By Christian Herrera

In an attempt to reduce fraudulent meal and FLEX swipes, Sodexo employees are careful to match students with their IDs at the cashier desk before swiping.

“Student ID cards are to be used by the owner of the ID card only since it is like a credit card,” Blair Stairs, Sodexo food service director, said. “This is for the security of everyone involved.”

Students often swipe for other students, which is allowed if the owner of the ID is present. In the past, however, several problems with students and ID’s have surfaced, most recently including an incident where a student used a friend’s ID without permission of the cardholder, Stairs said.

“Our cashiers have always been asked to check student IDs to ensure the person using the card is that person,” Stairs said. “This is a security measure since a student ID is like a credit card and could be misused if it is used by someone else.”

To avoid these situations, Sodexo cashiers will not accept meal swipes from students using any ID beside their own if they are alone, even if the student received permission from the original cardholder.

Severely faded ID cards are often an issue as well because Sodexo cashiers cannot determine who the card belongs to. As an extra measure of security, Stairs said he and other Sodexo workers often recommend students get a replacement ID card.

Early in the semester, senior Evan Brooks went to get lunch at the DC when a Sodexo worker told him he would have to get a new ID from Margaret Pasko, administrative assistant to the VP for student life, due to his card being faded. The replacement process, however, was simple, Brooks said.

“I went and talked to Margaret,” Brooks said, “and she quickly printed me a new one free of charge because I hadn’t actually done something to damage it.”

Sodexo ensures that meals will be granted to students who carry their own ID.

“As long as we can determine who the card belongs to,” Blair said, “aged IDs will be accepted.”