Argonaut Editorial 4/3-07
Nils Peterson
Written by S.C. -For the editorial board
Tuesday, 03 April 2007
After a semester of general student and community uproar over the
potential loss of public transportation in Moscow, the University of
Idaho administration has finally stepped up to the plate and agreed to
provide Wheatland Express with the additional $50,000 it needs to
continue running.
It's about time.
Hopefully, UI administrators have learned their lesson on how to avoid
PR fiascos like this in the future.
After the outpouring of support to keep the bus system alive, ASUI
proposed a $3 student fee, which will raise approximately half of the
$100,000 UI pays to Wheatland. This happened in February. It took the
administration a month and a half to agree to pay the other half of
the bill - an insignificant amount to a university with a general
funds budget of about $134 million.
Considering how many of the bus riders are UI students (39 percent
according to a November survey), it is only fair that the
administration should pay part of the bill. It does not reflect well
upon our administration that it took this long to solve this problem.
On the other side of the equation, a congratulations is in order to
all of those who organized to protest the loss of public
transportation. This is one more example of students using effective
protest to achieve a worthwhile goal. Students and the community
really came together to protest peacefully and effectively. Community
meetings offered a forum for everyone affected by Moscow public
transportation to voice their opinions and offer solutions. ASUI
offered a concrete solution by offering of the student fee and more
community groups, including New Saint Andrew's College, stepped up to
offer funding help.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances (such as the State Board of
Education denying the transit fee), the university finally has this
bus mess figured out, at least for another year. Now, before next year
comes around and the university is feeling the pain of even more
budget crunching, let's find a permanent funding solution for this
important community service.