Word: debits
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Many colleges do not bind their students to paying for 21 meals per week at campus cafeterias. Instead, students pay a certain amount of money at the beginning of the term, which is recorded on a wallet-sized card. These debit cards may be used in regular dining halls or in alternative college-operated eateries, such as delis and pizza parlors...
Harvard, of course, does not offer a debit-card system. According to an official at Harvard Dining Services, the primary reason for restricting students to dining halls is that the administration wants to promote a sense of community...
Since the 1930s, the chief instrument for building that community has been the house system. The administration believes that a debit-card system would encourage students to forego meals in their houses, thus weakening ties among house members and eroding the sense of community...