Dear Editor:
After the recent crosswalk tragedies this past year, it has seemed as though the issue of campus safety has been a true distress on everyone's agenda, or at least that is what I gathered from the various coverage in the Daily Egyptian. Last Tuesday, I drove onto campus to find a parade of elementary school buses parked up on the curb, beginning at the Student Center and continuing all the way to Illinois Avenue. For a University that is continually trying to explore new ways to cut back on the injuries of student pedestrians and drivers, it sure seems like the convenience of visiting children and parents is a privileged concern.
For example, when these children were present, signs were posted on campus warning drivers to yield to the children and the buses. I, for one, believe that if they are going to get special attention, the Department of Public Safety should permanently post signs stating "Caution: SIU students are present at all times!" After all, shouldn't we be catered to as well? Sure, people believe that all problems can be solved if we just place a police officer at every crosswalk, but if the police officers assigned to the crosswalk are having a friendly conversation with a bus driver rather than conducting traffic like they should be doing, well then, we are back at square one.
As a student who at one time sat on the SIU Parking and Traffic Advisory Board, it seems as though many precautions have been made, but still there are some people who do not seem to be using common sense. As for Tuesday and the future, maybe someone could come up with the idea of parking the buses at the Arena lots and using a radio to call them up one by one to pick up their designated children in the Student Center loading area. Sure it seems like work, but I'll reinforce what so many SIU police officers vow, "The safety of the students is our number one concern!"
Rebecca Collins
senior, radio-television
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
