There are two strips on the back of Washington University identification cards. However, students only actually use one of them. The history of the second strip dates back to the previous generation of green ID cards that WU used. Unlike the current cards, the old generation used “low-coercivity” strips.
“Low-coercivity has to do with the strength of the magnetism on the card, and the low, which is the old technology, was easily prone to being erased,” said Wil Fritz, associate director of information systems.
Eventually, the old green cards were reordered with one high-coercivity strip and one low-coercivity strip. Having both types of strips on the same card made the transition to high-coercivity strips easier, said Fritz.
He added that the high-coercivity strips “are very robust, and it is hard to wipe them out.”
So when the time came to order the ID cards that are used today, Fritz remembered how convenient it was having the second strip on the old cards to use for transition purposes.
“Having the two strips came in very handy for changing technologies,” he said.
Even though there is no use for the second strip on the current cards used, they are there to enable another change in technology. Also, if the school has another use for the second strip, it can be easily programmed into the cards, without having to reorder cards and completely revamp the technology again.
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