How well do you know your Aggie OneCard? Buying food and washing clothes are just a couple of the things that are made easier with it.

During freshman orientation, all incoming students take a picture for their Aggie OneCard and have the option of using it just on campus or combining their Wachovia account as well. With this feature, money from the card is drawn from flex dollars, money put on the card, or money from one’s bank account.

According to Yolanda Headen, Computing Support Technician at the Aggie One station, the computer does a “smart search” when the card is swiped and takes the money from the desired location.

In the bookstore, the C-store and in any of the eateries on campus, the Aggie OneCard makes shopping a faster and is a more efficient means of payment than cash.

“With the flex dollars, the Aggie OneCard is a convenience because it gives you x-amount of dollars to use on food that you won’t have to use cash for,” said Jackson Jordan, a junior accounting major from Castle Hayne.

The amount of flex dollars you receive depends on your meal plan and those dollars are not taxed. The money you use outside of your meal plan that aren’t flex dollars are taxed because it’s like shopping at a store with a debit card or cash. “The computers at A&T add tax to your amount and then take it off once your card is swiped if you are using flex dollars,” Headen said. The money you deposit on your card using one of the machines or the online method is taxed because it’s like using a debit card and is not a part of your meal plan. No tax is added when you do laundry, print or copy papers or use the vending machines where the card can be swiped.

Swiping your card is a lot faster than counting out cash and change and helps you keep from carrying a lot of money on you. On the bottom of your receipt, it tells you your remaining flex dollar balance and lets you know that no tax was added.

Although most students use their card for food and laundry, it has several other uses as well. The card gets you into athletic events, your resident hall and into the cafeteria.

In addition, it enables you to check out books at Bluford Library and purchase tickets at a student discount at Brown Ticket Office.

If there is money on your card due to left over book allowances or deposited money, the Aggie OneCard can be used to pay parking tickets, stamps at the mail center as well as services at Sebastian Health Center.

Many are not aware that the money on your card will carry over from semester to semester (except for flex dollars) unless a student graduates or withdrawals from the university.

Students can swipe a valid Aggie OneCard, meaning one that has not expired or been damaged, to ride both the city buses and HEAT buses that stop on campus.More importantly, your Aggie OneCard proves that you are a student of this University and provides you with a valid ID in instance where you may have to prove you are a student.

Replacement cards are $20.00 and can be serviced at the Aggie OneCard station on the second floor of the Student Union. “I have used my Aggie OneCard almost daily since the start of school. Sometimes, I have used it more then twice in one day,” said Jordan.

• Stacie Bailey