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' Cashing % STAFF REPORTS It used to be student I.D. cards were just that: identification cards. But nowadays, "smart" cards offer long-distance calling features, give access to unaHr and laundry marhinpg, and store class schedules, grades and i /? j otner personal miormauon. As universities confront the daunting reality of rising costs, they _ are scrambling for ways to increase revenue. One popular method is creating multipurpose cards that combine banking services with traditional university necessities. Here's how it works: By signing a deal with one particular bank where students are urged to open their accounts, universities reap the manetaiy benefits offered by the highest bidder. This is in addition to profits generated through financial aid accounts, calling tcaid access and merchant partnerships. Although schools say these deals provide students convenience, some students say they fear schools are taking advantage of their consumerism. "FSU (Florida State University), along with Northwestern, has pioneered the campus card system," said Robert Huber of Robert Huber Associates, a Phoenix consulting firm that helps colleges design and implement campus card systems. "But it hasn't been a raving success there." Students at Northwestern report ^ general satisfaction with the WildCARD, according to a March 1996 survey, conducted by the WildCARD office. But students at FSU. located in Tallahassee, were so displeased with the card that it became a target for a student organization called the War Department for the Defense of Student Rights. . "We're upset because the administration is using our Social Security numbers as identification and releasing our numbers to private companies, like MCI and Suntrust Bank, so that they have access to personal information about us," said Rich Templin, one of the group's top officials. They know when we come 'i Attention _ 20 Da ^^^^aleri 1997 Sprii You and you to this tradition; Th 7 Concourse L \ Music & Dan ^ Heavy Win Round Trip Come Share the Ticket All proceeds are given Student Endowment Fi Look for your registration mail, or pick one up at the Student Affairs, 112 Rus Call 777-4172 for more in ; in on I] in and when we leave our dorms and a what we buy. That's a little too 'Big t Brother' for us." t Bill Norwood, executive director of Florida State's Card Application \ Technology Center, admits that six c months ago the program was not as t well-received as he had hoped. But he s said the situation has improved since 'ClrviH/^Q Qfofa a nnnraroih; urifVi mnro ( jl ivnua uwaK/) u uiurwiOivj iuv/iv -* than 30,000 students, switched its c association with Tallahassee National 1 Bank to Suntrust. 1 "We saw our membership jump i from 15,000 to over 24,000 in just a 1 period of a few months," Norwood said s "Suntrust had much better services i than Tallahassee did, and students i responded to that." 1 A growing number of schools have t adopted the smart card, which uses a i microprocessing chip that stores information about the card owner. 1 Using four "purses," or pockets, on the < chip, the smart card allows students ] to store money on the card for vending < machines and copiers, and even gives i parents control over their children's money by allowing a certain amount? i up to $2,000?to be reserved solely for ] book expenses. 1 The ESU card has not been "a mgjar 1 source of revenue," according to ' Norwood, but by processing more than $65 million worth of financial aid through the card yearly, it has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars. "We have 70 percent of the students on financial aid involved in this," he said. "It's helped us internally by nlnonmrr nn fKo Konlr nffinn an fn cmnolr VAV,?I IIII5 UJk/ "4iV UUMV VSlOAWsy kJU W Q^AXUV. "The banking stripe brings us a half million a year, but we use that money to invest back into that card and make improvements." Huber said he hopes to solve FStTs former predicament of a lack of student participation, which affects many other schools, with a pilot program that he is testing at Robert Morris College in Coraopolis, Penn., and Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. "The basic attraction here is that we're going to offer students a choice for the first time," said Huber, who All May Grad ys...and Countin Mark your idars now for tig Graduati r family and friends ar< al USC pre-graduation 11 #1 nir TV/f mr Q 1QQ7 ui auaj, maj o, / :30 PM -11:00 PM evel of the Carolina C cing to the sounds of Secom Hors d'oeuvres & Open Ba Airline Tickets and Other G Memories that La s are only $10.00 per persor as a gift from the Class of 19' ind which provides services f GrcuU South Ci form in the Carol Division of Feden sell House. 