The proposed student run escort service has been temporarily stalled, as the involved parties have turned their discussions to a van or shuttle program.
Earlier this year, the Feminist Majority declared a need for a student run escort system. Members of the group percived a need for expanded escort services, particuarly for students who live off-campus. After some dissent and great delay, the Safety Advisory Committee adopted their reccomendations and began to develop a plan for such a service. This week, the Feminist Majority asked the committee to reconsider.
Senator senior Claire Koczak, a member of the Safety Advisory Committee, announced at Sunday's Senate meeting that the escort service would be up and running by Nov. 18.
"There really never was a starting date," said sophomore Sara Selig, co-chair of the Feminist Majority. "At this point we're evaluating the goals we started with."
According to Feminist Majority co-chair sophomore Devon Powers, 15 to 20 students initially expressed interest in participating in the escort service. Powers suspects the number has dwindled since then. "It got pushed back so much," Powers said.
Members of the Feminist Majority have complained of poor communication throughout the process. "There was not enough communication between the three groups," Powers said. "We couldn't get straight answers."
The three groups that have been involved thus far are the Feminist Majority, the Department of Safety and Security and the escort sub-committee of the Safety Advisory Committee.
Powers and Selig met with Director of Safety and Security Keith James on Thursday. Safety Advisory Committee members junior Lara Rusch and senator senior Claire Koczak also attended the meeting.
The meeting addressed the numerous communication problems that have arisen during the first months of the semester. "Communication problems between security and any student group are the biggest problem," said Rusch. "I thought it was really good to have them talking."
"They tried to clean up why Keith James had missed meetings," Rusch said. "He didn't know there were meetings because of internal problems. He's going to get his computer system fixed."
James agreed to meet with the Feminist Majority next week to discuss the future of the escort system.
"We're going back to process again instead of action," Koczak said. "We're going to look at a van or shuttle system."
"Everything's changed," Rusch said. "We're not sure there needs to be an escort service."
Selig disagreed with her assesment. "I don't know that anything has changed," Selig said. "I think not knowing is nothing new."
"We finally started a dialogue and we're going to continue it," Selig added.
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