Thursday, March 15, 2007
Safety and the best student service possible should be the top priorities for the University; bottom line. The recent tabling of the newly adopted Delta Force SafeBus bill, as reported in Monday’s University Daily Kansan, hurts that bottom line.
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If students feel strongly about this issue, they need to sign Tom Cox’s petition. Once a referendum occurs, the SafeBus decision will be left up to all the student voters.
Ashlee Kieler’s story reported that there were issues with the passing of this bill. Jessica Mortinger, Transportation Board chairwoman, outlined some of the concerns as: “camera pricing options, security personnel on buses and cost analysis.” These concerns aren’t completely unreasonable, but seem quite nitpicky. SafeRide doesn’t have cameras in their cars. There aren’t any security guards riding with SafeRide users. Even without beefy guards and big brother cameras SafeRide is in heavy demand and successfully delivers inebriated students to their final destinations. Pass the SafeBus bill and then pick apart the extraneous details.
The benefits of SafeBus far outweigh the increased $3 per semester student fee. Many universities of similar or smaller size to the University already have a system like SafeBus in place. A small fee increase for each of the 30,644 University students, as reported on the University’s Web site, should cover all costs and concerns of those that decided to table the bill. However, it’s next to impossible to put a price on the safety of all the students that will most certainly utilize this much-needed feature.
If students feel strongly about this issue, they need to sign Tom Cox’s petition. Once a referendum occurs, the SafeBus decision will be left up to all the student voters.
It’s your University. It’s your money. You should be benefiting as much as realistically possible. SafeBus should be a reality.
— Tasha Riggins for the editorial board.
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Comments
Editorial: Tabling bill is unfair
"Delta Force" SafeBus bill? Which coalition ran with this as a platform issue last year? It sure as hell wasn't Delta Force.
Printing this outright lie just shows how clueless the Kansan Editorial Board is.
Editorial: Tabling bill is unfair
Wow, there's a little cognitive dissonance for you. We need to be concerned about student safety, therefore we should ignore safety concerns? Seriously, you're going to college and this is the best argument you can come up with? I've met middle school debaters that could have a field day with this. But since I don't have any handy, let's have a go at this:
1) It's a poor assumption to think that the bill being delayed will result some sort of massive delay for the program's roll out. Regardless of when it is passed, it will still take months for the program to be fully set up, contracted, tested, and full deployed. Next semester would be the earliest in either situation.
2) It's a poor comparison to say that a trip in a Saferide car is the same as a trip on a SafeBus. In a SafeRide car, the driver can keep tabs on who is in the car quite easily as they're all within 3 or 4 feet of each other. A bus is a different story. Some drunk girl goes to the back of a bus, curls up in a ball on a chair, and falls asleep. The driver is still trying to keep track of people, but there are 15 other people in the bus obscuring his view. How can he ensure the safety of the girl in the back? That is exactly why security concerns have to be addressed.
3) If someone were to be attacked or, god help us, raped on a SafeBus, the liability lawsuit would be enormous. It would bankrupt KU on Wheels and ding the University as well. It's intellectually dishonest to describe these concerns as "nitpicky."
4) Tabling a bill isn't failing it, which is what your underlying assertion suggests. It simply means the committee wants more time to make sure questions are answered and logistics are taken care of. On a project of this magnitude, it's exactly what you want Student Senate to be doing. Past Senate boondoggles have flown through, costing student tens of thousands of dollars each with little questioning or planning. Then the projects crash because those logistics were never worked out. For once, Senate is acting responsible, which is exactly what all the complaining editorials around election time constantly wish for. Have the cajones to stick with a position.
Editorial: Tabling bill is unfair
This editorial is very, very misleading.
First, this is NOT a Delta Force issue. Infact, last spring as Ignite made this a campaign issue, Delta Force attacted it, calling it a "party bus."
Having SafeBus is a good idea, but it is not something that needs to be done on a whim. Student Senate was right to table this bill until it can be done properly.
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