Pro
by Ethan Dodge
Imagine a world where your student ID, debit card, bus pass, and starving student card donít spill onto the floor every time you open your wallet. Imagine the convenience of having all these services on just one card to prevent such an accident. “It’s brilliant,” says UVU student Richard Portwood. Another student, Kim Rasmussen, goes on to say, “It’s a smart idea.” Both these students have experienced such convenience in their lives by using the UV OneCard Plus.
UVU is taking its first step toward the future with these technologies, and is the first school to combine all these services on one card. Guaranteed, several other colleges and universities will take advantage of the OneCard Plus in the near future. Compare it to Apple. They were the first computer company to rid their computers of floppy disk drives. Floppy disks are now extremely endangered thanks to the expansion of technology and the invention of the flash drive.
According to Moore’s Law, the amount of technology currently doubles every two years, and by the year 2020 it will double at least every 72 hours. With such rapid and sweeping changes to the way society interacts with technology, it isnít far-fetched to suggest that the “norm” will eventually be to have your driver’s license, debit and credit card, bus pass, work ID, school ID, lunch money, Target gift card, food stamp card, and just about any other service you can think of all combined in the near future.
Of course, one would think to oneself, “What if the card is lost or stolen? Everything would be gone.” However, the risk of this unfortunate occurrence seems equal to that of all those cards being stolen or lost when they are separate. After all, they would all be in the same wallet anyway, and more people lose their entire wallet rather than just their debit card. Plus, with the expansion of technology previously pointed out, in the future, there will be several ways to ensure that the owner of the card will be the only person permitted to use it. The risk of things such as identity theft are not exacerbated through the use of the card, either. If one takes the same precautions with the card as with all these services separated on individual cards, everything possible has been done to prevent identity theft.
The OneCard Plus is a healthy ripple in the wave of technology rolling forth to change the world. The wave is expanding every day. Many things are almost obsolete before they are even manufactured. Whether you like it or not, technology affects you, and it will affect you for the rest of your life. By purchasing the OneCard, students help the world advance, and prevent themselves from cleaning the floor every time they go to pay for something.
Con
by Spencer Shell
The new UV OneCard caters too much to the idea that everyone wants the same things for the same reasons. It forces a mindset that should not be welcome.
Is having decisions made for you the most important thing in life, effectively having all personality and individuality taken away from you? If everyone thinks the same way, does that mean it’s right? This problem is widespread enough in Utah Valley already.
Having a student ID, debit card, bus pass, library card and all sports pass in an all-in-one card seems like a good idea. However, upon actual thought, many problems do arise.
Students do have the option of which features are included in
their card, but with how much students tend to act like sheep, I assume that many will follow along with all the new whistles and bells, without giving much thought to what other, potentially superior options may be.
This all seems like a pretty sweet deal for Utah Community Credit Union. With the inevitable increase of new accounts created by students signing up to get their trendy new cards, UCCU could be getting customers for life ñ customers who havenít given a thought to what else is out there. I am not familiar with the way that UCCU does banking, but making an informed decision has always been paramount in my book.
In addition to the lack of informed decision-making that could happen as a result of this new service, there are those that could sign up who are simply not prepared for having plastic in their purses or wallets. It is really easy to spend money when you do not see the actual cold, hard cash leaving your hands. Do you think that all of the students who will get this card will really have the will power required?
Aside from any problems that come with the banking side of the card, there is the potential of identity theft and the inconvenience and other potential problems of losing the card. Things get lost all of the time. Purses and wallets containing all that the UV OneCard offers and more get misplaced and stolen. Despite this, the potential of losing the card is still high, with or without it being lost with other possessions. And if this is the item that gets misplaced, stolen or left behind, the risk is much higher than if it was a simple ID card, debit card or bus pass.
Really, this new student ID could be beneficial to many people, but by having the new card, it allows for the potential of a lot more to go wrong. Then again, we are all in college, this is life, and we all have to learn from our own mistakes eventually. Just think once before you act. You don’t have to do something just because it is convenient.
