Senator: Curb credit card marketing

Student authorities representatives and an Ioway lawmaker are calling for limitations on recognition card selling at the state's populace universities.Sen. Joe Bolkcom, an Ioway City Democrat, said he is troubled that the University of Ioway and Ioway State University are endorsing, promoting and profiting from recognition card game that are being marketed to their students.The Diethylstilbestrol Moines Register reported this hebdomad that Iowa's two biggest public universities are aggressively selling recognition card game to pupils as portion of an agreement that bring forths billions of dollars for the schools' privately run alumni organizations.Bolkcom said he have got long been concerned about the human relationship between the public universities and private lenders.He said he bes after to suggest alterations in policy or law that would turn to respective facets of the Depository Financial Institution of United States deals:On-campus marketing: Bolkcom said he physical objects to recognition card companies setting up tabular arrays on campus and giving away nutrient or clothes to lure pupils to subscribe up for recognition cards."That ought to be banned," Bolkcom said.Information databases: While public schools typically must let on basic pupil information to anyone who petitions it, the Uracil of I have agreed to give Depository Financial Institution of United States and the Uracil of I Alumni Association contact information on students, parents and people who purchase tickets to sporting events."If we're going to let this, we ought to have some state in what the involvement charge per unit on the card game is going to be," Bolkcom said.Public disclosure: The alumni groupings say they are not subject to the state's open-records law, which would necessitate them to let on their contracts with Depository Financial Institution of America."People see the University of Ioway Alumni Association as portion of the university," Bolkcom said. "The alumni aren't just private organizations. They largely be as extensions of these public institutions."Several other states have got got passed similar statute law this year, sometimes in the human face of stiff resistance from cash-strapped universities and their alumni.Matthew Pfaltzgraf, the authorities dealings affair for University of Ioway Student Government, said a commission of pupils programs to buttonhole for some of the same limitations proposed by Bolkcom, such as as the riddance of giveaways."We also desire to turn to the shady human relationships universities have with fiscal establishments like recognition card and pupil loan companies," he said."The schools are providing a ill service to the pupils when they sell them out to the peak bidder, and that is something that demands to be addressed."Responding to those proposals, Uracil of I spokeswoman Linda Kettner said, "We've had conversations with members of the General Assembly and pupil leadership on these issues and will go on to make so."Michael Gartner, president of the Ioway Board of Regents, which governs Iowa's three state universities, said the board have not been involved in approving the recognition card selling arrangements.So far, the confidential understanding between Depository Financial Institution of United States and the Uracil of I Alumni Association have not been shared with the regents.That could be by design: Once the written document is in the custody of public officials, it's subject to public revelation laws.When asked whether the trustees desire to see that contract, Gartner said, "If the fourth estate and legislators are raising issues about this, I surmise the board staff should seek to find as many facts as possible to brief the board."State records demo that the Uracil of I is authorized by the alumni association and Depository Financial Institution of United States to put up tabular arrays on campus and promote pupils to subscribe up for the Depository Financial Institution of United States recognition card. The contract phone calls for the school itself to be paid $50 for every application it secures for the bank.Unlike Uracil of I, ISU have got made public the contract between its alumni association and Depository Financial Institution of America.At the University of Northern Iowa, all of the contracts affect only the depository fiscal institution and alumni, both of whom have refused to discourse the footing of their deal.Records obtained by the Register show that while the Uracil of I Alumni Association is keeping secret the inside information of its financial agreement with Depository Financial Institution of America, the school have agreed to give the depository financial institution for its selling usage the mailing addresses, telephone set Numbers and e-mail computer addresses of students, parents and others World Health Organization purchase tickets to football game game and basketball game games.The Uracil of I have also agreed to give the biggest-spending cardholders sole entree to university employees and pupil athletes.Cardholders who collect enough points are entitled to private, 90-minute meetings with coaches, as well as luncheons with football players.Reporter William Clark Kauffman can be reached at (515) 284-8233 or