credit

Sorting through my mail the other day, I found something that caught my eye among the typical assortment of magazine-renewal notices and junk mail.

"This invitation is reserved for a select group of students . . ." read the envelope, and through a little cellophane window peeked a Mississippi State University Alumni Association logo.

"For joy," I squeaked. "Finally, I too can sport my Bulldog colors with pride as I flash my MBNA America MasterCard® and take advantage of the introductory 3.9% APR†!"

I gleefully tore into the envelope and sped through the enclosed letter, which Regional Executive Vice President Joseph A. DePaulo had written to me personally. My newfound friend Joey D. extolled the many benefits of the card, which he offered to me by virtue of my "personal accomplishments."

"They noticed," I gushed, clutching the letter to my chest. "They really like me!"

Thinking such an offer was too good to be true, I reread the letter to make sure it was on the up-and-up. That's when I noticed that the card was being offered not only because of my personal accomplishments, but also because of my enrollment at MSU.

"OFFERED ONLY to Undergraduate and Graduate Students," the letter read. "Gee, this is a select group of students," I said. "It's a damned good thing they're not offering this card to those . . . um . . . those . . . other kinds of students."

Reading on, I finally paid attention to the paragraph that read, "And by the way, this is the only card endorsed by the Mississippi State University Alumni Association – and the only card you can carry that generates contributions for the Mississippi State University Alumni Association at no additional cost to you!"

I felt used. "The weasels have sold me out," I wept. "Am I nothing to this University but a dollar sign?"

OK, now I'll mercifully dispense with the heavy-handed nonsense and get to my point. When I saw that envelope, it actually sickened me right off the bat. Truthfully, I don't know why, since by now I should be used to getting sleazy credit-card advertisements that come to me because MSU has sold my name and address to the company.

I realize that this school isn't like some that have endowments out the wazoo, so it has to do what it can to raise money. For this reason, I bit my tongue this summer when I received my undergraduate degree. No sooner did I have my diploma in hand than a representative from the Alumni Association took the stage right in the middle of commencement and started lobbying for contributions. That was almost acceptable, since it was the University appealing directly to us. This credit-card scheme, however, is singularly repulsive.

The joint venture between MSU and MBNA is perfectly indicative of the over-commercialized climate of the modern university campus. Credit-card companies have a particularly strong foothold. You can't walk into the bookstore in the Union and buy a pack of chewing gum without getting slipped six or eight application brochures. You can't walk out of the Campus Book Mart during the first couple of weeks of the semester without some guy shoving a T-shirt and a ballpoint pen in your face and trying to sign you up right there. I've even seen these slimy credit-card reps set up shop on the front steps of Allen Hall – the administration building, for crying out loud.

We've all heard the dangers of getting a credit card before you are financially responsible enough to handle it. If, by chance, you haven't, check out some old editions of The Reflector, because I know we've run numerous stories about the issue.

Of course, I realize that MSU students (generally speaking) aren't children and that college is a place to learn the sorts of behaviors that work and those that don't. I just don't think the university should be quite so receptive to the advances of the corporate swine, for doing so results in confusing messages. For example: "Think for yourself. Get a credit card. Always make your own decisions. Get a credit card. Be responsible. Now GET a frickin' ALUMNI Association CREDIT card, you bastard! Never MIND that you're not an alumnus yet! Just sign up NOW!"

I'm sure some people will say I'm getting all worked up over nothing – that everyone has credit cards and it's no big deal for these companies to exert their influence on campus. However, as perhaps the world's only 28-year-old "fuddy-duddy" (or the world's most ridiculous idealist), I still believe that a university should foster an atmosphere of intellectualism and not crass commercialism. (Yes, I do see these as necessarily at odds; it's hard to be a free thinker when you're being manipulated.) We have no shortage of venues at which we can let our brains be pummeled into submission by corporate messages; it would be nice if our University campus were an exception.