Weather forecasters predict the usual end-of-semester snowfall by the end of the week. For students relying on buses, bad weather coupled with finals guarantees a chaotic last week on campus.

But students aren’t the only ones carrying loads of stuff and stress onto buses. Faculty, staff and visitors rely on the buses to get to and from the Manley Field House parking lots. Finals season or not, students should offer seats to professors and others who might need them more.

Often during game times, parents with small children board buses crammed with rowdy students. It is a courtesy to give small children a place to sit rather than letting the bus dangerously jostle them around.

Changes to the bus schedule, an effort to save money, has made Syracuse University students’ lack of chivalry even more apparent. Separate buses for Winding Ridge and Slocum Heights only run until 10:00 a.m. For the rest of the day, a single bus route covers all of South Campus and Manley, causing buses to fill past capacity. By the time buses reach Manley at the end of the route, overcrowding forces faculty and staff to stand at the front with little to hold on to, if the buses pick them up at all.

Few of us students really need to sit down. It’s time to bring a little courtesy and reverence back to SU. 

Published on December 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm