When you’re a college student living in the dorms, your ID card can quickly become a center of your universe. That simple ID card can serve as the key to your room, the key to your mailbox, your way to check out library books and other materials, and most importantly – your meal ticket. ID card programs for colleges and universities often incorporate payment options into their student ID cards, which can make mealtime easier for everyone – until their ID card is lost or stolen.

For a Syracuse student, this recently became a reality. After not being able to find his ID card and meal card, the student reported his card stolen – and discovered that it had been used to purchase over $100 of stolen food without his permission. After some quick detective work within the ID card program and other security systems, administrators traced the illicit ID card use to a cousin of Syracuse basketball player Scoop Jardine. Further investigation about the stolen ID card is underway.
The quick resolution of this case is due to the efficiency of Syracuse’s student ID card program and the ability of workers to use both the card program and other security systems to track down the offender quickly. But could it be prevented? One way to help further prevent stolen meal cards and ID card misuse among students could be to use an ID card software program which would display the student ID card picture every time the card is used. Biometric information encoded into an ID card, such as fingerprints, used in conjunction with the card at check out, can also help prevent unauthorized purchases like the one at Syracuse.