Students might soon be able to vote on whether they want to be required to scan their hands to enter recreational facilities on campus.
UF senior Skeet Surrency submitted a student referendum for this fall's Student Government election ballot last week to let students judge the plan to install hand scanners at campus gyms.
One of the scanners is scheduled to be installed this month at the Student Recreation and Fitness Center, but the plan has hit delays, wrote David Stopka, associate director for facility operations for Recreational Sports, in an e-mail.
UF is working on issues relating to fire codes and handicap accessibility, he wrote.
Another scanner is planned for Southwest Recreation Center but it may be installed as late as Spring 2011 because of scheduled renovations.
The scanners will cost $35,000 to $50,000 at each location.
Students will be required to enter their UF ID numbers, then have their hands scanned to enter the buildings.
Surrency's referendum still has to be presented to the Supreme Court of the Student Body, which will determine if it meets requirements for language and constitutionality, said Tara Rovolis, an SG secretary.
About 600 students signed the proposal to get the referendum on the ballot. Proposals need to be signed by at least 1 percent of the student body.
Surrency said he questioned whether UF should be spending the money on other things during a budget crunch and whether the scanners would be too invasive of a student's privacy.
He also said the scanners are being introduced with "little to no student input."
He wants the referendum to create a debate, he said.
David Bowles, director of Recreational Sports at UF, said the scanners will allow students to enter the gyms without a Gator 1 and prevent non-students from using the gyms.
"The one thing that we've been hearing from students for years is that they don't wanna have to bring their Gator 1 card when they come to work out," he said.
He said he thinks concerns about privacy are "pretty ridiculous."