1 formation. _E| D cards ilso said he developed the concept of he all-campus card, now used by more han 1,000 schools across the nation. The institutions are willing to >articipate, Huber said, because it spens up a huge potential market for heir business, even though they are iharingit. The University of Northern Colorado, which unveiled its campus aid in fell 1993, cut ties with Norwest Bank after students stopped using the Mnking function of the card. They did lot like the charges and minimum lalance requirements of the bank. The school is now seeking to establish a elationship with another bank by this 'all, said Doug Gibson, campus ?chnology marketing coordinator at lie University of Northern Colorado n Greeley. Despite its current lack of banking iies, the University of Northern Colorado campus card boasts other mqjor functions, such as voicemail for jach student, calling card capabilities and door access, Gibson said. "Anything requiring ID, anything regarding financial or semi-financial matters should be done through the :ard," Gibson said. "Security is an especially important issue because you hear horror stories about students being murdered on campus when someone gets a hold of their keys. A card with a code could prevent tragedies like that because someone trying to break in could just try the key in every hall until he found the right one, whereas if he found the card, he'd also have to know a code." Gibson insists that the university has the students' best interests at heart, and that everyone profits from the connections between colleges and outside institutions. But Huber counters that a genuine concern for students' safety and convenience is not the primary motivation for all-campus cards. "Colleges are being pressured to become self-supporting entities," he said. "Ihey are always looking for ways to increase revenue, and something as simnle as building a calling card into the campus card can be a lucrative opportunity." Urates!! offt on Gala s invited celebration Coliseum i Nature ? r ? reat Prizes st a Lifetime 1. 96 to benefit the or students at USC! ix*?Ccm/(jalcv bon&ory ROLINA. LUMNI University of iroUna Bookstore ina Collegiate il Credit Union Mr South 1 Brickman STAFF REPORTS ABC. Bj The composer, pianist and songv performer whose dreamily romantic roma piano artistry and high-spirited, witty hooks interaction with his audiences have w made him one of America's most sole p: popular new concert performers brings insph his unique talents to the stage of the Koger Center for the Arts Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Jim Brickman has emerged as the brightest new star on the Adult Contemporary radio scene. His top ten singles in the past year include the popular songs "Angel Eyes" and "If You Believe" from his recording By Heart, and "Hero's Dream," a song he wrote for NBC-TV coverage of the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Brickman revealed a whole new musical canvas this January with the release of Picture This, which includes the wistfully elegant "Dream Come True," the haunting "You Never Know" (a duet with contemporary sax artist Boney James) and the positive energy of the title song. One of the highlights of Picture This is the lushly romantic single "Valentine," featuring vocals by upand-coming country artist Martina McBride. The song is performed in concert by Brickman's long-time vocalist. Anne Cochran, who began singing with him when they were both high school students in Cleveland. Emm his beginnings as a top-ranked commercial jingle writer?creating I M memorable jingles for clients like i i McDonald's ("Food, Folks and Fun"), Pontiac ("We Are Driving Excitement?) |||1 and AT&T (We Want You Back")? Brickman has developed into a nationally-recognized concert performer, recording artist and? since Januaryhost of a nationally syndicated radio show. "Weekend Morning," which Brickman co-hosts with New York radio personality Valerie Smaldone, is a weekly entertainment and lifestyle j{m program produced by Viacom and Apr! earn i e mc w I nam li moren If yi here We plays Col v music in *ickman has been called a of visual niter of the *903, who combines a thousf atic lyricism with the melodic Tick* :of fresh Top 40 hits. are $19 ith Picture This, he takes the purchas iano to imaginative new heights, and all ( ring listeners to feel and hear by phon rffw^lWBl **"* ' fl . - Aj a a h p^ia J&L ?r*.2 Brirkman will be performing a conce 1 22 at 7:30 p.m. m m m m jfP^ -",s!,"',ts,sis- ^ tra ?ney Iirect sales skills ana wrketable for that full-i 3u are thinking of marketing as a care ; is your opportunity to get experienc< need students to work as Marketing C Student Media Advertising. Internshi k study or part-time positions are a ng, Summer and Fall semesters. job requires selling advertising for T spaper, Garnet & Black Quarterly stu erwritine for WUSC FM student radii w mmmamm lake competitive earnings nprove interpersonal skills sarn time management and bud et your own work schedule ain confidence Is your sales ab Stud umbia a way that compels a myriad images. His pictures do tell md stories. its for Wednesday's concert .50 and $16.50 and may be ed at the Carolina Coliseum Capital Ticket outlets. Charge eat 251-2222 pp > Jfj| Special to The Gamecock ;rt at the Koger Center on f ake yourself 1me lob! ?r, i on campus. Consultants ips, Co-op, vailable for he Gamecock student [dent magazine or 3. Igeting skills lllty m. lost ModlB AtfVBTtlSinB ' I