Newspaper Page Text
page 10
Maroon Tiger
May 4, 1978
general interest
Can Buying a Cadillac Be
Easier than Renting
A Compact?
BY CAROL PINE
Legal protection aside, although nothing will substitute for good credit
history and good income, there is evidence that the consumer credit his
tory is more receptive to young customers than ever before.
In the past, for example, is has been much more difficult for young
adults to rent a car than to buy one. If he tried to rent a car fora weekend
trip c*r a Thanksgiving visit to the folks’house, the campus-bound college
student was generally stranded, (The best he could do.was beg a jalopy
from a classmate.) In those days, the car rental industry usually put a 21-
year-old age “floor” on renters and occasionally the requirement would
go as high as 2!>. Although some major rental companies still reportedly
discourage renters under age 21, National Car Rental has chosen to open
up its business at corporate-owned locations to qualified customers as
young as 18. That new rental policy began three years ago and National
President J.W. James explains why: “We feel that qualified 18-year-olds
are certainly responsible enough to rent a car. However, they still have to
have the same credit and other qualifications as the rest of our cus
tomers.” (This includes a valid driver’s license and an authorized credit
card or credit verification.)
“This new age minimum for our car rental customers is consistent with
the changing attitudes in all phases of business,” James said. The new
policy affects all corporate-owned National Car Rental outlets located in
most major U.S. cities. Some franchise locations still tend to prefer 21-
year-old or higher minimum ages mainly for insurance reasons. More
than other consumer credit enterprises, car rental firms take a major risk
with every renter—a late model car, no more than one-yearold,forexam-
ple, is now worth between $4,000 and $6,000.
Rpllie Krefall, director of insurance for National Car Rental, adds,
however, that although some of his peers in the rental industry may
strenuously disagree with him, he thinks young executives are a good
bet: “They’re probably the cream of the young crop. It’s too soon for us to
report any statistics on accident rates by age, but we are well aware that
National Safety Council accident statistics indicate the largest number
of accidents do occur in the 18-to-24 age group, our information also in
dicates, however, that young executives, especially those who are credit-
qualified college graduates, are a far better risk than the average lK-to-24
Dedication of the nation’s largest solar heating and cool
ing system, currently in operation, took place November
26, 1975, at the George A. Towns Elementary School in
Atlanta, Ga.
The Towns School solar project is being conducted for
the U.S. Department of Energy by Westinghouse and its
principal associates—Burt, Hilland Associates of Butler,
Pa., and the Georgia Institute of Technology—under a
cost-sharing, no fee contract. Eederal funding totaled
$912,000. The contractors waived all feesand profits and
in addition contributed a total of $18,000 to the project.
Hot Spices Help Lungs
year-old.”
Young borrowers can follow this rule of thumb, says Don Hunt, con
sumer finance supervisor for the state of Minnesota: “Seek out the
hometown bank where the staff knows you and your family. If you’re
considered, ‘good, solid stock’, they’ll take a flyer on you. This is goes on a
lot in rural areas. (Besides, the bank also knows that dad owms 600
choice acres in the river valley.) It’s the rural bank that helps many
young farmers get started.” A St. Cloud, Minn, dental hygienist
understood the value of local identity when she purchased a car recently.
Rather than seek a bank loan in St. Cloud where she was a relatively new
resident, she hurried home to Cherokee, Iowa, where the approval was “a
breeze.”
Auto loans are generally easier for young people to secure because the
car, itself, is valuable collateral, says Huot. To make auto loans more
palatable, the American Bankers Association reports that 77 percent of
its member banks now offer loans for more than theonce-traditional 86
months. Only two years ago, 91 percent of such loans were for 86 months
or less. Auto buyers—young or old—should also shop around for the best
loan. Says Consumer Reports magazine, ”A loan of $4,000 can costas lit
tle as $198 or as much as $1,247 or more, depending on the interest rate
and the term, or duration, of the loan.” A person has numerous borrow
ing choices—he can draw from a personal savings account as collateral;
he c„an borrow on a life-insurance policy, or go to a bank, finance com
pany, savings and loan or credit union.
BY EDWIN KRAMER Information Director
Georgia Lung Association
Eat garlic to cure a cold?
Gargle with hot pepper sauce
to treat bronchitis? Sound
ridiculous?
Sounds ridiculous?
The answer may be “yes” on
all counts. But, according to
Dr. Irwin Ziment—associate
chief of medicine at the San
Fernando Valley Medical
Program at UCLA—hot, spicy
foods are proving helpful to
patients with lung disease. Dr.
Ziment presented his views at
a recent seminar sponsored by
the American Lung As
sociation of Louisiana.
Eating garlic and onions,
says Dr. Ziment, can help
prevent as well as cure a cold.
And, he says, “If perchance
such hot, spicy food isn’t
equally good for your ulcer,
then all you have to do is sprin
kle 20 drops of tabasco sauce
into a glass of water, use it as a
Celebrate Clean Air
BY EDWIN KRAMER
Information Director
Georgia Lung Association
We may all be able to breath
clean air for at least one week
this year, if lung associations
have their way.
Clean Air Week, sponsored
by the American Lung As
sociation and lung as
sociations across the country,
will be celebrated May 1
through May 7. Urging drivers
to kick the car habit will be the
focus of the first day, “Park It”
Day; lung associations are as
king everyone to leave cars at
home and use public
transportation or some non
polluting means of travel.
Such as bikes, shoe leather,
horse and wagon, or stilts.
According to the American
Lung Association, every day
cars spew out more than 200,-
000 tons of hydrocarbons,
carbon monoxide, and
nitrogen oxides. Lung as
sociations are concerned about
the damaging effects of these
pollutants on everybody’s
lungs, especially children’s
lungs because their airways
are narrowed and their breath
ing rates are higher than those
of adults. Both these factors in
crease the damaging effects of
pollutants on little lungs.
“Sun Day ”, which will be the
focus of Wednesday during
Clean Air Week, will be spon
sored by the same group that
conceived Earth Day in 1970.
Some lung associations plan to
join in the day’s festivities
featuring solar fairs, sunrise
services, special teach-ins, and
tours of solar homes. Solar
Week
energy is a renewable, non
polluting source of power.
“The air we breathe belongs
to all our citizens,” says a
proclamation from the
American Lung Association
announcing Clean Air Week,
“and the quality of the en
vironment affects the health
and well-being of everyone.”
Pollution contributes to the
development of lung disease
and worsens such chronic con
ditions as emphysema, as
thma, bronchitis and lung
cancer.
gargle, and your bronchitis
will improve.”
Dr. Ziment said people who
eat bland, non-spicy food seem
to have more trouble with their
bronchitis than those who eat
spciy food. Exactly why this
might be true is not clear. But
eating horseradish and hpt
foods may trigger an
overproduction of mucus in the
stomach and also in the res
piratory system. The out
pouring of fluid, which is thin
mucus rather than thick, may
help clear breathing passages.
Before trying spicy remedies,
however, lung disease patients
should consult their own
physicians about the best
treatment for their own con
ditions.
Preventing bronchitis and
other lung disease is a lot
-easier than treating them. And
since cigarette smoking is the
major cause of chronic bron
chitis and other long-term lung
diseases, quitting smoking is
the best way to avoid lung
trouble.
To find out more about the
causes and cures of lung
diseases, contact your Georgia
Lung Association, 1383 Spring
Street. N.W., Atlanta, Georgia,
30309—the “Christmas Seal
people”. They care about every
breath you take.