Soon, you may be able to touch your GWorld to a sensor instead of swiping, or use it as a debit card to pay for your meal at J Street. Unfortunately, J Street will still be the same unappealing place where you must spend your Colonial Cash, Gelman Library will still be old and tuition will still be through the roof.
The University recently announced that it is examining a significant overhaul of the GWorld system, which may include proximity chips that allow students to touch their card to sensors to enter buildings, a debit card feature, a Metro fare card and other technological advancements.
All of these changes make for a more fun, snazzy and convenient GWorld, but why fix something that isn't broken? There are plenty of areas begging for the University's attention, and the GWorld overhaul seems to be a case of flashiness over functionality.
University President Steven Knapp's administration has rightly placed emphasis on the affordability of the school, one of GW's most pressing issues. The superfluous laser light show was cut from Colonial Inauguration along with other perks that provided more flash than function. Allotting budget money for the vast undertaking of perking up GWorld seems contrary to this new direction. A specific price tag has not been attached to this project yet, but considering the vast population that uses GWorld - all the undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff at the University - there is little chance this can be done cheaply.
After considering all the proposed changes, it seems that two main advantages are that students could carry less cards in their wallets with everything all rolled into an upgraded GWorld, and that the sensors would make it a lot easier to enter a dorm with an armful of groceries. While this would be more convenient than the utilitarian system in place now, it would by no means revolutionize GW life. Convenience does not seem to be enough justification for the cost, time and energy this project would require.
Many students and administrators have come out in favor of overhauling GWorld in connection with the pending Metro collaboration and the possibility of student discounts. Paying less for the Metro would be a welcome break for students' wallets, but discounts can be achieved without an entirely new GWorld system.
The current system works. It may not be a highlight of GW's technological prowess on tours, but it is not begging for change either. J Street, Gelman library, tuition, sustainability issues, ratio of adjunct to full-time faculty and quality of academic facilities, on the other hand, could use some attention.
