After reading Monday's article and editorial about the hand scanner referendum, I feel a few clarifications are in order.
First, director of Recreational Sports David Bowles claims that this system will allow students to get into the gym without their Gator 1 Cards. While that may be true, it's also problematic. UF rules require students to carry their Gator 1 Cards whenever they are on campus. Why we'd spend so much money on a system asking students to violate university regulations is beyond me.
As for his attempts to disassociate the costs of turnstiles and gates with the hand-scanning system, I don't buy it. They only make sense with whatever technological "solution" accompanies them and would be completely superfluous in the absence of a hand scanner or equivalent system.
I think the fact that profitable gyms generally don't stoop to this level of obsessive identification and crowd control is a good indication that RecSports is throwing money at a problem that doesn't exist. We can stand up for responsible spending by voting against hand scanners in today's SG elections.
