Budget cuts jeopardize student safety

The Student Night Auxiliary Patrol has been suspended due to a budget crunch.

The program is not cost-effective at this time and the last night of operation will be Feb. 6. The contract for the program was due for renewal at the first of February. SNAP has been temporarily set aside until the budget situation improves and will be re-evaluated at that time.

The main concern from students with the recent change in transportation is safety. The shuttle bus lacks the mobility of the golf-carts, thus eliminating in many ways timely pick-up and front door service to on campus sights such as Terrell, Bell and Arts and Sciences. “I would prefer having the golf-carts,” said junior Nicole Bruno. “If we ride the shuttle we will still have to walk in the dark by our self. I would not feel as safe. It’s more about how can they save money and still look like they are providing a service, but it’s really not the same thing.”

Richard Goodson, deputy director of Public Safety, said this is a minor
problem due to the emergency call boxes located throughout campus.

“Before SNAP we had no call boxes on campus and no shuttle past two in the afternoon. Now we have two shuttles running most of the time. We have one running until 11 p.m. We may adjust that until midnight if we see there is a need for it,” said Goodson. “You should be able to get from point A to point B and have access to a call box.”

The call boxes are directly wired to the dispatch area within the public safety office. The number is traced back to the exact location of the call. Goodson said help can be there within two minutes.

Public safety has considered having the shuttle run a complete square around the campus and the dormitories. Ken Vance, director of public safety, has begun planning what steps need to be taken next.

“The main drop off is in front of the cafeteria. We will be adding one in front of Chappell Hall on Clark Street to offer a quicker route to the library,” said Vance.

The SNAP program, though discontinued will remain under constant review to determine what changes, if any are needed.

“We have to wonder if it is a safety issue or simply an inconvenience to walk across campus. If it is a safety concern, then certainly we will help the students,” said Vance, “but we are not a taxi service.”
Goodson said students are responsible enough to travel in the dark at times without the assistance of public safety.

“I think most of our students are pretty intelligent. They travel in groups and on well lighted routes. They call and let people know they are on their way. I don’t see it as an overwhelming problem,” said Goodson.

SNAP has been in operation since the mid-nineties and employed four nightly student workers. Josh Hill, Clark Welmering, Chris English and Jason Medlin have lost their jobs.

Junior Josh Hill anticipates a difficult time in finding another job.

“I had my class schedule planned around my job. I use that money to pay my rent and other expenses. If I get a new job it will have to be worked around school. If I find a job immediately it will still be at least three weeks before I get a paycheck. I don’t feel they are thinking about us, giving us only one week to find a new job,” said Hill.

Richard Goodson offered alternatives for the four students that are out of work.

“We might could pick up one or two to do parking, other than that they would have to go back and see what the university has to offer in other areas,” said Goodson.

Students may also consider visiting Dr. Bruce Harshbarger, dean of students and vice president of Student Affairs for help in finding a job.

“From time to time I have had students come by who have had trouble finding jobs on campus and I sent out emails to all the faculty. I would be glad to do that if they would email me or give me a call,” said
Harshbarger.

SNAP receives approximately two calls a night according to Goodson. There were 38 calls during the month of Jan.

“It does not make sense for us to waste tax payers dollars to support something that no one is using,” said Goodson. It’s not a good method of using their money.”

The $5.50 an hour paid to SNAP workers is from the money collected through parking tickets, not from hard-earned taxpayers money.

“A glaring option would be to increase the amount of parking tickets in order to maintain public safety. They are losing four pairs of eyes and ears patrolling the campus at night because of budget problems?” said junior Clark Welmering.

Hill said due to the cold weather in January, there was not much going on, and it was not a typical month. Because of this, January’s statistics should not be used to make a decision that will affect so many people.

“Some nights you would do up to 20 calls,” said Hill.

The shuttle bus has also been running at night, but only until 11 p.m. The SNAP workers would run until midnight and at times as late as 2
a.m.

Harshbarger is an advocate of the upcoming change.

“I don’t think that it is obligatory that public safety run any certain style of program. I think the most important thing is to provide a service that would offer safety. So I think it’s reasonable for them to look at different ways of getting to that end,” said Harshbarger.

Goodson has made an honest attempt to make students aware of the public safety services.

“We’ve tried to advertise with announcements in the Colonnade. We sent out information to all the housing residents and talked about it in our orientations,” said Goodson.

The students who were receiving the service will have to find other options for laziness and midnight study. Students have had their chance at public safety and will now be fighting a man down. Students should carry flashlights and a trigger-ready finger on a bottle of mace. Buy a moped or make friends with large groups of students traveling across campus late at night, because as Goodson said, “Right now it isn’t presenting too much of a need,” golf-carts that is, not public safety.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 7 2003. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry