I'M TURNING myself in. I probably would have gotten away with it, would have marched down the Lawn and gotten my diploma next year, and no one would have been the wiser. But I can't take the guilt anymore. As publicly as possible, I'm declaring my crime: I take the Escort Service van so I won't have to walk or wait outside for the bus.
This may not rank as an offense that warrants much sanction. But calling a policeman just for convenient transport is an abuse that makes University-provided services less efficient. It can be classed with stepping on the blue wheelchair pads intended for disabled students or printing dozens of party flyers in computer labs.
Nor are these simply matters of causing the University to expend more money. Misusing the wheelchair pads means they may be broken when disabled students need them; misusing lab printers means students who need them for academic purposes have to wait. In the same way, taking Escort without having a safety interest means other students who need it won't be able to use it.
Maximizing Escort's efficiency is an ongoing issue. Both demand for and complaints about the service have increased, leading Student Council to propose initiatives to improve it. These ideas include scheduling regular stops at Clemons Library, raising pay for the students who ride along with the police officers and adding more vans.
In the seven years since the program's inception, students have begun to treat Escort as a God-given taxi service, rather than a safety measure. They grumble over having to wait a half hour to be picked up and spending 40 minutes in the van while the driver helps other students. But taxis and Escort are two completely different services, and not just as pertains to price. If you're taking Escort, it should be because you're worried about your safety. It's probably more important to you than getting to a party on time.
Safety is indeed a paramount concern. Students cannot afford to take it lightly, and they should be thinking not only about themselves but also about other members of the University community. Suppose five guys need to get from Old Dorms to Beta Bridge at 10 p.m. for a party - using Escort is unnecessary. In the time it takes to pick them up and drop them off, a student alone at Hereford has to wait up to 20 minutes at the deserted Gooch/Dillard stop.
Unless students are physically incapable of getting to their destinations, they should consider using the walking escorts instead of calling the van. This will free the service for people who really need it, and provide exercise. Students might not even need to call strangers; they could try asking other people to walk with them or to wait with them for the bus. Students should use the Escort Service only when the other alternatives put them in harm's way: walking or waiting alone, taking a ride from someone who's been drinking, or going with someone they don't know.
Not only can students help make the Escort Service more efficient by using it wisely, they can improve its ability to serve the University by getting in the passenger seat. Escort would be more efficient if more members of the University would sign up to ride along. To paraphrase Jerry Maguire, "Help them help us." Students can call Sgt. Fielding at the University Police Department (924-7166), and do their part for community safety while making $6.25 an hour.
Escort began with one student's concern for other members of the University. After the assault of a friend, he was determined to reduce the chance of this happening to anyone else. His ethic of caring for our fellow students, put into action, can ensure that his efforts weren't wasted.
As for myself, I am a changed woman. The last time I visited a friend in the Hereford hinterlands, I took the bus there and back. I can't say it matched the van for comfort, but I stayed safe, and hopefully Escort helped another person who needed it that night.
(Pallavi Guniganti's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at prg3a@virginia.edu.)
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