I've been wondering how long it would take for the issue of ID's to come to
this esteemed forum.   Oddly, though, it has not quite taken the form I had
imagined.  So, since the subject has been raised, I'd like to push the
discussion in a slightly different, and in my humble opinion, more urgent
direction.
   With due respect to Marcia Noe's noble desire to maintain her old ID card
(ah the glories of youth), I would suggest that all faculty/staff should be
required to obtain a new ID. First, this should be a professional looking
university ID, not a silly MOCS card.  While it may be desirable to give the
staff/faculty ID the same capabilities of a MOCS card (this is easily
accomplished via the magnetic strip) we need a form of ID that clearly
identifies us as employees of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga --
especially when we are visiting other universities.  The current card design
does not fulfill this simple, but very important function.  [At some other
university libraries, for example, it is necessary to present a valid ID
from your university to get access.  Only in the fine print on the BACK of
the current ID is there any mention of UTC].
   Secondly, while the university has eliminated the illegal practice of
using the SSN as a form of student identification, it continues to use it
for faculty/staff members.  Thus, the is SSN prominently displayed on our ID
cards.  Lupton library also uses the SSN as a patron identification number
for faculty and staff.  Isn't it about time in this age of security theft
that the university develop an alternative system for employee
identification, just as it has for students.  After all, the laws governing
the public use of SSN numbers applies to us in the same measure that it does
to students?


Dr. Anthony J. Steinhoff
Assistant Professor, Modern European History
Department of History
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

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