By
Christian Richardson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UA in negotiation with distributor over reimbursement
Arizona's high temperatures could be the reason for the replacement of about 4,000 CatCards since 1999.
Heat caused the CatCards to split because the type of plastic the cards were manufactured from wasn't as flexible as the new cards and the glue loses its bond, said Bill Norwood, Vice President of New Business Development for CyberMark.
Patrick Tisi, an atmospheric science junior, said his card is about to divide in two separate pieces.
Tisi, who was issued his card in 1998, said he runs into problems occasionally because the photocopy machine won't take his almost split card.
Yet, he added "it still works, it's still good."
Tisi, also a student desk worker at the University of Arizona Main Library, sees students with cards that are duct-taped or glued together. He said they have trouble scanning the cards and end up typing the information in.
The problem began in 1999 and was a result of faulty manufacturing.
"The manufacturer occasionally screws up the contents," Norwood said.
CyberMark, which distributes college ID cards to universities around the nation, uses different manufacturers and they contract with the one that provides the best product, Norwood said.
A one to two percent failure rate is a "normal acceptance rate to us," Norwood added.
"We got some bad plastic," said Suellyn Hull, CatCard office manager in reference to why they had to replace the cards.
However, last fall the CatCard Office started using a new style of plastic - a combination of polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene trichloride - a more flexible plastic.
"The whole structure of the new card is different,"Norwood said.
Hull said that the CatCard Office is negotiating with CyberMark and is requesting that they reimburse the UA for the time and labor needed to replace and distribute the cards to students.
"It's still being negotiated," Hull said. "We're not sure who's going to reimburse us for what."
The CatCard office will replace cards that split from a manufacturer's defect at no cost.
"We've always replaced them for free," Hull said. "Anything that is a manufacturer's defect we replace for free."
Hull added that the money refunded will offset the cost of replacing the cards for free. The time and labor won't be covered by the reimbursement.
Although no final decision has been made between the UA and CyberMark, Norwood said they are "reviewing the materials."
The University of Central Florida also has their SmartCard distributed through CyberMark, said Ted Capkanis from the UCF Card Office. UCF has similar problems with their cards because of the state's "hot and humid" climate, he said.
They began using the card in November 1998 and have replaced about 1,000 cards since then.
"Once we got the new ones, the cards stopped splitting," Capkanis said.
Christian Richardson can be reached at city@wildcat.arizona.edu.
