Charge, please.

It works like a credit card, looks similar to a driver's license, and is misplaced as easily as your car keys. The Dartmouth student "I.D." is a phenomenon in and of itself these days. I'm not talking about just any old piece of personal identification; this is a wonderful, magical little piece of magnetized plastic that will take you wherever you want to go on the Dartmouth campus.

Student I.D.'s are distributed by the Validine Office, which is part of the Dartmouth Dining Association, and they contain all of a student's vital statistics: full name, I.D. number, birthdate, class, signature, and a color photo. Though a relatively new phenomenon (Validine I.D.'s arrived on the Hanover Plain in 1983), these charge cards have fast become an integral part of the Dartmouth experience. I know of no other college I.D. that will do as much. When friends from other schools come to visit, they are amazed at the ease which my I.D. affords, as well as the many things I can afford with it.

You can just imagine what it would be like to have your very own Dartmouth I.D. Here are some of the possibilities: You could charge breakfast (at any of the College's five eating establishments); you could visit your mailbox to retrieve a copy of TheDartmouth that you ordered with your I.D.; you could buy lunch, go to a football or hockey game, and attend any number of cultural events at Hopkins Center; you could charge your dinner (and a friend's); you could study in the library and take out books; and, finally, after such a long day, you could go to Hovey's Pub and charge beer or wine on this wonderful Dartmouth I.D.!

There is a unique mentality that goes along with the many uses of the I.D. Somehow, the act of payment just doesn't seem real because, for most of us, the bill that follows is sent right home to Mom and Dad. This means that when your friend has misplaced hers, it's no problem at all for you to lend her your I.D. for a meal or two. Dartmouth students, then, can be very giving; the Dartmouth I.D. teaches us how to be generous. Also, anything that can be charged on your I.D. is always a bargain; many's the time I have chosen to buy something for the sole reason that I could "put it on" my I.D.

It might seem from my description of the situation that a Dartmouth I.D. promotes irresponsibility. This is certainly not the case. You can't say that we aren't being prepared for the real world here because our I.D.'s are, in primitive form, just like "real world" credit cards. The Dartmouth card, however, is treated altogether differently. Whereas a MasterCard will be safely tucked away in a a protective case in your wallet, a Dartmouth I.D. can usually be found jammed into a back pocket, loose at the bottom of your knapsack, or under some papers on your desk. But it is teaching us something, I would argue: At the very least, it's a great lesson in the pleasures of immediate gratification.

We're lucky in the 1980s; it hasn't always been this easy for Dartmouth students. In the past, one used coupons at the dining hall. These coupons were compiled in meal plan books which, along with a normal picture identification card, could get a student into Thayer for as many meals as he wanted. But that's all. Today, with the introduction of the Validine I.D., College services have expanded, and you now see Validine machines squat yellow boxes all over campus.

A Dartmouth I.D. even carries special clout in the town of Hanover. Local vendors frequently offer specials to those who carry the Dartmouth I.D. Recently, Lou's Restaurant offered a free "ice-a-fudge" billed as "a Dartmouth tradition since 1947" to

anyone bearing a College I.D. And there are even bigger plans in the making. Dartmouth's Director of Business Affairs, Jack Skewes, has assured Dartmouth students that they will soon be able to use their special quasi credit cards at the Hanover Inn! I can just see it now: Boy invites girl on date. He takes her to Hanover Inn and tells her to order anything on the menu. He complements the meal with the finest champagne. And, when the bill comes, he everso-suavely pulls out his Dartmouth I.D. and places it on the check. "Charge, please," he says to the waiter.

I often wonder where I would be without my Dartmouth I.D. Pay cash? Are you kidding? In a few months, sadly, I know that this little piece of plastic won't have any value other than sentimental. And, after four years here, I might have learned some bad habits about charging things. But for now, I love it. You must realize that, when at Dartmouth, as the saying goes, you just can't leave the dorm without it.