward
ing yourself for han- OPI
tiling money wise
ly and deciding 1
the “difference be- 1
tween your needs and
wants.”
“Needs are those ■
things you have to buy
or you’ll get hungry, fall wl
asleep in class or fail that *,
test,” the article suggests, f
“and wants are those things '
you don’t have to buy, but still
think you 11 cue without — such as that new trendy sweater.
Coleman has tips of his own for students.
“Always know how much you have and what your limits are,”
Coleman said. He mentioned tithing, or giving 10 percent of his earn
ings to his local church, as an important part of his budgeting.
“If we give to”Him, He's gonna give back to us,” Coleman stat
ed as a simple reason for tithing.
Coleman constantly emphasizes not using credit cards regular
ly. He thinks students should just “get rid of [credit cards] completely
if you can.” The only credit card he carries is American Express.
He said it's the best one “if you have to have one at all.”
“Be on a cash-only basis,” Coleman said. “If you don't have the
cash for it, you don't need it.”
Home remedies offer alternative to drugs
Before you read this col
umn, please take note
that I am not an expert
in this field. To be honest, I
know close to nothing on this
subject. The — what could
be called — “research”
completed to write this col
umn will probably be in
complete in many ways, sucn as tnougnt, compre
hension, and/or action.
Assignment and deadlines aside, I seek en
lightenment on any suoject I am “in the dark” about.
So please do not get bitter about any of my mis
comprehensions. Chances are, I won’t really carp
that much. Thank you, and enjoy the column.
In recent years, I have noticed an upsurge of
references to alternative medicines in the wo Ad
(but that could be because I have been opened to
more avenues of the media).
I occasionally see an infomercial or two about
books providing home remedies for illnesses. In
grocery stores and supermarkets, I see shelves lined
with Gingko Biloba and St. John’s Wort. On news
magazine shows, I am informed of new ways tech
nology is improving society’s health problems.
Being a generally apathetic-to-the-world” per
son, I shrugged everything off and continued on
with my business.
But upon receiving this assignment, I have
found that “inside motivation” to go a little in-depth
about what these things are and what they can do.
Whenever I was sick as a child, my mother had
various ways of making me feel batter.
When I had the chicken pox, it was calamine
lotion and some sort of Benadryl thing. I don’t re
member much, but I know I didn’t go to the doc
tor for it and I got better within a week.
The chicken pox is somewhat major, so we had
to use the pharmaceuticals. But if it was something
little, like a cold, home remedies are, in my opin
ion, better than over-the-counter medicines.
Chicken soup is a wonder drug in my opinion.
If I were ever sick, chicken soup always made me
feel better, and I am sure your parents did the same.
At school, when everyone pretended they were
sick to get out of classes they didn’t like, it was com
mon practice for the school nurse to give us a “mir
acle mint.” Yeah, yeah... it’s all in our minds.
We faked it, but I was just citing it as an exam
ple for this “scientific” approach. But the point is
that little things can always be cured by home reme
dies.
There are so many herbal medicines on the mar
Medicine see page as
Ricky DeLeon
is a journalism
major and can be
reached by
e-mail at:
gckfeatures©
yahoo.com
Campus Notes
Tutors needed
Students interested in becoming tutors
may sign up to do so Wednesday and
Thursday on Greene Street. For more
information, e-mail
Tom_Wmslow@hotmail.com.
RAD to hold
weekend class
Students may sign up for the Rape Ag
gression Defense class being held from
10 am. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m.
to 5 pm. Sunday. For more informa
tion, call Officer Garbade at 777-0855.
Fraternity celebrates
Founders Week
The Kappa Iota Chapter of Phi Beta
Sigma fraternity is holding its annual
Founders Week celebration. Events in
clude a Treatment of Women Forum at
7 p.m. Wednesday in Harper College
and a church service at 11 am. Sunday
at Bible Why onAtlas Road. A bus will
leave at 10:15 am. from the Russell
House.
Counseling services
to be offered
The Counseling and Human Develop
ment Center will be offering the fol
lowing groups if enough interest is
shown: Drop-in Meditation, Interper
sonal Relations Group, LD and ADHD
Support Group, and Thesis Support
Group. For more information, call
777-5223.
Leadership confer- -
ence to be held
The Office of Leadership Programs an
nounces its 14th annual Student Lead
ership Training Conference. The
theme of this year’s conference is “The
Art of Leadership: Painting Your
Palette.” SLTC will take place from 8
a.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 5. For more infor
mation, call the Office of Leadership
Programs at 777-6688.
■ CORRECTIONS
The Gamecock strives to report the
facts correctly and responsibly. If you
come across any inaccuracies in our re
portage, please let us know.
Applications available in
the Housing & Student Government Offices,
the Russell House Information Desk,
and the Campus Activities Center.
Due TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1
in the Housing Office. *
Need Some Cash?
Help Sera Tec Help Others
by Donating Life Saving Plasma
New donors or anyone
who has not donated in
6 months can earn.
$25 * First Donation
$40 - Second Donation
Regular donors can earn $40 *
per calendar week.
—
No appointment necessary
Bring I.D. with Date of Birth
and Student I.D.
SERA TEC BIOLOGICALS
(formerly Bayer Plasma Center)
M, W, F 7:30AM - 4:00PM • T, TH 7:30AM - 5:00PM
JHE ART OF LEADERSHIP
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' Student Leadership Training Conference 2000
Student Organizations:
Send 4 Members, Send 5th FREE
By January 21, 2000 (Early Registration):
$20 for USC-Columbia participants
$30 for non-USC-Columbia participants
After January 21, 2000 (Late Registration):
$25 for USC-Columbia participants
$35 for non-USC-Columbia participants
Presented by:
Office of Leadership Programs
Department of Student Life
Division of Student and Alumni Services
Registration will not be accepted after January 28, 2000
Make checks payable to Leadership Programs.
For more information, please call 777-6688.
Does a part-time job that pays $8.50-$9.50 per
hour and won’t interfere with your class
schedule sound too good to be true?
At UPS, most students work in operations. There’s plenty of
time to study and to recharge while working 3-5 hours a day.
To arrange an interview for employment
contact United Parcel Service at 822-6294
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