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Use it or lose it pretty much sums up on-campus meal plans at most universities. If a student doesn’t use all their meal plan dollars, the left-over money usually reverts to the school. That’s true in Auburn University’s case where the money from a sweep of unused dining dollars is being used to improve the dining experience for its students.

According to the school’s student newspaper, the Auburn Plainsman, Auburn students leave an average of just 2.4% of their meal plan dollars for dining services at the end of the year, compared to the national average of 10%. That still amounts to a chunk of change–in this case, about $376,000–that can be used to bolster the school’s dining opportunities.

Students can expect new options like Joann’s home-style cooking, with its expansive salad options, Chick-n-Grill’s three new Greek options; two new food trucks and additional Asian and home-style options.

John Waggoner, interim dining director, said the left-over money will also be applied toward debts related to Tiger Dining. “We use whatever revenue from the (Tiger dollars) sweep to go back to paying for the dining experiences,” Waggoner said.

These changes were made to make the campus more appealing to students, he added. “If dining is offered on campus, it makes the students more likely to sit and eat a sandwich and study rather than leave campus.”

Read more here.

Computer security doesn’t begin with the IT department at universities. It starts with students and their personal computers.

Every year, the college IT department has to deal with an influx of new and returning students with laptops, desktops, smart phones and tablets, all needing to connect to the campus network.

That’s why campus IT security personnel would like students to know a little bit about security risks and how to keep the college networks and the students’ own computers safe.

“This generation is the ‘click’ generation,” said Justin P. Webb, an information security officer at Marquette University in Milwaukee. “Essentially they are quick to react to something interesting on social media before thinking about the consequences.”

He said that often “a single click on a malicious link is sufficient to infect a computer and the most glaring problem is that student computers remain infected for long periods of time without intervention.”

Marquette provides incoming students with an information packet regarding IT security and acceptable-use policies, a practice more schools are adopting.

But there are some basic security practices that Webb and other IT security personnel wish students knew before they powered up their computers in their dorm rooms for the first time.

Read more here.

Now that a judge has upheld Pennsylvania’s voter ID law, more schools are moving to ensure their students will have a proper ID that will enable them to vote in the upcoming election. That involves making sure students are equipped with a photo ID with an expiration date.

The Pennsylvania branch of the Public Interest Research Group had reported that just 15 of the state’s 110 universities provided a photo ID that show the holder is a current student.

Some of the schools that already meet the voter ID law requirements are Villanova, Lafayette, Temple, Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania.

Challengers of the new law had argued that it would make voting more difficult for the elderly, minorities and students, who are less likely to have the most commonly used form of state IDs.

Commented one community college administrator: “We have a long history of encouraging civic engagement on part of students.” He said all new students will receive IDs with expiration dates.

Read more here.

With school just around the corner, Clipper is encouraging Santa Clara County students to get their free Clipper Youth card in order to continue taking advantage of discount fares.

By obtaining a Clipper Youth card students, ages 5 to 17, can purchase a Youth Monthly Pass from Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) for $45. A single-ride cash fare is $1.75, so the pass offers a considerable discount for those who ride VTA daily to get to and from school.

VTA eliminated paper monthly passes on July 1. Now the only way VTA student customers can secure a monthly pass is to load it on the reloadable, all-in-one Clipper card.

“Only 10% of youth pass holders in Santa Clara County have made the transition to Clipper so far,” said Carol Kuester, Clipper program manager for MTC. “We’re really making a push in August to sign up the rest, so they can take full advantage of the discount available to them.”

Applications can be downloaded from clippercard.com or obtained at the two VTA customer service locations. Clipper outreach staff can also come to school sites to accept Clipper Youth card applications.

Members of this year’s freshman class, most of whom were born in 1994, prefer to watch television everywhere except on a television, have seen a woman lead the U.S. State Department for most of their lives and can carry school books–those that are not on their e-readers–in backpacks that roll.

Beloit College in Wisconsin has issued its annual Mindset List, something it has produced every year since 1998. The list provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall. This year covers the class of 2016, members of whom have never needed an actual airline ticket or a set of bound encyclopedias.

