washburnreview.org January 28 2015 Campus Life 76 Campus Life January 28, 2015

Megan Dortch, megan.

dortch@washburn.edu, is a

senior mass media major

WSGA ofers Safe Ride program for Washburn students There are many differing per-

ceptions of the Safe Ride pro-

gram provided by Washburn

University. The Washburn Stu-

dent Government Association

funds Safe Ride with money

from student activity fees. Be-

cause of this, only those cur-

rently enrolled at Washburn and

attending classes on the main

campus are eligible to use the

service.

Information about the Safe

Ride program is not well-known

to some Washburn students.

Many students aren’t even know

that the program exists or what

the guidelines and parameters

are for accessing the service.

“I’ve heard of Safe Ride, but

not much. I don’t even know the

number,” said Danielle Brown,

senior mass media major. “It’s

a good idea but not well imple-

mented. I’ve never even heard

of anyone that’s actually used

it.”

Since the program started,

faculty has been working to

spread the word. Thus far, stu-

dents have been receptive to

idea.

“I heard about it in WU 101.

I think it’s a good thing to have

because people in college are

going to drink, and I’m glad

WU can recognize that,” said

Madison Wambsganss, soph-

omore mass media major. “It’s

a good thing to have a service

like that to help people. It brings

awareness to drunk driving and

it’s a way to encourage students

to get a taxi instead of driving

themselves while intoxicated.”

Safe Ride is a taxi service

that will pick up a student and

passengers from any Topeka

area drinking establishment be-

tween the hours of 11 p.m. and 2

a.m. Safe Ride is a free service,

but does charge a $5 ‘no show’

fee if a student calls and doesn’t

accept the ride.

To use the service, students

must provide their Washburn ID

number and destination when

calling for a pick up. The taxi

driver will check the WU ID

number when the student enters

the cab to make sure that the

Have you heard of Safe Ride? What’s your opinion?

“I’ve heard a little bit about Safe Ride. I don’t think it’s being utilized by all students probably because many students are misinformed about how to access the program or because they simply don’t know the program exists.”-Murray Heikes, junior psychology major

“I don’t know much about Safe Ride. None of my friends use it, but it’s a good resource for people who do choose to use it. I think if people start knowing more about it it may get used more than it is now.” -Emma Jordan, senior human services major

Photo credit FreeImages.com

Topeka taxis utilized by the Safe Ride program are available for call and pick up from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. They will pick passengers up

from any drinking establishment and travel to one destination despite how many passengers are in the car. The service is paid for by

the student activity fee which every student enrolled at Washburn is expected to pay.

Safe Ride Phone number:(785)-267-3777

Hours of operation:

11 p.m. to 2 a.m.For more information visit: www.washburn.edu/current-students/wsga/student-services.html

NE

AR

LY

11,000 people die

in DUI-related accidents

EVERY YEAR

2100 children die in traffic accidents each year

STATISTICS

97%of those people killed due to drunk driving were UNDER THE AGE OF 21

10,378 people were arrested in Kansas for DUI

24%Female

76%Male

DWI arrests

Sources: CDC, Drinkinganddriving.org,

FSSRD

student is currently enrolled.

Only one person in the taxi

must present a valid Washburn

ID. This student may bring any

number of passengers with them

or up to the amount that the taxi

can seat. Safe Ride will not pick

up students and other passen-

gers from any residential area,

as pick-ups are limited to drink-

ing establishments only. Safe

Ride will also not drop students

or passengers off at drinking,

business, eating establishments

after pick up. They will only

drop off the passengers at one

residential area per taxi. The

drivers will not report any in-

stances of underage drinking to

Topeka or campus police.

“I have heard about it. I think

it’s a good and safe option,” said

senior psychology major Hay-

ley Harris. “The hard thing is

that a lot of people don’t seem to

know about it or if they do know

about it, when they are drinking

they don’t think about it. Then

if they drove, they don’t want

to leave their car at a bar over

night.”

As Topeka police continue

to increase saturation patrols

and sobriety checkpoints to

combat drunk driving, and alco-

hol-related accidents continue

to rise, a service like Safe Ride

becomes integral to student and

community safety.

“WSGA provides this service

because we value the safety of

our students and community

members,” White said. “We

know that drunk, buzzed or oth-

erwise impaired driving pres-

ents serious dangers to everyone

on the road. Hopefully, this pro-

gram can help prevent students

from making life-altering poor

decisions.”

Megan DortchWASHBURN REVIEW

STATISTICS

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that alcohol use is

widespread among college students. The NIAAA reports that 4 out of 5 students be-

tween the ages of 18 and 24 consume alcohol regularly with more than half of those

students consuming alcohol through “binge drinking.”

Photo by Ryan Ogle

Photo by Ryan Ogle