After Student Services Finance Committee member Matt Modell suggested Monday doing away with the SAFEwalk services of SAFEride completely, SSFC representatives voted Wednesday to increase the group's proposed budget by $5,000. SSFC members allocated the additional funding in hopes that the bus service's running hours will be extended on Thursdays until 3 a.m. for the 2002-'03 school year.
A representative for SAFE nighttime services said she did not know whether the option of extending bus hours was even possible, depending on the logistics of the Madison Metro, the bus company with which the service operates.
If it the buses cannot run longer, the additional funding will be returned to SSFC.
'It's difficult to know whether or not this [service] is really viable,' said Jane Goemans, a coordinator for Safe nighttime services. 'It'd be good to have some more information before we jump into a service that really only started two months ago.'
SSFC member Rob Staude said he thought making a decision was important since the board that decides other issues concerning the service has only two student members.
'This gives us a chance to reach out to the Thursday night bar crowd and the Thursday night study crowd,' he said. 'I think this is definitely a safety issue.'
Staude said there have been a number of times when he had seen students waiting for buses late at night, not realizing the buses were no longer in service. They still have to walk home late at night, he said, which poses another safety issue for students.
SSFC member Carl Camacho said he disagreed with allocating additional funds.
'I think it's kind of silly for us to throw money at our own idea,' he said. 'I don't think the organization needs this because if they did, they would have asked.'
In the end, the amended budget passed unanimously.
SSFC member Joel Urmanski said it was important for representatives to be circumspect when deciding on budgets. If budgets pass as they are proposed now, he said, segregated fees could rise to $100 from $40.
'The more that we increase seg fees, the more that we're going to price students out of this university,' he said. 'It doesn't matter how great our services are if students can't access them because they can't pay the tuition.'
