Members of Students for a Democratic Society protested plans to install hand scanners at UF's recreation facilities outside Southwest Recreation Center on Friday.
The group of 10 SDS members distributed fliers and talked with students coming in and out of the gym, urging them to vote against the "frivolous" hand scanners during Student Government elections Tuesday and Wednesday.
"The money isn't necessarily coming from funds that would go to classes, but any money that would go into something as frivolous as this when we have a budget crisis is ridiculous," said Chelsea Solmo, an SDS member and UF student.
A few officials from RecSports stood nearby, ready to defend their project.
David Bowles, director of RecSports, said hand scanners are necessary because the number of non-students gaining access has skyrocketed.
Bowles said those against the project are uninformed about the specifics. He said the idea originally came last year from students, including former Student Body President Ryan Moseley, who didn't want to bring their Gator 1 Cards to the gym.
"SDS has put out that it will cost $100,000 for the hand scanners, and that is bad information," he said.
Bowles said the hand scanners cost $2,200 each, and two have been purchased to install into a gate system at the Student Recreation and Fitness Center this semester.
The scanners will not be installed until the turnstile design gate system is complete, which is estimated to cost about $35,000 to $50,000 to build, he said.
The hand scanner installation at the Student Recreation and Fitness Center will be funded by RecSports, and the hand scanners and gate installation at Southwest Rec will be budgeted into a $16.3 million expansion project that will be completed in spring 2011.
Matthew Froelich, a UF sophomore and SDS member, said in a phone interview that the scanners are an invasion of privacy because a biometric scan of each student's hand will be put into a database maintained by UF.
"Not saying if UF will use it in any way, but the whole thing of having that out there impedes our privacy," Froelich said. "It seems unnecessary."
Pamela Hightower, the coordinator of facility operations for RecSports, said the hand scanners won't use fingerprints but instead will use a topical graphic image consisting of a geometric sequence that must match students' hands before gaining entrance. She said the scans will be stored at Gator 1 Central and will have firewall protection.
