Provided this saying is true, students awaiting the debit card system on campus are in for something really good, unless outside interests once again stop the card from becoming reality. It will be up to the University to ensure that this system does not fall by the side and the students are not left wanting once again.

Admittedly, the debit card system has not suffered the long negotiation and three student referendums that were the fate of the mass transit system, but it is a shame that the debit card, with the support of the students, the Undergraduate Student Government, the University administration and local business should sit so long without being implemented.

Twice before the debit card system seemed to be on the verge of acceptance and then was dashed because of interests outside the University. We can only hope that the third time is a charm for the debit card system.

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The University will begin accepting bids for the system in March and begin evaluating those proposals. Larry Juhlin, vice chancellor of Student Affairs said that with quick response, it is possible for a program to be implemented by the fall 1996.

The University envisions a system that allows the integration of the student identification and debit card into one card, allowing students to charge items on and off campus.

It is this last point – the ability to use the card off campus- that has doomed the system in the past.

In June 1991, President John Guyon decided not to implement the system, saying it should wait for improved technology to create a campus and city-wide system.

Two weeks before Guyon’s decision not to implement the debit card, the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce sent Guyon a letter detailing its opposition to the program. The chamber wanted the school to wait for new technology and was concerned with the potential loss of city sales-tax revenue. The chamber argued that the card would encourage students to purchase more on campus and the city did not receive sales tax from those items.

The second coming of the debit card system, in September 1994, found the system already in operation with student’s participating when it was discontinued.

The University cited opposition from local banks as the reason for its cancellation.

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Jack Dyer, executive director of University Relations said, The banks were opposed to the card because it took business directly away from them. That isn’t the University’s place to take business away due to the fact it receives tax dollars from the community.

And now with two failed attempts, the debit card system steps up to the plate once more. It is a system that does work and was given the blessing of USG in April 1995.

We hope there are no more curve balls headed for this system. It is a program that helps students and should not suffer the fate of sitting in committees and task forces. It needs to be implemented now.