Dollars And Sense APRIL 1988 14 U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER 14 U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER Dollars And Sense * APRIL 1988 U. of Kansas basketball teamn By Elaine Sung The University Daily Kansan U. of Kansas Rules didn't matter to anyone when the U. of Kansas basketball team, the Jayhawks, hosted its fourth annual Special Olympics basketball clinic. More than 200 Special Olympians, from age eight up, came from all over the state. "They look forward to this all year, and they talk about it for the rest of the year," said Gary Scott, director of the Lawrence (KS) regional group. "Coming See photo on front page in here, they may be shy but when they leave, they'll be hollering and shaking hands everywhere." During the warmup, players Jeff Gueldner and Marvin Branch directed jump shots. Keith Harris and Sean Alvarado stood under the basket, ap- plauding every effort. Suddenly, the 6- foot-9 Alvarado spotted a tiny child cradling a basketball and ready to run to the basket. icourts Special Olympians He went to the boy, lifted him to the The crowd went into a frenzy when height of the basket, and the child one of the Special Olympians hit a promptly tossed in the ball to the cheers three-point shot, and most of the of everyone in the group. The loudest athletes took extreme delight in the cheering of all came from Coach Larry opportunity to guard Jayhawk Danny Brown, who initiated the clinic when he Manning. arrived at the U. of Kansas in 1983. Paul Hernandez, 16, had tried out for Then came game-time, the event all basketball in high school, but had never the athletes had been waiting for. Each expected the chance to play against the side had three Special Olympians and All-American forward. side hasad rspyeciar O"It was hard enough, he was so tall," three Kansas players. he said. Alvarado stepped in every few mi- Lisa Taylor, 14, and her sister Becky, nutes to boost undersized children to 13, both decided the best part was the basket. shooting free throws. Recycling Continued From Page 11 said. The recycling company features three different projects, or phases. The first is can bank machines, which are located throughout Philadelphia. People with a moderate number of aluminum cans to deposit drive up, put their cans into the machine, and are paid a little over one cent per can on the spot by a computer that tallies up the number. At present, there are 34 machines around the city that operate seven days a week, 24 hours a day. "The basic idea of the can bank is one of convenience," explained Driscoll. The second phase of the company is a buy-back station, which accommodates customers with station wagons or trucks full of cans. These cans are bought in bulk by the company. The final phase is a program which teaches area school children about re- cycling, in hopes that it will also in- crease awareness in their homes. "We never thought we'd be in this business," Driscoll said. "My partners probably thought they'd be 'on Wall Street, and I'd probably be in govern- ment. But when we saw an opportunity to clean up Philadelphia and make a profit, we jumped at it." When the company began there was a 10 percent recycling rate in the city. Since the can bank started, Driscoll estimates a 15 percent increase. With a national average of about 50 to 55 per- cent, Driscoll foresees a long way to go. "The response has been phenomen- al," he said. "Philadelphia is such an untapped market. The numbers can go sky-high." Because of their local success, the trio has recently closed a deal in Delaware. They are negotiating a deal in New Jersey, and have plans to take the con- cept nationwide. Philadelphia magazine awarded the company its "Best of Philly" prize for cleaning up the city. This was the first time the recipient was a business in its first year of operation. "The real people who should be cre- dited are the people giving their time and property to help clean up the city," Driscoll said. "They deserve all the praise." All has not been smooth on the com- pany's rise to success. Recently one of the $18,000 can bank machines caught on fire, and in the stock market crash, the value of aluminum dropped five cents. In the commodities market, five cents can make or break a company. Luckily, the metal was quick to return to its pre-crash value. "It's a roller coaster," Driscoll said. "One day you're on top, the next day everything goes downhill. But you have to be prepared to weather the storm. We're willing to take the risk." Even with all their success, the com- pany's books have yet to show much black ink. All of the money goes back into the company, so financially none of the partners is making anything yet. "I'm not too happy about the financial part of things-and neither is my girl- friend. Sometimes she gets sick of McDonald's-but that's okay," Driscoll said. "I'm proud knowing I'm making a contribution to cleaning up Phi- ladelphia." Students can now track loan debt By Donna Stokes The University Daily Kansan U. of Kansas The U. of Kansas hopes to buy a new computer that could help stu- dents check on their student loan status and estimate how much they will owe upon graduation. U. of Kansas would be the first universi- ty to have access to major data banks with student loan informa- tion. The computer would allow stu- dents to trace the location and amount of each loan. The financial aid office could then tell students how much they have borrowed, what they would pay after gradua- tion and what an additional loan would add to their payments. "I believe that a lot of loan de- faults happen because of a lack of understanding of the process. If students become more informed borrowers, they might eventually borrow less," said Jeff Weinberg, associate director of financial aid. The new computer would also provide a counseling software package designed by the Educa- tional Testing Service in Princeton (NJ). Among other things this prog- ram would provide information for major federal student loan prog- rams, predict future income based on the student's career field and projected salary growth. Couple discovers Peace Corps mixes service, politics By Julie Munro The UCSD Guardian U. of California, San Diego Mention of the Peace Corps often brings to mind images of the '60s. But the presence of 5,200 volunteers and trainees working in 62 nations around the world is much more than an histor- ical phenomenon. Bill and Joan Clabby were sent to Senegal from 1985 to 1987, assigned to work on community development. Bill graduated from the U. of California, San Diego, with a double major in man- agement science and French literature. Joan graduated from San Diego State U. with a business major. Bill said that the way Peace Corps' projects "improve (a community's) abil- ity to work together is what really counts." Joan also felt that day-to-day things, such as teaching villagers how to clean wounds, were what really made a difference. She said that seeing a white person that was not a tourist dis- proved the villagers' previous concep- tions that all whites sleep until noon, carry cameras around, and are rich. Although Joan said that volunteers are supposed to be as politically neutral as possible while on assignment, she agreed that the placement of volunteers is semi-political. For a country to get funding, Bill said, "they have to please Reagan." Joan pointed out that Belize, in Central America, is "an itty-bitty country, but the U.S. is wooing it to keep it from going communist" with a dis- proportionately large group of, about 100 volunteers. In spite of this influence, the Clabbys feel that Peace Corps volunteers are in their own class and very highly re- garded by host populations. The Clab- bys had been adopted by a family in Senegal who was, like the other villa- gers, very protective of the volunteers. The Clabbys were confident that th Peace Corps would never place a volun- teer in any dangerous area. Bill warned that volunteers must be comfortable being alone because lan- guage and cultural barriers may isolate them at first. They must also, however, be able to give up their privacy because they may be constantly surrounded by villagers. Joan said volunteers must be able to laugh at themselves when the get in some awkward positions-some- thing which is bound to happen in a new country and culture.