The Honor Committee is undertaking a semester-long drive to allow students without their ID cards to use the Aquatic and Fitness Center by citing the honor code.
Students now are required to show their IDs before using the gym's facilities, but the Committee is preparing to take action and eliminate this requirement at the gym and other places on Grounds.
"Students can go to stores at the Corner or in downtown, write checks without identification and be trusted. Then how come our University can't trust us?" Honor Law School Rep. Uri Ko said.
"Obviously, we'd love to work with the facilities' administrators [at the AFC] to try to work this out in a quiet, quick way. But, if not, then we're going above their heads and generating student interest," Vice Chairman for Education Peter Leary said.
Architecture School Rep. Sean Suder is heading a subcommittee called the Voucher Committee, which has started exploring the current policies at the AFC, parking garage, dining halls, language labs and football games.
But AFC Supervisor Jason Navln did not favor the idea.
Navln said it is unwise to allow people to use the AFC facilities without ID, even if students vouch on their honor.
"We're accountable for everyone in the gym. Without proper identification, we can't ensure the safety of all the people in the gym. If a person misuses the equipment or injures himself, it costs us money," he said.
"The honor code is nice, but you can't take it too far. You have to be realistic," he added.
Honor Committee members said such concerns are unnecessary in a community of trust.
"When you go to the gym without an ID, you should be able to be vouched for by a friend, instead of having to run back or pay $5" for a pass, Suder said.
The only way a student without an ID can get in the AFC is to have another student, with an ID, buy him a guest pass, which can be reimbursed up to three business days later.
Unlike the AFC, the libraries and dining halls on Grounds don't require IDs. They allow students to be vouched for or just accept their student numbers.
"It cannot be a problem for the gyms to get information on the computer and just use your number," said Severyn Hanusz, Law School Library circulation supervisor.
"It's commonsense to use that. At the library, we try to be as customer friendly as possible and they should do the same," Hanusz said.
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