On safety, SBP candidates pledge improvement

From creating a flat-rate taxi service to adding more blue light phones to campus, student body president candidates’ safety goals are ambitious.

But feasibility is another matter, especially since most of the work lies ahead.

Both Mary Cooper and Ian Lee’s campaigns have pledged to pursue a flat-rate taxi service, a program that is still in its early stages.

The service would be modeled after an existing program used by the Panhellenic Council, which raises funds to provide transportation for members through an agreement with Chapel Hill Taxi.

Lindsey Stephens, president of the council, said the program started last semester and has received a positive response despite a couple of complaints.

Sorority members must carry an identification card with them for the service and can only ride home from bars and fraternity houses, she said.

Stephens added that the group is still negotiating the rate with the taxi company.

Expanding the program for all students might be possible, she said, if multiple taxi companies are contracted for the service.

“It’s definitely feasible,” she said. “There would need to be a lot of taxi companies on board. If there’s only one taxi company, there could be complaints.”

Cooper, a member of Kappa Delta sorority, said the program could be expanded into a “UNC SafeRide” system for all students in one of two ways.

Students would either finance the taxi service up front or pay a flat rate for each ride based on the distance to their destination. Both scenarios would be optional for students and would not require an increase in student fees, she said.

“Yes it’s a cost, but it’s really a safety issue,” Cooper said. “If students are able to get from one place to another in a safe way, then it is absolutely worth it.”

Private taxi companies must be contacted once a proposal is in place. Lee said companies have expressed a willingness to listen to proposals.

The optimal rate would be less than $5 for transportation within a three-mile radius, he said.

The flat-rate taxi service would augment the transportation network already in place with the P2P Express shuttle system.

Randy Young, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said he thinks the current system is adequate, but he would welcome new proposals to improve campus safety.

“It’s hard to say over and above what it would do for the current system,” he said. “The Point-2-Point service is really going to do that including transportation to various areas off-campus.”

Candidates have also included points in their platforms aimed at improving education concerning campus safety.

Brooklyn Stephens said she wants to promote awareness for existing programs such as HAVEN and Safe Zone that form a community of students to prevent abuse.

Rick Ingram said he hopes to divert excess funds from student government to expand and repair the campus’ blue light system in conjunction with safety education for students.

“It’s not more lighting that will inevitably make the campus safer — it’s education,” Ingram said.

Cooper said incorporating first aid training into the LFIT curriculum would make a required course more applicable to campus life.

“It would be great if in four years UNC has 19,000 students with some basic level of first aid training,” she said.

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