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Lab Access Cards

edited May 2008 in General
Do we need to get a lab access card even if we just go in for tutorials?

How often do the staff actually check whether a student has an access card or not?

Comments

  • edited May 2008
    It depends on which lab and what time of the day it is. I know that the CSIL computer labs require an access card but it's really not necessary because people are always going in and out so you can just follow them through the door. The TA's and lab staff don't check access cards either.
  • edited May 2008
    Which labs require access cards?
  • edited May 2008
    Ether;29918 said:
    It depends on which lab and what time of the day it is.
    How about ASB 9838 on thursdays from 9:30-10:20? It looks pretty empty today.
  • edited May 2008
    I'm wondering the same thing as well. Access cards are different from the student ID right? At the Surrey campus, we can just use our student ID to get into labs.

    Also, where is WMC 3101?
  • edited May 2008
    ASB9838 is CSIL...
    Unless you want to wait for others to open the door for you every single week, you might as well spend the 3 bucks and get a card. And you could go in whenever you want.

    Alternatively, have a long, thin piece of conducting metal bent in such a way that you could insert it through the slit and touch the bar inside the door.

    Agentbob: Map
  • edited May 2008
    $3? I thought it was $30.
  • edited May 2008
    Shi2;29947 said:
    $3? I thought it was $30.
    Ya it is. I just got it today and was surprised when the lady told me it $30.
  • edited May 2008
    Agentbob;29948 said:
    Ya it is. I just got it today and was surprised when the lady told me it $30.
    wtf it's $30 now?

    When I got it last semester (in Jan) it was $18 and said they'd refund $15 when you return the card, thus $3.
  • edited May 2008
    primexx;29950 said:
    wtf it's $30 now?

    When I got it last semester (in Jan) it was $18 and said they'd refund $15 when you return the card, thus $3.
    Wait, refund? I thought this was a deposit? Don't they return the fees completely?
  • edited May 2008
    Agentbob;29951 said:
    Wait, refund? I thought this was a deposit? Don't they return the fees completely?
    not what they told me. maybe they changed it so you have to give them more of a deposit, so they can make the money off interests/investments instead of keeping a part of the deposit?

    In any case, I'm keeping my card until I graduate, just in case I take any more courses that'll use it. I heard that they use the same card for the CSIL, the engineering room, and sfu surrey, anyone know if this is true?
  • edited May 2008
    It's $15 bucks AFAIK.

    No one checks if you have a card or not. No one.

    But if you don't have one, you'll need to wait for someone that does have one to open it.
  • edited May 2008
    Also, you could check the CSSS common room which is right next to one of the CSIL entrances. The people who hang out there will almost definitely have access cards. Ask one of them to let you in. They'll make witty remarks about the number of people who ask to be let into CSIL each day. Then they'll tell you to go buy a card, but if you keep bothering them someone will let you in eventually.
  • edited May 2008
    primexx;29959 said:

    In any case, I'm keeping my card until I graduate, just in case I take any more courses that'll use it. I heard that they use the same card for the CSIL, the engineering room, and sfu surrey, anyone know if this is true?
    The SFU Surrey CSIL uses your student ID. Just hover the magnetic strip over this black box thingy on the door and it'll open up. However, I started my first semester at Surrey so it might be different for Burnaby students.
  • edited May 2008
    i've got an uber card now. i can get into the super secret tasc labs. we have a fridge, microwave, couches.....i get my own computer...i can leave my shit in there and it won't get jacked.....it's great :D

    yeah. just felt like rubbing that in. sorry. cost me $30 for that card, and i only get 20 back
  • edited May 2008
    Agentbob;29980 said:
    The SFU Surrey CSIL uses your student ID. Just hover the magnetic strip over this black box thingy on the door and it'll open up. However, I started my first semester at Surrey so it might be different for Burnaby students.
    Yea the surrey student card costs more (just a bit) because its access card is embedded with your student card. Burnaby students have to get a separate magnet strip card for these things.

