Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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-22 by Brent Gipson SafeRiel : New routes decreased After a long night out in Aggieville, the last place most students wanted to be was pulled over by a law enforcement officer for driving under the influence. To prevent this, the university implemented a system to transport students to their homes. SafeRide provided a free, safe ride home to individuals who lived within the city of Manhattan and along the confines of the fixed-route system. Funding for SafeRide was provided through campus privilege fees, which were tacked at 21324.93 per credit hour and distributed by the Student Governing Association. When SafeRide was first introduced to the university in 2003, the service functioned as an on-call taxi service system. In order to get a ride to their homes, students had to call the SafeRide phone number and wait for a taxi to show up. SafeRide, the Student Governing Association and the taxi company that worked with SafeRide collaborated and compiled data to find out where the most common stops were in Manhattan. While the new system saved miles for the taxi company, it came at a cost of convenience for some customers. Keeping students from drinking 84 driving waiting times Victoria Hatch, SafeRide director and junior in sociology and psychology, said that one of the benefits of the fixed-route system is a significant decrease in waiting time. uPeople had complained that the wait could be anywhere from 30-45 minutes before they got a ridef, Hatch said. With the new system, the longest you would have to wait is I5 minutesf' Concerns of the fixed route system also involved the safety of customers who had to walk a distance from the SafeRide drop off point to their homes in an inebriated state. Customers, such as Hannah Brooks, junior in family studies and human services, lived off the corner of Laramie and Iuliette and found the service convenient. Her home is steps away from a SafeRide drop-off point. How lucky are we that SafeRide drops us off at our house?,' Brooks said. 'KI knew I moved into this house for a reasonfl SafeRide was created to save lives and prevent injuries and damage to property by offering students a safe alternative to The newsetup People had complained that the wait could be drunken driving and other is terrible,',Iohn Onywhere fmm minutes before YOU Q01 threatening situations. Roberts, sophomore in O ride. Vvnh the new System! The longest you According to the National agricultural technology WOM is minutes- Highway and Traffic Safety management said. We should have just called our DD lDesignated Driverl. I donit know why we didn'tf' Every 15 minutes, buses showed up at the K-State Student Union and proceeded to make stops in increments of two to three minutes. The i'purple route circled Aggieville, the neighborhoods on the east side of campus and the Derby complex, while the uwhiten route provided service to the neighborhoods on the west side of campus, the Iardine Apartments and the residence halls at the Kramer Dining Center. Victoria I-latch, SafeRide director Administration, driving while intoxicated was the No. I killer of young adults ages I6 to 24 in 2009. SafeRide started operating in August from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. uSafeRide hopes that people will use our services instead of making the decision to get behind the wheel when they are drunkf, Hatch said. 'Although we can't cater to everyone, we hope that people will see our service and think of calling a designated driver or bring a designated driver to their festivities instead of choosing to drink and drivefl

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!24 traditional education non tradltlonal any people in their 40s have a well-established career and a growing retirement fund. Tim Wallace, a 48-year-old sophomore in management information systems, however, was just beginning his new career. Wallace decided to begin college in Ianuary 2009 and attend the university after he spent many years of his life in and out of schooling and different jobs. I've been in the IT iinformation technologyl industry for I2 to 15 years but I never had the degreef' Tim said. 'Mfhen the market downturn started to tudent by Nicole DeBrie have tickets to the football games or any of thatf, Tim said. Wallace often brought his family along to weekend movies at the Student Union. I do enjoy the student union movies. Itys nice to be able to go someplace to see a big screen without having to pay S10 for a ticket. There were also some difficulties Tim found being older than the average student. There's been a bit of a problem with attitude. Everyone looks at me as ifl know what I am doing because I am older, Tim said. '4Suddenly you become an authoritative figure just happen, if you U I because . , I hove To get o job ond be very successful right , ,, didnthavea you re older. out of the goie, As opposed to someone who degree nobody , Howe ve r, . ,, hos just Qroduoted college ond con offorcl to . . hired you. , Tim realized W H rnoke 330,000 o yeor, I con t. a ace Tim Vlfoffoce, sophomore in monogement there are and his Wife, informotion SySf6Em5 30mg IHHCT, S6Hi0f advantages administrative assistant, both struggled for years to find and keep a stable job with the income they desired. uWe worked at two or three different places and were finding either a low income or fighting a company that would open its doors for a while then closef, Ianet said. If we clonit have that paper degree we already know the low income we're going to have and welre not going to rise above that. We'1'e not happy with just getting by.' Tim's college experience wasn't the same as a typical college student. Being a non-traditional student, he noticed differences in his priorities. 'Tm more focused on my studies. I don't as a student, having more years of life experiences under his belt and being closer to the age of the faculty. ultis a lot easier to connect with the instructorsf' Tim said. I can talk to the professor and say 'Oh yes, I remember when gas was 47 cents a gallonf There's a commonality there that younger people donlt have. Tim was not the only one in his family attending the university. Sean Wallace, Tim's son and senior in mechanical engineering, often had classes at the same time as his father. KI-Ie has a tendency to sort of avoid me, if at but heys cordialf, Tim said. uHe asks how my classes are going and I ask how his are going then we go our separate waysf' Tim was going to school full time but was still interested in any available jobs. Tim applied for multiple jobs on campus, specifically in the computer area. However. he seemed to often get turned down with the same response: uWe've found someone who is a better fitfi Tim said he assumed