After a long night out sophomore year, I walked into Jason’s with my friends to get a snack. In a misguided attempt to curb my late-night eating, I decided that I would allow myself just one piece of bin candy. I carefully selected one red German berry, put it in a paper bag, and headed to the checkout counter to pay. (Sidenote: German berries are red and black gummies with little beads of candy / sprinkles / something on the outside. If you haven’t tried them, you should.)

Half-expecting him to let me take my piece of candy for free, I gave Jason my bag to put on the scale. He felt the lightness of the bag, looked at me, and looked in the bag. “Get out!” he yelled. I offered to go back to the bins and pick out more candy, but the only response was “SERIOUSLY. LEAVE!” I bolted out of the store to the sound of my friends laughing hysterically at me.

Since then, I’ve tried to avoid Jason’s as much as possible. It is only in extremely dire situations, such as when my apartment is out of solo cups or Mary-Kate Olsen is on the cover of a magazine they don’t have at Wilson Farms that I subject myself to the possibility of being kicked out again. So, while #68: Buy Beer at Jason’s in Collegetown and charge it to CityBucks may not seem like a particularly daunting task, I procrastinated trying it out for several weeks.

The actual purchase went fairly smoothly. At first, I considered buying a forty, but I decided that buying one of anything was probably a bad way to start things off. I brought a six-pack to the counter, handed the cashier my driver’s license and Cornell ID, and was voluntarily out the door before anyone could kick me out. Despite the stress of the transaction, I soon felt a mix of satisfaction (I’d just spent my parents’ money on alcohol) and guilt (I’d just spent my parents’ money on alcohol).

Buying beer at Jason’s may be one of the more convenient ways to put your Cornell Card to good use, but it is certainly not the only way to bursar alcohol. Nor, in my opinion, is it the method of purchase that should have won a place on the Big Red Ambition list. There are several other ways, ranging in levels of classiness and creativity, to use your good old school ID to get drunk. To skip the CityBucks thing all together, head to the Regent Lounge at the Statler, where you can Cornell Card your drinks. If you’d rather stay in Collegetown, Rulloff’s and CTB take CityBucks as payment at the bar. You can even open a tab at Rulloff’s on your Cornell Card — amazing.

For those who like a little more of a challenge, my personal favorite method of extorting the bursar system requires a bit of an effort. Invite your friends, sort-of friends, friends you don’t really like, whoever, to have dinner at your favorite CityBucks accepting restaurant. When it comes time to pay for dinner, apologize profusely for not having cash on you and suggest that you charge the meal and everyone else pays you his or her share in cash. Pocket the money. Buy drinks. Inspired.

Clearly, I’ve wasted enough time finding alternative uses for my Cornell Card that I don’t need to rely on Jason’s for my beer runs. Unfortunately, the store is the only place in Ithaca where you can bursar German berries — purchased one at a time or otherwise.