In the near future, the MIT Card Office plans to change the student identification numbers to improve security and expand purchasing options to include vending machines, copy machines at Graphic Arts, and washers and dryers in the dormitories, according to Assistant Director of Housing and Food Services Kenneth R. Wisentaner. The office has also improved the process to replace lost cards. The card key system was chosen because there is a higher level of security than with keys, said Chief of Campus Police Anne P. Glavin. In fact, the crime rate decreased 30 percent since dormitory card key readers were installed, Wisentaner said. But students' habits sometimes work against these security benefits.
Some students are wary of the information contained in a card key.
MIT Card Office Manager Lucy A. Barrera explained that starting next September, each student will be assigned a personal identification number different from his Social Security number. The main advantage of the card key system is that any individual card can be readily activated or deactivated, said MIT Card Office System Administrator Richard Lew '95. The entire process should take only two or three minutes, Lew said. After normal working hours, students can report lost or stolen cards to the 24-hour operations center, Lew said. Operations then informs the nightwatch manager, who has the authority to deactivate cards and issue temporary cards, he said.