“Money Talks Monday” online to aid students with finances

By SHAYLYN RALSTON
Ranger Reporter

“Money Talk Mondays” is a resource for students to get advice about financial situations they are unsure how to handle on their own.
The help is available on the Ranger website, acranger.com.
Debra Avara, a social sciences assistant professor, writes the column. She said she loves what she does because it is fun.
The “Money Talk Mondays” column got started last school year. Avara said she was inspired by something she had read.
“I had read an article last year over Christmas break and thought we need to have an article about money in The Ranger,” Avara said. “I talked to Jill Gibson, and she loved it.”
Gibson is a student media adviser and assistant professor of mass communication and speech.
“It’s supposed to be for students,” Avara said. “If they have a money question, they can write in. But I need questions.”
Students can ask questions about any money-related situation.
All types of questions are welcome. Avara said she would answer any question a student has.
She said she may write about something she reads that she finds interesting or something that could be useful to AC students.
“I’ll just hear something somewhere and think, ‘That will make a great article,’” she said.
Avara is working on a story about how to be smart with a car.
She has written several books, including: What We Should Have Learned in High School About Money, Sex and Marriage.
Students can look up her books for advice on topics other than money.
“This is the first time I’ve heard of this,” said Courtney Teichmann, a music major.
“I believe asking questions is a beautiful way of expanding knowledge that quite frankly, some college students are too afraid to ask.”
The questions students ask in “Money Talk Mondays” can help others who have the same question but do not want to ask it themselves.
“The way I view things is that if you don’t know something, there’s a very high chance there is also someone else who doesn’t,” Teich­mann said.
“This column could really open the minds of students, both young and old, to go through life asking the hard questions,” Teichmann said.
“It’s a fantastic tool teachers can use to better understand the mindset of their students.”
To submit a question for “Money Talk Mondays,” students can go to acranger.com and find the “Contact Us” link. Questions usually remain anonymous.