By Mary Schrott, For The Miami Student
Miami student IDs will now have students' birthdates printed on them, effective immediately. Any current or future students requiring a new Miami ID will receive one with a birthdate.
According to Jeanne Via, manager of Campus Card Services at Miami University, the change began officially on April 6.
"It took me about five minutes to add it," Via said on changing the printing of ID cards.
Dean of Students Mike Curme said the decision arose in part from the work of the alcohol task force and their conversations with local permit holders Uptown.
"There was a sense from these discussions that having the birthdate included on the Miami ID could be helpful to their operations," Curme said.
The technology to print birthdates has always been available. In fact, the printing of birthdates used to appear on student IDs up until the fall of 2011.
"It struck us that there was an upside and no obvious downside to bringing this information back on to the IDs," Curme said. "It is not at all clear why the birthdate was discontinued in fall 2011. We cannot identify a compelling reason for the change."
Via agrees with Curme in that there appears to be no real reason for the initial removal of the birthdate.
"I'm not really sure if it's when they were creating the ID it was overlooked," Via said.
Curme believes the updated IDs will aid Uptown businesses in clearly identifying students' real ages.
"Permit holders are always looking for ways to enhance and improve their operations, and making it easier to validate a patron's birthdate is a change, I believe, that they will very much welcome and appreciate," Curme said.
Sophomore Grant Bruce works at The Wood's bar Uptown and said student IDs are sometimes used for access.
"Students can only get in with their student ID if they already have X's on their hands because we know they are probably under and people forget IDs. It happens," Bruce said.
While student IDs can sometimes be used for access to The Wood's, they cannot be used exclusively to enter Side Bar - the exclusive 21-and-over extension of The Wood's. To gain access, students must present a valid state ID and second form to confirm identification.
Often students use their Miami IDs as a second form, Bruce said. However, with the new printing of birthdates, he suggested students will have to use other second forms, like credit cards.
"If they use the new student ID as a second form, then it will be easy to see if they are using a fake and not let them in," Bruce said.
Aside from affecting Uptown businesses, Via has observed only positive reactions to the addition on the student ID.
"Sitting here close to where the IDs are printed, I overhear some of the students thoughts on it," Via said, "and a lot of international students who need to carry passports to prove their age appreciate having it, but besides that I haven't heard any real negative thing."
Students who are currently using IDs without birthdates printed on them are not required to get a new one. But if an ID is lost, stolen or broken, students are required to get a replacement with a birthdate.