Students Can Again Dine Without ID Cards

Students without identification cards can again expect to eat in their own dining halls, Harvard Dining Services (HDS) Director Michael P. Berry announced.

The policy change, effective today, is a reversal from an HDS decision made last week, under which dining halls were allowed to input manually student's ID numbers, thereby limiting access to students who had their IDs with them.

The prohibition on the manual input of ID numbers is still in effect in Loker Commons and the Green-house Cafe, and guest credit can only be used with a valid student identification.

The rapid policy changes are a response to the longstanding problem of ID card security, recently aggravated by the advent of Crimson Cash and the opening of Loker Commons, according to Berry.

If HDS were to allow manual input for purchases made with Crimson Cash, anyone with the knowledge of a valid ID number could buy food at the various eateries around campus.

While Berry defended last week's changes, he did acknowledge the security problems associated with student ID cards and said HDS has been seeking "a more practical solution"--one that will allow manual ID input at the houses while disabling manual input at more public dining sites.

Students say they are glad to see a return to the original policy of manual input.

"It [was] unfair for students who forgot their ID's, especially the freshmen," Steve M. Gipstein '97 said

Students say they are glad to see a return to the original policy of manual input.

"It [was] unfair for students who forgot their ID's, especially the freshmen," Steve M. Gipstein '97 said