UW-Madison doesn’t allow credit card advertising on its campus, but UW-Eau Claire does.

Much of Monday’s Student Senate meeting addressed this issue.

This summer, Student Senate President Andy Oettinger joined the student/faculty Committee on Student Credit Card Issues to voice his opinions.

Through prevention and education, Oettinger believes that the committee will make a difference.

Oettinger said that in the worst cases, credit cards lead students into debt, bankruptcy or dropping out of school.

“I really recognized how big of a problem it was among students,” he said. “It’s something I feel strongly about.”

He also said he was concerned with how students in the dorms are targeted by credit card companies.

“It’s an issue that we’ve been looking at in the past, ” he said.

Precautionary measures are being taken into consideration, he said, such as providing a financial adviser for students and better educating the financial aid office about credit card issues.

At the beginning of the school year, student senator Matt Flaten filled Oettinger’s shoes as he joined the committee. Flaten said the committee is still looking into exactly what kind of credit card problems are seen on campus.

“Students can easily get in over their heads with the freedom they think they are getting from credit cards,” he said. The committee is preparing a large-scale credit card survey, which will be distributed to Eau Claire students.

Oettinger said that the results will be interpreted and the student/faculty collaborative research will almost certainly be published.