If you are anything like me, when you received the routine e-mail from the Bulldog Bucks office about the new system, you thought nothing of it.

You either skimmed over the details of the message or, like me, didn’t bother reading it at all. Unfortunately, I later discovered this was a big mistake.

Like many of you, I am taking classes this summer. Being the hardworking student I am, I decided I would run to the Bulldog Bucks office, put $5 on my card, print out my powerpoints for that day and be on my way.

Sounds simple right? Wrong.

I went to the Bulldog Bucks office and received a BIG surprise. They no longer accept deposits at the office. Students must now deposit Bulldog Bucks at the Student Accounts office.

That’s right: at Student Accounts, all the way downtown. When I heard the news I was shocked but I thought, “No big deal. I’ll just walk there after my first class and have the notes in time for my second class.”

I got out of my first class early and figured it would be a quick process. Wrong again.

After walking in the heat to the Student Accounts office, I waited in line. When I got to the counter the teller quickly explained to me that in order to deposit money onto my card I had to fill out a bulldog bucks request form online.

The computer was in the office so I thought, “Okay, I’ll just fill out this form, give the teller my check, and be on my way.” Wrong again.

When I pulled up the site I discovered I could not deposit less than $10. That’s right, $10.

Not the $5 I had planned on depositing.

Not loose change that may have been floating around somewhere in my wallet, but $5 more than I was prepared to spend.

I decided that instead of going through all of this unnecessary trouble I could easily just walk down to the library and deposit the money in the Bulldog Bucks machine.

I reversed the transaction, because it’s possible as long as you haven’t paid any actual funds yet, and left.

After walking back through the heat to the library I discovered the machine was being cleaned.

I waited somewhat patiently – I only had 15 minutes before my class would be starting – and then proceeded to use the machine only to be given another surprise.

I slid my card, but the machine kept saying it couldn’t find my account information. I thought maybe something had gone wrong so I tried again with the same result. I approached the repairman and told him the machine wasn’t reading my card.

He then explained to me the only way to deposit money on my Bulldog Bucks card is at the Student Accounts office. The machines only accept VTS cards.

What’s a VTS card, you ask? It’s a card that is supposed to be used by visitors or anyone who may have forgotten their UGA card.

It’s available for sale at Tate Print and Copy for $1 and is used to print, purchase items from the vending machines and make copies – everything that we do with our Bulldog Bucks cards.

That would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that people like me who may want to deposit money onto their cards at the machines can no longer do so.

We either have to walk down to Student Accounts, buy this new card or go without.

It makes me wonder why we even have a Bulldog Bucks office anymore. What’s the point? In the end I still didn’t get the money on my card, still didn’t get the notes I needed and ended up being late for class. Talk about a waste of time. As the old saying goes, “Don’t fix something if it isn’t already broken.”

- Abriauna Welch a senior from Snellville majoring in fashion merchandizing and magazines.