In the fall of 2000, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) proposed to conduct a study of college student credit card behavior using samples of accounts from major card issuers with student credit card marketing programs. This account-level empirical study was to be part of the GAO’s response to a request from members of Congress to examine a variety of issues that pertain to college students, credit card marketing, and student credit card usage. Concern over credit card marketing practices used in soliciting college student accounts led to proposed legislation at both the state and federal levels that would restrict card marketers. The members of Congress who requested the study specifically asked the GAO to gather information about whether students managed their cards and debt differently from non-student account holders.
In June 2001, the GAO issued a preliminary report on college student card usage that reviewed the findings from three existing surveys of student card usage and reported the results from the GAO’s interviews with card issuers, campus administrators, and others regarding card marketing practices (GAO 2001). The three surveys of student card usage (The Institute for Higher Education Policy 1998; Nellie Mae 2000; Student Monitor 2001) employed different sampling methods, and each produced dramatically different results on card holdings and outstanding balances. For example, the Student Monitor survey of 1,200 undergraduates reported an average monthly balance per card of $577 for students who carried a balance in 2001 (GAO, 2001). Student Monitor also found that students owned 1.55 cards on average, which implies a total credit card debt of $894 per student (Student Monitor, 2001). In contrast, the Nellie Mae survey of 256 undergraduates conducted one year earlier reported an average total credit card debt of $2,748 (GAO, 2001) for cardholders who carried a balance.
Credit ratings play an important role in financial markets: regulators use credit rating to monitor the financial health of banks, pension funds, and other financial institutions; investors use credit rating to assess the riskiness of their investment and adjust their portfolios accordingly; banks employ credit rating migration metrics to calculate the default correlation among the assets in their portfolios. Moreover, derivatives whose payoffs are directly linked to the credit ratings of some reference firms have become increasingly popular.
The condition for obesity or being overweight is described as an excessive accumulation of fat in the body or an increase in weight beyond that considered desirable with regard to age, height, and bone structure. An individual or child of more than normal weight is considered obese. Overweight is a more general term signifying excessive and burdensome weight.
Obesity is a common problem in our country and in the world today. Particularly it is associated with the United States, which enjoys a higher standard of living than many countries. This higher living standard directly affects the eating habits of people, and people in the United States tend to be overweight. Being overweight effects physical and mental health in adults and children (Miller-Keane 1.97.8). Many over-weight children tend to grow up to be overweight adults, thus carrying the significant physical and mental health problems associated with overweightedness with them into adulthood. At least 25% of all children are obese, and more than 80% of overweight children become overweight adults (Brownell, 1978). Too much weight, or too many pounds, are a strain on the body, and can eventually shorten one's life span. The over-weight child who does not control his weight and carries the condition with him into adulthood invites a number of unnecessary complications.
