Monday night’s Student Senate meeting set the stage for an extensive debate about the future of a piece of plastic every student has in his or her possession – a Blugold ID.

Its future remains unknown, but Student Senate unanimously passed a resolution supporting the expansion of the card’s use off campus.

This decision came shortly after Senator Matt Wisnefske proposed an amendment, which passed by majority, to cut various lines from the resolution to make it more general instead of specific.

Vice President Meredith Marx said the use of the Blugold card shouldn’t be determined by Senate if the administration hasn’t made a decision on it.

“In parts of (the resolution), it kind of went too in-depth to what the Blugold card would actually entail,” she said. “That was the reason why there was concern from the Senate. We just wanted to make it more of a general resolution.”

The omitted line in the resolution stated that the Blugold card would hold a third account, which would work like a debit card.

Senator Avril Flaten, though, felt the omitted lines were the heart of the resolution. Last year, Student Senate passed a bill that forced students to use direct deposit for payments from the university instead of receiving a check, she said.

“By forcing students to have direct deposit, we could have something on campus that they could easily get to,” Flaten said, referring to a third account on the Blugold card. “It’s just a way for students to have an account for money … to go into a system provided by the university.”

Before Wisnefske’s amendment, various senators expressed different viewpoints on the card’s use, ranging from using it only at Eau Claire businesses to using it throughout the state.

“The Senate does approve of the administration going in to look at opinions for this Blugold card,” Marx said. “We want to investigate what the administration is looking into before we decide.”

The idea of expanding the ID arose at the end of last year’s Student Senate session, she said, but nothing was elaborated on. Bringing this idea back, she said, will help keep it on the minds of the administration.