The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 18, 1997, Page 5, Image 5
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% 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
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Attention
_ 20 Da
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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
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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
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"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
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Mark your
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al USC pre-graduation
11 #1 nir TV/f mr Q 1QQ7
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: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
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South Ci
form in the Carol
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formation.
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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 ?
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reat Prizes
st a Lifetime
1.
96 to benefit the
or students at USC!
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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!
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We
plays Col
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*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
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Brirkman will be performing a conce
1 22 at 7:30 p.m.
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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
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