Goodbye keys, hello swiping IDs
By Alyssa Gockley
Contributing Writer
Love ’em? Hate ’em? The general consensus around campus is that they are absolutely fantastic.
Personally, I think they are wonderful. They are the ultimate convenience—food, bookstore, declining dollars and dorm key all in one. The only really unfortunate thing is that none of the downtown stores take them. You get to the store, have your items picked out, reach in your Vera Bradley ID case to pull out your BUID, and realize, “Oh, Bison! We’re not on campus anymore!”
Seriously, though, they do have some drawbacks. How about $50 to replace them? Oops! One of my hallmates just misplaced her ID, and she was stressing about it for two days until someone found it and returned it. Thank goodness for honest people!
I overheard a conversation about a girl who lost her ID, waited four days, and finally gave in and replaced it.
Three hours later, she went to her mailbox, and poof! There it was. Bummer, dude. $50 down the drain.
A campus “security measure” set in place this year is having all of the dorm doors locked 24/7. Last year, select doors were unlocked from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. That system was great if you forgot your sunglasses and your ID.
This year, you have to call your friend, tell her exactly where both things are in your room, hope you actually left your door unlocked (because if you didn’t, you’re really in trouble), wait outside for five minutes, and then breathe a sigh of relief when you see her coming down the stairs. I have first hand experience with this; it’s not fun, I promise. It would be very nice if the doors were still unlocked for a period of time, just in case something like that happened.
Oh yeah, coinless laundry! I can’t wait. Here on the second floor of Larison Hall, we have quarter hunts. They’re similar to Easter egg hunts, but they’re a little more beneficial when you have piles of dirty laundry.
On laundry days, you can hear just about anyone walking down the hall broadcasting a need for quarters.
(Actually, it’s usually just me. I fail at having quarters.) It gets really interesting when we have five or six people having a laundry party, and all of us need quarters.
Another thing I look forward to is a sensor detecting whether or not you have your ID on you, though it is rather amusing to watch kids do the “jump, shake your booty” dance by the swipe sensors. I do wish we could get rid of keys altogether and use our IDs like hotel room cards. That would be awesome. Someday, Toto … someday.
