Safe Ride History Misrepresented

Dear Editor,

The Guardian’s editorial promoting A.S. Safe Ride was a welcome endorsement of a useful service. But your assessment of A.S. Council’s historical treatment of Safe Ride was inaccurate.

You said the council “”consistently fumbled publicity”” for Safe Ride, when that’s not the case. When it was called Triton Taxi, too many students used the service. Earl Warren College students who didn’t feel like hiking to John Muir College were calling the Cloud 9 Shuttle to take them around Campus Loop. Each time Cloud 9 dispatches a Triton Taxi, the rest of the student body picks up the tab. Students were using it as a free taxi, rather than the safe ride it was intended to be. So the name was changed to Safe Ride, and barriers such as the stamp system were erected to discourage frivolous use.

You also mentioned that Safe Ride has been “”continually undercut,”” explaining that the taxis reach “”originally”” extended to Tijuana, Mexico. That’s incorrect, the taxi never entered Mexico – it picked up students at the Jack in the Box on the U.S. side of the border. This all happened back when you guys were still in high school, but the Guardian’s Web site still has articles from when A.S. Commissioner Colin Parent founded the highly publicized “”Triton Taxi to TJ”” service in 2001-02, two years after Triton Taxi was founded. The San Ysidro service lasted only a year or two, and was canceled because of the increased insurance fees. Bottom line: Until the most recent cutbacks, the service was continually expanded, not cut.

– Daniel Watts

Earl Warren College alumnus, ’06

Spending Abroad Harms Those at Home

Dear Editor,

It is ridiculous that despite the rising gas prices and record profits that gasoline companies like Exxon-Mobil and Chevron are raking in, the average American may have to cut corners elsewhere to pay for building and repairing roads throughout the nation.

Perhaps this has little to do with the fact that the federal tax on gasoline has not increased in at least 14 years, but that our tax revenue is being shuttled toward government services such as the Defense and Homeland Security departments, which everyday become increasingly obsessive over America’s security.

As gas prices continue to go up with no end in sight, people have understandably begun to cut back on driving – and this of course leads to an even further dip in our federal trust fund for fixing highways and potholes in roads. Perhaps if we stop unnecessary and relatively futile action abroad, we may have more money to protect ourselves on the roads at home.

– Carissa Adams

Eleanor Roosevelt College freshman

Waste Shows Disregard for Environment

Dear Editor,

As a student at UCSD – a school with progressive and nationally ranked academics – I would hope that our school has equally impressive policies in how we address our environmental issues. I would like to commend UCSD and especially the UC Regents for their adoption of the Policy on Green Building Design and Clean Energy Standards, which will make our buildings more sustainable and help the environment.

Despite the continuous tally of how much electricity and water is being saved as displayed on the green campus Web site, there is still room for improvement. Working at a dining hall on campus, I have seen a disgusting amount of wasted food and water when sinks are left running. In a world where the lack of water in most third-world countries leads to rampant sickness, this waste shows that we take for granted things that for some are precious rarities.

What is even worse than the water is the pounds of food that are thrown away each day. The leftovers are not donated because the administration fears getting sued, and doesn’t have the proper equipment to transport the food at the right temperature. Though I am aware of the great costs involved to transport and donate this food, the greater cost that our school will take is a growing lack of appreciation for the things we have and thus our waste will only multiply as we continue to take food and water for granted.

– Elisse Larouche

John Muir College freshman