Read and Consider Credit
Applications Carefully
Several weeks ago, I attended a
community fair in my town. Ven
dors and community agencies had
booths set up selling products,
raising funds, speaking out on is
sues, and advertising their com
panies. It was a classic community
fair.
What wasn’t so classic was a
credit card marketing practice that
I encountered there. I was horri
fied. once I slowed down enough
to actually read and think about
what was happening! My husband
and I were hooked by a booth that
displayed FREE insulated lunch
bags and water bottles. According
to the worker, all we had to do was
fill out a little “survey.” I bit
lYhat the heck, we’d get a nice
lunch bag for just a few minutes of
time.
I was wrong. The form that we
were asked to fill out wasn’t a sur
vey, it was a request for credit
from a credit card company. As I
read the questions and began to
casually jot in the information, red
flags began to pop up all over the
place. They began by asking name
and address. No big deal. I prepar
ed myself for lots of mailings from
banks that 1 would discard. Re
S trength in numbers. It's one of the benefits you
receive when you belong to a group, especially a group
like the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.
R epresenting more than 26,000 farming family
members from every segment of the industry across the
state, PFB serves the collective interests of its member
ship - everything from regulatory issues to the selec
tion of health care coverage.
M embership in the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau means
you'll also receive the same comprehensive, affordable
health care coverage provided to our members by two
of the most widely recognized names in Pennsylvania -
Capital Blue Cross and Pennsylvania Blue Shield.
Your coverage includes;
• First dollar coverage for 365
in-hospital days
• One million dollar Major Medical
coverage with a $5OO deductible.
•Dependent children covered to age 19,
or 23 if a full-time student
• Mail order prescription drug
program
•Optional dcntal/vision coverage
S o, no matter your specialty -
cattle or crops, nursery or dairy - you'll benefit from
the experience and strength in numbers that your
membership in PFB includes.
member. I still wanted that free
lunch bag.
From there the questions pro
gressed to level of household in
come and Social Security number.
The question that caused me to
call a halt to the process and rip up
the form was. “Applicant’s mo
ther’s maiden name.” I was, with
out thinking giving this person
that I had never met before all the
personal information he would
need to access my current bank
and credit accounts. *
That scared me! I had no way of
knowing if this person was legiti
mate. I also did not know who else
would see this information. Per
sonally, I thought the credit appli
cation asked for too much person
al information. If I had signed it, I
would have authorized a credit
search of not only my records but
also my husband’s.
All for the price of a free lunch
bag.
If you are asked multiple ques
tions about your personal or finan
cial identity, think carefully be
fore supplying it. With the infor
mation on that form and a
computer, an unethical person
could have quickly robbed me.
With that paper, he could access
my credit card account numbers.
Send for a free information packet.
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
(800) 522-2375
application must meet eligibility guidelines cf PFB
Capital BlueCroM
Pennsylvania Blue Shield
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RUTGERS, NJ.—Tomatoes
(along with sweet com) arc prob
ably the premium product of home
vegetable gardens. So, when
something goes wrong gardeners
want to know why...and what they
can do about it
A number of area gardeners
have called to find out why the
bottom end of their tomatoes have
“rotted.” Given the erratic rainfall
we have had/I am sure most of the
With my mother’s maiden name,
he could have authorized the re
lease of personal identification
numbers (pin) or transferred cash
from an account From there, the
damage could have escalated.
Granted the likelihood that the
worst would have happened is
small. Probably I would have
walked home with a free lunch
bag and in the months ahead I
would have received hundreds of
pieces of mail offering more credit
than I need. But for me, the risk
was too greatl
As a consumer, take time to
read things carefully. Be skeptical
and think about the consequences
of releasing personal information,
particularly at one place and time.
Financial accounts do have safe
guards, but as technology ad
vances, it is easier and easier for a
person to quickly access informa
tion and money electronically.
Sometimes the safeguards aren’t
enough. Don’t make the job any
easier by placing all the necessary
information in the hands of an un
authorized person.
Being cautious may save you a
lot of money and hassle. Then you
can afford to buy yourself an in
sulated lunch bag.
Providing affordable health care coverage,
no matter what field you're in.
r "S
Address:
City:
Date of Birth:
Business Phone
JHjjßJMfe Mail to:Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
P.O. Box 8736
MPHP* Camp Hill, PA 17001-8736
Tomato Problems?
people are seeing blossom end rot,
a problem in pepper and eggplant
as well as tomato. A discolored
sunken area appears at the blos
som end of the fruit. Secondary rot
may eventually set in. Causes and
“cures” of blossom end rot arc
summed up by Extension special
ists at Rutger’s Cook College.
Blossom end rot is a fruit disor
der, not a disease. It will not
spread as a disease does, but the
symptoms will continue to appear
until the cause is relieved. The
condition is directly related to soil
moisture and the need of the plant
for calcium. It is usually more of a
problem if the plants have been
growing rapidly and luxuriantly
early in the season and are then
subjected to prolonged dry weath
er when the fruits are in an early
state of development.
When the plant is small, it
needs less calcium and less water
than when its fruits ate increasing
in size. If anything interferes with
the ability of the roots to absorb
enough water containing dissol
ved calcium symptoms may
appear. Problems can occur if the
soil gets too dry, or if it gets so
saturated for a period of time that
there is not enough oxygen for the
roots to function. Cultivating too
deep and too close to the plants
can cut off some of the roots avail
able to absorb water and calcium.
The only control for this disor
der is to maintain a soil pH
between S.B and 6.3 and keep the
plants adequately watered in dry
weather or properly drained in wet
weather. Plants with fruits require
about one inch of moisture each
week. A rain gauge, sold at garden
supply stores, can let you know if
less than an inch fell during a
Please send information on how I can apply for healthcare
insurance at rates I can afford!
UncwHf Fimitofl, Saturday, August 12,1W5-B7
week. You will know that how
much you must add by watering.
By giving sufficient water to
the plants, blossom end rot can be
reduced or eliminated. Pick off
any affected fruits because they do
not recover and will only drain
moisture and calcium needed by
healthy fruit It is safe to eat the
undamaged parts of fruits with
blossom end rot—merely cut
away the blackened part.
Under certain conditions and on
certain varieties the leaves may
curl. The leaves may be cupped
because of the upward rolling of
the leaf edges or they may even be
completely rolled up. The older
leaves will be most severely
affected. If tomato leaves are
otherwise normal and the curl is
happening on all plants or all
plants of one variety, physiologi
cal leaf curl is probably the “prob
lem.” There is nothing to be done
about it and, fortunately, it will not
affect the crop.
When night temperatures are
high—near 80 or above—
tomatoes may not set fruit. Recent
very hot weather may account for
some loss of yield. As soon as
temperatures moderate, fruit pro
duction will resume.
State:
Zip:
S.S. Number:
Home Phone:
LFB/9S