The Marcolian Online

May 3 , 2007

Bus station not safe on campus
Will Kauff
kauffw@marietta.edu

With the year coming to an end I tried to think of one last thing on campus that I wanted to bring to campus and make people really think about. That final thing for me is connected to the safety of campus: the question of why we need a bus station on campus. I have worked in both the greyhound station and the Gathering Place (which is connected to the bus station) and at times it can be very scary because of the types of people that ride the bus.

On the whole I’m sure that they are very nice people, however when you are working alone in a building late at night and a group of not so nicely dressed people walk in, it’s pretty scary. The idea of having a bus station on a campus this small is somewhat odd to me; we don’t really have that many students, and even less who ride a bus to and from home. In my four years here I haven’t really known more than a handful of people who actually used the bus station.

The majority of students who have used it, myself included for one very horrible trip that will never happen again, don’t have the best experience to talk about, so I really don’t see the point in having this on our campus. I think that it really just brings more non-students on campus, when really we should be trying to keep non-students off campus except for organized events. The majority of these passengers will sit around or walk around the campus for anywhere from 4 to 5 hours waiting for the bus to come. There is also the added issue of not having an adequate facility to house a bus station.

There are no restrooms for public use in the area of the bus station, so the majority of people try to use the Gathering Place which is meant for use by college students only; however they don’t realize or respect this on the whole. The same issue comes up with regards to places for them to wait for the bus. While there is some seating outside of the Campus Police office, it is just that – outside – which when raining or cold isn’t the most comfortable place to be, and the indoor seating is very limited due to space constraints.

I realize that the bus is a cheaper alternative to other means of travel, and fully appreciate the need for this in a community; however, I feel that it would be better suited if it were to be housed somewhere else. If they were able to make an actual location where the people would be able to sit indoors and sell the tickets which serviced Marietta, Parkersburg, and the surrounding areas, this would be much better. This would still provide the community and the occasional students who do travel this way with an option, but not have it on our campus.


• Campus News • Viewpoints • Sports • Arts & Living • Greek wrap-up • Ask Marc • Spotlight • New faces at MC • Meet our staff • Staff profiles • Letters to the editor policy • History of the newspaper • Benefits of advertising • Ad rates		May 3 , 2007 Bus station not safe on campus Will Kauff kauffw@marietta.edu With the year coming to an end I tried to think of one last thing on campus that I wanted to bring to campus and make people really think about. That final thing for me is connected to the safety of campus: the question of why we need a bus station on campus. I have worked in both the greyhound station and the Gathering Place (which is connected to the bus station) and at times it can be very scary because of the types of people that ride the bus. On the whole I’m sure that they are very nice people, however when you are working alone in a building late at night and a group of not so nicely dressed people walk in, it’s pretty scary. The idea of having a bus station on a campus this small is somewhat odd to me; we don’t really have that many students, and even less who ride a bus to and from home. In my four years here I haven’t really known more than a handful of people who actually used the bus station. The majority of students who have used it, myself included for one very horrible trip that will never happen again, don’t have the best experience to talk about, so I really don’t see the point in having this on our campus. I think that it really just brings more non-students on campus, when really we should be trying to keep non-students off campus except for organized events. The majority of these passengers will sit around or walk around the campus for anywhere from 4 to 5 hours waiting for the bus to come. There is also the added issue of not having an adequate facility to house a bus station. There are no restrooms for public use in the area of the bus station, so the majority of people try to use the Gathering Place which is meant for use by college students only; however they don’t realize or respect this on the whole. The same issue comes up with regards to places for them to wait for the bus. While there is some seating outside of the Campus Police office, it is just that – outside – which when raining or cold isn’t the most comfortable place to be, and the indoor seating is very limited due to space constraints. I realize that the bus is a cheaper alternative to other means of travel, and fully appreciate the need for this in a community; however, I feel that it would be better suited if it were to be housed somewhere else. If they were able to make an actual location where the people would be able to sit indoors and sell the tickets which serviced Marietta, Parkersburg, and the surrounding areas, this would be much better. This would still provide the community and the occasional students who do travel this way with an option, but not have it on our campus.
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