2008 Woodie Awards
Office Party's 'chapter bus' plan clarified
Issue date: 2/12/08 Section: Opinions
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Some discontent seems to come from the Milledge bus aspect of our platform.
Our platform includes maximizing our campus transit system, but the idea of a "chapter bus" was brought to us by another campus organization. You can loosen the grip on your pocket books - the instatement of this proposal will not cost unaffiliated students a dime.
Rather, the proposal is to be headed up by Greeks, and, as we promise to represent any organization seeking our support in offering student services, The Office Party takes this on as the next step in campus safety and improved neighborhood relations.
Our stance on expanding the operating hours of the Milledge bus is threefold.
First, we want to improve campus safety, and in order to alleviate this, we want to ensure that students do not have to walk home from campus after dark.
Second, Athens-Clarke County officials have painted curbs and street sides, designating them as no-parking zones. A further goal of this initiative is to relieve tension between the University and our neighbors by decreasing traffic.
Finally, many students living on or near Milledge - including apartment complexes occupied by Greeks and non-Greeks alike - are involved in campus organizations, whether they are debate societies, philanthropy groups or media outlets.
The Milledge bus serves our students until 7 p.m. on weeknights, approximately when the latest classes are released. Our hope is to provide safe transportation to and from campus for organizational meetings, studying and otherwise. Other bus routes including Family Housing and East-West run as late as 12:29 a.m. Extending the Milledge Route is a comprehensive solution.
Our campus transportation plan does not end here. Our proposal for a 24-hour campus transit is well under way as we now have three proposed maps of a night route drafted by a campus transit employee.
Other key issues include removing the C- or instating the A+ to balance the grading scale - amendments administrators, including Jere Morehead, vice president for instruction (as cited in a Jan. 31 article) are considering.
We also would like to see our UGAMail transferred to Gmail - this program has been successful on other campuses and will allow nearly 1,000 times as much memory, chat options and calendars while maintaining UGA logins.
Finally, we're ready to see the end of Ramsey waits. Online sign-ups with more hours and increased floor space will remedy this problem.
Each of these has run through key administrators including the provost and the vice presidents for Student Affairs and Instruction.
For the rest of our initiatives, check out the entire platform at http://ugaofficeparty.com/platform/.
- Connor McCarthy is a SGA presidential candidate.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 10
Chocolate Milk
posted 2/12/08 @ 8:47 AM EST
As a non-Greek who lives on Milledge, I am proud to call BS on the claim that the Milledge bus will be used to get students to and from campus at midnight. (Continued…)
Student Advocate
posted 2/12/08 @ 10:29 AM EST
While these platform points sound really good, they are unrealistic.
First: UGA transit is already stretched thin. They are low on money and out of drivers. (Continued…)
Michael Covington
posted 2/12/08 @ 11:03 AM EST
I'm for upgrading UGAmail, but please don't transfer it to Gmail.
Serious concerns have been raised about the privacy of Gmail, and Gmail keeps your past mail on file *permanently* for possible use by Google, Inc. (Continued…)
Student Bus Driver
posted 2/12/08 @ 1:00 PM EST
As a student bus driver, I should say that it has already been decided that Campus Transit will provide 24-hour service beginning this coming fall semester. (Continued…)
Harold Ryan
posted 2/12/08 @ 1:53 PM EST
Exactly, a bunch of people running for SGA that look out for the Greeks. It is ridiculous. THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS CAMPUS! What is the other party called?
Proud Non-Greek
posted 2/12/08 @ 5:03 PM EST
First: As a former Millage bus driver, there are many people who use the bus between 5-7 and extending it is a long overdue service (by the way, they only propose to extend it until 10pm to accommodate extracurriculars). (Continued…)
Nicki
posted 2/12/08 @ 6:12 PM EST
I am not in the greek system -- I am a UGA employee who works on Milledge and lives nearby. And I think the bus route extension is a very good idea.
Of course it will benefit the Greeks. (Continued…)
Current Bus Driver
posted 2/12/08 @ 7:08 PM EST
Campus Transit is already going to 24 hour service (even though I don't know why..).
I got wind that someone in your party mentioned this at one of your meetings. (Continued…)
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