    One of the several things SFU surrey has that's better than burnaby.

    edit: wait, hover? you sure it's a magnet and not rfid? (if it's the latter then it sucks)
    ralph2087;29992 said:
    i've got an uber card now. i can get into the super secret tasc labs. we have a fridge, microwave, couches.....i get my own computer...i can leave my shit in there and it won't get jacked.....it's great :D

    yeah. just felt like rubbing that in. sorry. cost me $30 for that card, and i only get 20 back
    what course?
  • edited May 2008
    primexx;29996 said:
    Yea the surrey student card costs more (just a bit) because its access card is embedded with your student card. Burnaby students have to get a separate magnet strip card for these things.

    One of the several things SFU surrey has that's better than burnaby.

    edit: wait, hover? you sure it's a magnet and not rfid? (if it's the latter then it sucks)



    what course?
    Ah ok, I wasn't aware of that. Kind of looked like a idiot swiping my student ID at the Burnaby CSIL and wondering why it won't work.

    It's not RFID as far as I can tell (doesn't seem to have anything embedded in the card). I don't exactly know how it works, but I just assumed it's a magnet black strip of some kind. You can have the student ID in your wallet and it can still read it. Perhaps its something different.

    card-reader.jpg
    edit: it's like those things. Hover your card over it and it'll open.
  • edited May 2008
    Agentbob;30001 said:
    Ah ok, I wasn't aware of that. Kind of looked like a idiot swiping my student ID at the Burnaby CSIL and wondering why it won't work.

    It's not RFID as far as I can tell (doesn't seem to have anything embedded in the card). I don't exactly know how it works, but I just assumed it's a magnet black strip of some kind. You can have the student ID in your wallet and it can still read it. Perhaps its something different.

    card-reader.jpg
    edit: it's like those things. Hover your card over it and it'll open.
    mm interesting...i might be taking a surrey class next semester (or the one after it), hopefully i won't have to buy another access card.
  • edited May 2008
    primexx;30010 said:
    mm interesting...i might be taking a surrey class next semester (or the one after it), hopefully i won't have to buy another access card.
    You will be able to use the same card. Plus, if you want already, you can request that your card work for the Surrey campus since you're taking a CMPT course at any campus.
  • edited May 2008
    primexx;29996 said:

    what course?
    no course, i got a research grant.
    Agentbob;30001 said:

    It's not RFID as far as I can tell (doesn't seem to have anything embedded in the card).
    actually...my uber card looks identical to the csil cards and i was surprised to discover that it *is* RFID.... doesn't look it, but i just put my wallet up to the scanners at the TASC lab and they open...

    csil however is not cool enough to have an RFID scanner.
  • edited May 2008
    ralph2087;30266 said:
    no course, i got a research grant.



    actually...my uber card looks identical to the csil cards and i was surprised to discover that it *is* RFID.... doesn't look it, but i just put my wallet up to the scanners at the TASC lab and they open...

    csil however is not cool enough to have an RFID scanner.
    no, rfid isn't cool at all, it's amongst the worst forms of authentication you could ever get.
  • edited May 2008
    Whatever..

    RFID isn't exactly "secure" (the chips can be read and copied without the user's knowledge from a distance), but then again, CSIL isn't exactly set up to be Fort Knox.

    Sure, someone could go through the trouble of sniffing people's CSIL RFID chips then using them to get in, .. or they could just catch the door as someone leaves. For the level of security CSIL is going for, I'd say RFID is good enough.
  • edited May 2008
    Ether;30274 said:
    Whatever..

    RFID isn't exactly "secure" (the chips can be read and copied without the user's knowledge from a distance), but then again, CSIL isn't exactly set up to be Fort Knox.

    Sure, someone could go through the trouble of sniffing people's CSIL RFID chips then using them to get in, .. or they could just catch the door as someone leaves. For the level of security CSIL is going for, I'd say RFID is good enough.
    CSIL is magnetic strip. The rfid lab is apparently for special people (ralph2087's research grant).

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