A federal judge yesterday said that a new law to protect businesses from animal rights extremists "may be legally vulnerable," during a hearing for the first four defendants charged with breaking the law, reports The Mercury News.
Read more »Animal Extremist Terrorism Law "Legally Vulnerable," Judge Says
Former Oyster exec appointed MTA chief
A former executive with Transport for London, which developed the city’s Oyster transit card, has been nominated by New York Gov. David Paterson to run the city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The appointment of 48-year-old Jay Walder as MTA’s chairman and CEO, must be approved by the state New York State Senate. Currently a partner with consultants McKinsey & Co., Walder was Transport for London’s planning and finance director from 2000 to 2006, where he helped draft the city’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympics. He also was heavily involved with the introduction of London’s Oyster card.
Read more »Milwaukee college has new banking partner, campus cards
Starting Aug. 3, all returning Milwaukee Area Technical College students will need to get new student ID cards because the school has brought in a new banking partner, U.S. Bank. The new cards will also be used to pay for parking at the Downtown Milwaukee Campus.
There will be no additional cost to students for the new cards, but the school is requesting the return of all current IDs.
Read more here.
Read more »Visa policy means fewer off-campus Cougar Cash merchants for Washington students
The number of off-campus merchants that can accept Washington State University’s CougarCard loaded with Cougar Cash has dropped from 32 to 10. But the school is offering a new CougarCard Maxx that includes Visa debit functionality, making the card usable worldwide. Students, however, would have to have a U.S. Bank account to take advantage of that feature.
Cougar Cash, the Pullman, Wash. school’s name for its e-purse, will still be accepted at 10 merchants in near the university. That’s the new definition of “on-campus” that was negotiated with Visa, said a university spokesperson. The university had to drop the other merchants due to a Visa policy.
Read more here.
Read more »Iraq Improves Security for Its Christian Minority and Its Churches
Iraqi authorities have ramped up security outside of Christian churches across Baghdad and in two Christian towns in the northern province of Nineveh as Iraq's Christians come under increased terrorist attack.
According to the Associated Press:
Read more »Free campus card webinars today and Thursday
Blackboard is offering two free webinars for campus card administrators this week. Today at 1:00 pm Eastern the one-hour session explores ways to elevate the profile of your campus card system in the eyes of your campus executive management team. Be viewed as an crucial enterprise solution and you will be treated, and maybe even funded, as such. On Thursday at 1:00 pm Eastern, the one-hour session investigates keys to make your card system a valuable tool for every department on campus thus maximizing return-on-investment and elevating your program’s profile. Take an hour out of your day today and Thursday to find some key new ideas to help build your program. Click here to register for one or both of these free events.
Read more »Pittsburg Port Authority testing smart cards
Pittsburgh’s Port Authority is testing smart cards on one bus line this summer hoping to work out any glitches before deploying the new fare boxes system wide, according to a report in the Pittsburg Tribune-Review.
Ten Port Authority buses received fare collection boxes capable of using the smart-card technology and a dozen employees traveling from home in the North Hills were selected to participate in a test of the cards.
Scheidt & Bachmann USA Inc. provided the fare boxes which. The authority wants to finish the pilot program before commenting on how the cards and fare boxes perform.
Read more here.
Read more »Bringing campus banking to community colleges
Community colleges haven’t always been considered ideal candidates for campus banking services. That’s changing. Partnerships between banks and the two-year schools through their student ID cards, are out there and brick and mortar facilities are showing up on campus as well.
CR80News’ 2008 campus card banking partners survey identified at least 10 partnerships between banks and ID programs at community colleges or community college districts.
Still, community colleges and their bank partners face challenges.
Since many community colleges don’t require a student to obtain an ID card, banks and colleges have to come up with ways to make the card attractive to students. Linking it to a bank is one of those ways because it means additional services, such as ATM and debit card capability.
Another challenge is that since community college students are typically older than those attending four-year schools, many students are already tethered to a bank and are reluctant to change.
Read more »Connecticut restricts credit card marketing on campuses
Connecticut has joined several other states that are seeking to restrict or forbid credit card marketing activities on campus. Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed legislation that sets strict parameters for credit card companies as to when, where and how they can market to students.
The law also orders the Board of Governors of Higher Education to create a new policy by Jan. 1, 2010, to force credit companies to register with state colleges and universities.
It prevents companies from signing up students for credit cards during orientation and class registration and forces companies to give educational materials on how to retain good credit ratings. The law also bans companies from giveaways at sports events and prevents educational institutions from giving the names and addresses of students to credit card companies.
Read more here.
Read more »Senate to Move Fast on Federal Building Security in Report's Aftermath
Legislation that would modernize the Federal Protective Service (FPS) should be completed soon, after a government report detailed how easy it is to bring bomb-making materials into a federal building and build an explosive device undetected by security, according to The Washington Post's Federal Eye blog.
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