With the biggest traditional shopping day of the year behind us, shopping madness, hunting for a bargain or great gift idea is well under way. And, while many students may receive a few dollars after selling back their textbooks to the bookstore, the money they obtain just won't cover the gifts for people on their never-ending shopping list. Therefore, the option of charging holiday purchases becomes all too familiar for some.
Many credit card companies will offer to either lower rates during the holiday season or derail payments until a later date. So, there are options, but for some shop-a-holics it's just not that simple, especially with many upcoming sales. The temptation of those sales are just too much for some to handle as they go hog wild picking up anything they can find fitting their fancy.
   The emblematic relationship with plastic money and Internet shopping has crazed and encouraged credit card companies to begin promotions and other great deals during this season after salivating over last year's credit card usage rate. This year alone, credit card companies expect the usage of plastic money to rise three times from $4.5 billion in 1999, according to research done by Gartner Group's Dataquest Inc. This data also shows that about 70 percent of holiday season shopping will be done online. Therefore, American Express is emphasizing the new "smart card" that will contain a personal identification number and "smart card" reader that can be used along with an electronic wallet, which plugs into a personal computer.
   Greg Stanish (freshman-architectural design) was one of the college students who decided to go out and use plastic to do most of his shopping, But, the question that keeps boggling his mind is: "Is it better to wait and just save up the cash and be stuck with large payments later or just simply avoid it all and scrounge for money now'?."
   Differing opinions came when speaking with Stacey Schaming (sophomore division of undergraduate studies) and Amanda Spochacz (freshman information sciences and technology) about what they're going to do during their rush to the malls. Ms. Schaming said she'd rather take advantage of the low rates on her credit cards during the holiday season and pay later getting the girls that she has in mind. While Ms. Spochacz has already saved up money and chooses to use cash for her gifts.