 "Photo: Courtney Thompson")
On Friday and Saturday nights, hundreds of Gonzaga students venture to downtown Spokane, friends' houses or to the bars after a week of stressful test taking and paper writing. With a week's worth of pent-up social energy, students like senior Lauren Wyckoff leave schoolwork behind and stay out late.
"Looking forward to relaxing and leaving my cares behind on a Friday night is usually what gets me through my week," Wyckoff said.
But not all Friday nights have been as stress-free as she may have liked. Wyckoff momentarily panicked a few weeks ago when Saferide left her and two of her friends stranded at the Bulldog Tavern on Hamilton Street.
The three had finished a few drinks at the bar and decided it would not be a responsible choice to get behind the wheel of a car.
"I remembered I had put Saferide's phone number in my cell after all the advertisements around campus for it in the beginning of the year," Wyckoff said. "I figured this would be a great time to use the free service Gonzaga offers to get us home safely."
When Wyckoff reached a Spokane Cab Co. dispatcher, however, she was told Saferide could not give her a ride.
"When I told the woman that I lived on East Ermina Avenue, she said that Saferide could only take students to the dorms on campus," Wyckoff said. "I was really confused because the school had told us we could use the service to get to our houses."
Another senior, Nick Krcma, ran into some Saferide problems of his own. After calling the cab company, giving the dispatcher his exact location and destination, he waited an hour before giving up and walking home.
"It was disheartening," Krcma said. "My roommate works for GUTV and I had seen all these ads on the show and received a number of e-mails that said Saferide will take you where you need to go, but when the time came to use it, they weren't there."
Krcma said he and a few friends tried to use the program again a week later, and after waiting close to 45 minutes, he called the dispatcher again to ask what the hold up was. The dispatcher apologized and immediately sent a cab their way.
"It kind of made me lose faith in the program since it took so long," Krcma said.
These two student stories are not the only ones floating around campus. In response to other reports of miscommunication and rumors, John Van Sant, campus head of security, and GSBA Vice President Mike Kelsey met with Larry Loncon, Spokane Cab owner last Thursday to clarify the program.
Saferide is a program funded by GSBA in which a cab will come and pick students up within a six-mile radius of campus and take them home for free.
"We want to make sure that students always have a safe option for getting home, that is why GSBA has agreed to pick up the tab on these rides," Kelsey said.
At the meeting, Van Sant, Kelsey and Loncon agreed that to use Saferide, at least one student from a group of people must have a Gonzaga I.D., a student must give the dispatcher an actual address rather than a corner or cross-street, and they must be courteous and respectful to the driver once they are picked up.
According to Kelsey, students must be aware that the program is centered on safety, both for the customer and the driver. If a student appears to be belligerent and starts verbally abusing the cab driver, Spokane Cab has the right to refuse service.
"We do not want to leave anyone stranded though," said Van Sant. "If a driver refuses to give you a ride home, simply call security and we will help you figure something out."
At the meeting, Van Sant and Loncon agreed that campus security should be more involved in the Saferide process. Therefore a line of communication has opened between the company dispatch and the security officer on duty.
From now on, if the dispatcher or the cab driver cannot provide a student service, they must call campus security and clear it, so that students are not left out in danger in the Logan Neighborhood, Van Sant said. Students should also not hesitate to contact security at 313-2222.
According to Kelsey, GSBA is working hard to keep students safe at all times. That is why Saferide is available to the Gonzaga community whenever needed, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"Although Saferide has failed in a couple of instances, it has given 22 successful rides in September and October alone. That is a huge increase from last year," Kelsey said.
After a successful meeting with Lacoon, both Kesley and Van Sant are confident that Saferide will improve over the next couple of weeks. They both encourage students to provide feedback by either posting on the security blog, e-mailing beheard@gonzaga.edu or calling security.
"If something goes wrong, please be sure to contact security, because if you don't tell us, there isn't anything we can do to help," Van Sant said.
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