HDS uses card swiping information to determine how much food to buy for each dining hall, said Director of Dining Services Ted A. Mayer.

"It is simply a way to measure and monitor the costs of the dining services," Mayer said.

Once a card is swiped, a computerized system tallies the meal.

The dining hall manager then uses the total number of meals swiped for the week to gauge how much food to cook and to order in the future.

Problems arise when more people eat than swipe, and the dining hall faces a shortage of food.

This occurrence has been particularly problematic in Leverett House, where last Thursday, residents received an e-mail message reminding them to swipe their cards when entering the dining hall.

"It doesn't cost you anything to swipe your card--you have already paid for the meal. But if you don't swipe, the money that you have already paid doesn't come to the Leverett dining hall," wrote Leverett House Master Howard Georgi in the e-mail message.

Many students fail to swipe their cards when they only want to grab a snack or some fruit.

"I usually don't swipe my card when I just want something to drink or some fruit," said Amy M. Trahan '01, a Leverett resident. "I knew I was supposed to swipe but I wasn't sure if it was important if I was only getting some fruit."

In the past few months, the Leverett dining hall was experiencing shortages in foods found at the salad bar such as fruits, which people often take without swiping their cards, said Leverett Dining Hall Manager Maureen E. Johannessen.

Johannessen said because students didn't swipe, she received inaccurate information about how much food to order, and Leverett faced a food shortage.

HDS, which works on a budget of $9.5 million a year, uses the number of card swipes to establish and maintain this budget. Each house is allocated a separate budget that they must stay within.

Though Mayer said the problem of students not swiping their cards comes and goes, this year it is limited to Leverett house.

Leverett's problem may be a result of the setup of the dining hall, Johannessen said.

In Leverett house the card-swipe line is outside of the dining hall. When the swipe line is long, students often bypass it, going straight inside the dining hall. Students cite this as one of the reasons for not swiping their card.

"If there was a swipe machine by the salad bar and fruit, then I wouldn't mind swiping my card," said Jamin F. Kerner '00, a Leverett resident.

But just informing the students of the importance of swiping their cards may not combat the problem.

Another misconception that deters students from swiping their cards is the number of times students are allowed to eat per week.

HDS gives each student 21 meals per week, with unlimited food per meal. This means that students should swipe their cards once per mealtime, and return to the dining hall as many times as they want, Johannessen said.

HDS may try to inform students of the importance of card swiping by placing table tents in the dining halls, Mayer said.