Debt that stays

Free candy, small toys and cheap T-shirts-these are gifts offered by credit card companies on Upper Campus to students giving them their vital statistics- name, address, social security number, yearly income, mother's maiden name and telephone number.

Credit card companies are soliciting college students in full awareness that they are an incredibly vulnerable group. Students go wild with $2,000, $3,000 and $4,000 limits. They furnish their apartments and buy new bicycles, clothes and CDs.

As students max out their cards, these companies smile with glee. Luckily (for them), students have not yet learned the repercussions of bad credit, which can include being denied loans for a new car or house or seeing a house or apartment being rented to a more established candidate.

Bad credit can lasso a student's life and if bad enough, can force one into declaring bankruptcy.

College graduates need to focus on finding a job, not paying bills from a four-year spending frenzy. Since many students already have student loans to deal with, credit card debt should not be added to the lofty price of education.

If credit card companies want to offer people opportunities to spend what they do not have, they can go to the swap meet. Students come to school for higher education, not to be conned into a debt-ridden life.