I am especially troubled by the news story that reported that the Salt Lake City government has refused to cap the number of these businesses ("Councilman says SLC dragging feet on 'payday' lending crackdown," Tribune, May 14).

After reading this article, my West High School math class did some research and calculated that the annual interest rates on these loans often run as high as 700 percent.

The other students and I are concerned about the future of our community. These loans can be so impossible to pay off that they create a permanent underclass of people who can never get out of debt.

We discussed many things that the Salt Lake City government could do to help these people, and we concluded that the city should shut down these businesses until it finds the courage to regulate them for the protection of its citizens.

Destiny Simpson

Salt Lake City