Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article erroneously reported that on-campus residents would no longer be able to purchase commuter parking passes next year. The Mercury regrets this error.

Community Piano

Sammy Lutes, chair of the Student Affairs Committee, is working on acquiring a piano to place outdoors. Much like the Spirit Rocks on campus, the community piano will be available for students to paint and play music. The idea behind the piano is to create another tradition for students. The piano will either be sourced as a donation or acquired used. To keep the piano properly tuned and functional, Lutes estimates the cost will be $100 annually.

24-Hour Food

Danni Yang of the Residential Student Affairs Committee is currently surveying students to see if there is an interest in 24-hour availability of dining services on campus. Yang is planning on asking for a pilot program, however student interest would have to be high for the pilot to be permitted by UTD administration.

Updated Comet Cards

In a meeting with UTD Police Chief Larry Zacharias, SG proposed an update of the Comet Cards to maintain campus security. The need for an update comes after concerns about the escalation of card cloning. Card cloning is the process of illegally collecting data from a card’s magnetic strip and copying that data to another blank card’s strip. New Comet Cards will have security chips, eliminating that risk. To make the switch, all card readers on campus must be replaced to be compatible with the new technology. Updating the Comet Cards and card readers will cost an estimated $1.6 million.