The class of 2016 spent much of their lives helping their parents understand that you don’t take pictures on film and that CDs and DVDs are not tapes. In these students’ lifetimes, with MP3 players and iPods, they seldom listen to the car radio. In fact, a quarter of the entering students already have suffered some hearing loss.

For this generation of entering college students, Kurt Cobain, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Nixon and John Wayne Gacy have always been dead. Freshmen should keep their eyes open for Justin Bieber or Dakota Fanning at freshman orientation.

The Biblical sources of terms such as “Forbidden Fruit,” “The writing on the wall,” “Good Samaritan,” and “The Promised Land” are unknown to most of them. Michael Jackson’s family, not the Kennedys, constitutes American Royalty. If they miss The Daily Show, they can always get their news on YouTube. On TV and in films, the ditzy dumb blonde female generally has been replaced by a couple of dumb and dumber males.

The complete list can be accessed here.

Protecting yourself against ID theft probably isn’t even on a college student’s to-do list. Yet, young adults aged 18-24 are among the last to detect identity theft when compared to other age groups. It took them 132 days on average to spot it, and their average loss was roughly five times more than the amount lost by other age groups.

According to the same report from Javelin Strategy and Research, last year, 11.6 million American adults were ID theft victims, a 13% increase over 2010 figures. Losses totaled $37 billion,.

The Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona has issued some steps students can take to protect themselves while on campus.

Four U.S. senators have sent a letter to China’s ambassador to the U.S. urging the country to crack down on companies in that are selling fake driver licenses.

The letter by Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Ia.), Tom Harkin (D-Ia.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), regarded recent reports detailing how individuals can obtain high quality counterfeit driver licenses from Web sites operated by companies based in China.

“Counterfeit driver licenses pose many risks to public safety and national security,” stated Brian Zimmer, president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License in a release. “It’s extremely important that the highest levels of the Chinese government be made aware that criminal entrepreneurs operating from their country are undermining the counter terrorism security apparatus of the United States.”

The fake licenses have also been obtained by college students who want IDs that will prove they’re over the age of 21.

The Chinese Web sites enable an individual to insert a digital photo and biographic information that typically includes a false age and often a false name into the current state-issued driver license or identification card template. For $200 (prices are lower for bulk orders), the individual will then receive two counterfeit driver licenses. One Web site contains templates for driver licenses for more than 20 states, Zimmer said.

Some Chinese companies are also producing immigration and work permit documents.

Malayan Banking Bhd and Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Malaysia have teamed with MasterCard to produce a prepaid university smart card for the school’s employees and students, Malaysia’s online newspaper, The Star, reports.

Through this joint venture, the bank plans to issue 10,000 cards within the next 12 months.

Read the full story here 

Higher One Holdings is seeking a buyer and has contacted private-equity firms, said three people with knowledge of the discussions, according to a Business Week report.

Higher One is using Goldman Sachs Group to canvass potential buyers, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is private.

Ken Goff, a Higher One spokesman, said it’s the company’s policy not to comment on “rumor or speculation.”

In May, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group said in a report that campus debit-card programs sometimes charge fees that are “unnecessary and unfair” and that the companies use “aggressive” marketing.

Earlier this week, Higher One released a statement that it aims to make its checking account fees and terms more transparent and simpler for consumers to understand and that it would follow recommendations made by the Pew Charitable Trust that calls for financial institutions to standardize their disclosure forms.

Read more here.

The International Student Identity Card that serves as an ID and discount card for millions of students can now also be used as a prepaid debit card thanks to an agreement with MasterCard.

The card is now accepted anywhere MasterCard is and it also offers text message alerts. It provides an easy way of purchasing necessities abroad. Fraud protection and online monitoring is also part of the package.

The card itself costs $25 and doesn’t need to be connected to a bank account.

According to the International Student Identity Card Association Web site, the card is the only internationally accepted proof of full-time student status. It is endorsed by organizations such as UNESCO and is recognized by universities, academic institutions, student groups, national governments and ministries of education. The card is used by over 4.5 million full-time students in 120 countries.

Read more here.

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