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Inside the Q-Card System

Quinnipiac University issues a student ID card to each student.  This card is virtually a passport to life here in Hamden and on campus itself.  According to Q-Card offices. Quinnipiac Students swipe their Q-Cards more than four million times each year.  Many off campus locations accept Q-Cards as a method of payment.  

Jay, owner of Whitney Gulf and Eros Deli says about 30 percent of his business is generated from Q-Card use.  Although it seriously impacts his establishment, he has strong dislikes for the system.  He claims the machines are always slow and often prompt a “transaction failed” message.  Thusly, he has been forced to manually write down every individual Q-Card number and the amount charged, he then goes back and charges the cards at a later time.  Krauzers, on the corner of Whitney Avenue and Skiff Street also has similar issues.  However, once the “transaction failed is prompted” they insist on another method of payment.  

Corner Deli, on the corner of Evergreen and Dixwell has also been experiencing problems with their Q-Card machines.  These new machines cost upwards of nearly a thousand dollars and they’re slow and unreliable.  The Q-Card system charges merchants 11 percent for each transaction, these percentages are unheard of, even for major credit card companies.  

View Businesses in Hamden that accept Q-Cards in a larger map

Q-Cards seem to be all about convince, but that is deceiving.  An anonymous source says he allows people to take cash out of their Q-Card accounts at his business, however, he charges an extra 20 percent when he gives cash back! This is something that went unnoticed to students for quite some time.  This begs the question: are Q-Cards really as convenient as we all believe them to be?  

Hamden’s Educational and Economic Development

This timeline shows the District’s budget allowance in Hamden Conn.  It shows the development over a period of seven years. 

Housing Prices for New Haven County, Conn.

This graph illustrates the average housing prices in New Haven County, Conn. The zip codes show the range between the most desirable and least desirable areas within the county.

Have we made it through the worst?

With the new fiscal year just around the corner, the affects of the recent, and upcoming budget cuts are dawning on our nation.  Across all 50 states, the public school system is being affected by the lack of funding.

Hamden Superintendent, Fran Rabinowitz, feels, “We have made it through the worst, with better use of our in-house resources, we will be ok;  things can only look up from here”. 

Despite her rather optimistic outlook on what the future holds,  Somers Central Schools’  aren’t predicting the same outcome.  Their budget proposal last month to the BOE shows the challenges that lay ahead for the district.  Salaries, benefits, and pensions are at the top of their priority list, with transportation, special education programs, and utilities following close behind.  Everyone has a different sense of what the future is to hold for public education, but only time will tell.  

It is no secret that Budget Cuts have Caused District Suffering across the board.  

Facts about poverty in the New Haven area Conn.

The number of children living in poverty has increased by 3 million in the past three years, according to the Census Bureau Report on Poverty, Income and Health Insurance.  In Connecticut 100,000 children are currently living in poverty stricken situations; 27 percent of these children are from the New Haven area. 

Although Hamden is a seemingly well off area, 41 percent of the increasing poverty levels came from Hamden; The Urban Institute has provided statistics to prove this.  When thinking of ways to lower the children in poverty levels is to find new job opportunities to help the adults out of poverty.  The recession has caused hundreds of thousands to lose their job, and when the unemployment rate skyrocketed, children were left with the financial situation of their parents.  

My blog was created for the purpose of…

This blog was created to delve into the vast deep, and tragic facts of this countries economic crisis. 

The intent is to provide factual information about the topic, and analyze the ways in which the local area have been effected.  

For example:  

What have the local school districts done in terms of dealing with the budget cuts?  In what ways have these decreasing budgets effected students?

How has the housing market been effected?

What have local businesses needed to do in order to stay afloat?

For those who are now unemployed, what are their plans for the future? 

The list goes on, and this blog will analyze the many ways in which the local area and local people have been effected by this economic situation.  

My blog is about..

Many people and places have fallen ‘off the grid’ so to speak because of this nation’s economic recession. 

Small businesses have had a need to cut corners, professionals have been laid off, the housing market has plummeted, and education is being effected.  The ways in which the economic downfall have effected this country are endless. 

This blog will explore and analyze the ways in which the Hamden/New Haven area have been effected by the financial set backs of our nation.