Reinventing the student I.D. card

It's 2 a.m. on a Sunday, and you're heading back to your dorm from a night at the Street. A friend suggests a stop at U-2 to stock up on post-Street snacks and you eagerly agree — that is until you reach the U-Store and realize you only have your University ID on you. Without your credit card or a little cash, your late night snacking binge has been prematurely ended.

At Princeton, students can use their I.D. cards to charge food and merchandise from Frist and the C-Store to their student accounts. Yet if you're looking for something other than a slice of Frist pizza or a salad your I.D. card offers you few other options. There are a number of things the University should do now to expand I.D. card functions and, in the process, student choice over how and when they spend their money.

First, students should be allowed to use their I.D. cards to charge textbook purchases to their student accounts. Each student could be allotted a $500 credit limit to be used for books within the first three weeks of each semester. The University would then make good on the charge but allow the student to pay the sum back interest-free throughout the course of the year.

This measure would ensure that no student would ever have to worry about his or her ability to purchase textbooks — and it would make the book-buying process simpler for many students. While the University would have to put up the money for what would essentially be an interest-free loan, this is a good cause that would be well worth the University's effort. If allowing all students to participate would be burdensome, the University could initially extend this option to financial aid students and later expand the program to include all students if the pilot project proved successful. The University already operates a similar program, since it allows students to charge food from Frist to their student accounts.

In addition to books, the University should allow points purchased through dining services to be used at U-2 for food and toiletries. Students on meal plans only receive about $20 to $100 a semester in points so this would be a small sum for dining services to give up and would make shopping at the U-Store even more convenient for students. Since students can purchase more points through dining services, their parents could easily add spending money to their I.D. cards throughout the year.

In the big scheme of things, these are not earth-shattering changes. Yet this is just another reason for the University to pursue these options. These are small steps the administration can take to make things a little better for students on campus.