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WHAT ELSE: What inspires Rutgers students
The people and events that motivate and entertain people at New Jersey's largest state university - what makes the campus tick
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Rutgers students still fight for parking in the summer
Spaces are filled, and many seek spots
By ALLISON BARBATI
STAFF WRITER

Rutgers students are unhappy about the daily parking situation on campuses.

Students say that parking is too expensive.  “It costs $180 for a parking permit for one campus,” says Alessia Aron, Rutgers junior.

To park on the streets in New Brunswick a resident parking pass is required.  Despite parking meters on the College Ave Campus it is still difficult to park, students say.

“I drive around forever looking for spots,” says senior Andrew Kontra. 
“I’ve been late to class so many times and get countless tickets.”

Some students don’t mind the parking because Rutgers offers a bus system.  “If I can’t park where class is, I take a bus,” Senior Derrick Wiegand said,
Student is helping needy, ailing animals
Junior seeks to be veterinarian
By MARICAR SANTOS
STAFF WRITER

Rutgers junior Riza Sarmiento is already channeling her love for animals into a career.

Sarmiento, an aspiring veterinarian, has worked at an animal daycare on the Cook College farm. This animal science major is now a technician at a pet hospital in Bridgewater, N.J.

Sarmiento has had success with animals beyond the workplace as well. Last spring she nursed an abandoned squirrel back to health before contacting an animal rehabilitator.

Sarmiento said her experiences increased her intuition with animals. She also learned the difficulty in working with the pet owners.

Sarmiento said she hopes to use her experience with animals to one day open a veterinary clinic. “It’s something I know I would be happy doing for the rest of my life,” Sarmiento said.
Recreation will hold blood drive
Event will take place by end of June
By KIM SHUBERT
STAFF WRITER

Rutgers Recreation is hosting a blood cancer fundraising event at the end of this month.

The “Out Pedal Cancer” event will be on June 29 at the Sonny Werblin Recreation Center. The registration fee, which funds the charity, is $250 per team and can at racetoanyplace.org.

Competitors will ride stationary bikes to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).  Totaling six hours, racers will ride in 15 minute heats.

Gaining the most mileage, teams of 6 will compete for the winning title. 

According to the LLS website, “LLS is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research.”.  Additional donations are welcome.

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Is the bus system safe or sorry?
Service can provide more chills than thrills
By JANIECE JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER

A Rutgers student darted through the Rutgers’ A bus doors with inches to spare last Wednesday.  He looked around in embarrassment at the other students on the swerving bus.  He cursed, and then tried to keep his balance as he found a seat.

“Whoa, that was close,” the man whispered to his friend as they both found safety in a seat.  They had survived. 

The Rutgers bus system is a modern bus system, where students can get online up-to-the- minute times on bus arrivals and departures. However, Rutgers’ students are exhausted with the perils that come with it.

“I hate that jerk when the bus pulls off,” says Canon Christine, an incoming senior at Rutgers. She is about 5 foot and barely 100 pounds.

“I can’t reach the handles and because I don’t weigh that much I end up falling on people around me,” Christine says. “I hate that.”

Rutgers’ buses are without seatbelts, and for students short like Christine, the handles provided in the middle of the buses are not helpful. 

Christine said she hates standing up on the buses because “the bus drivers don’t take into consideration that you are in fact standing up.”

“The only, I guess, safe way to

Students say they wait endlessly for buses to show up at Busch campus stops.

ride the bus is to get a seat,” says sophomore Glen Randazzo.

Students are not only complaining about the jerky motions, limited seating or inconsiderate bus drivers, but also about people who are able to get on the bus. 

The Rutgers bus system runs through both Piscataway and New Brunswick, and stops at common areas like the train station on George Street.  People who do not attend the university are able to ride the buses.

“I hate the [some people] who ride the buses,” says Patricia Witherland, a Rutgers student.  “I see a lot of them during winter, and they funk up the buses.”

“It freaks me out that that I have to sit next to [them] on my way to class,” Witherland says. “If you don’t pay for Rutgers’ services, then you shouldn’t have access to them.”

Students say some homeless peole could be a distraction to students, but they are not left with many options.

The bus system for students at the New Brunswick campus at Rutgers is their only means to getting to class and around campus.  During

peak hours, the crowdedness of the buses can become unsafe.

“Sometimes during like the afternoon, my head was literally in someone’s neck,” say Lisa Evers a freshman residing on the Livingston Campus.

“And that person’s face was plastered on the bus doors. That can’t be safe, right?” she asked.

There are hazard stickers posted throughout the bus which caution students from leaning on the doors.  However, the overpopulated buses leave the students no choice, whose only concern is making it to class on time.

“I’d rather get a ticket than deal with the Rutgers bus system,” says Mike Stilsky. “It’s just too stressful.”

Stressful is used to describe the five bus routes running from as low as five minutes apart.

“Rutgers students are spoiled,” shouts Britney Riser.  “They attend a top university with an efficient bus system.  I’ve never felt threatened on the buses.

"Rutgers students will always find some way to complain,” Riser says.
ARCHIVES: June 6, 2009 issue (click here); June 17 issue (click here)
June 23, 2009
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Bus system fails in the summer
Students say the rides are routinely late
By LATIFAH CHAMBERS
STAFF WRITER

Dead to the world at 7:45 a.m., Rutgers student Dagma Isaac on Tuesday anxiously waited for the EE arrive.

Yawning every 10 seconds she nervously checked her cell to keep track of the time. 

Ten minutes went by and she only had about 15 minutes left to make it to class on time. Tired and now irritated Dagma gave up on waiting for the bus and decided to walk to College Avenue instead.

“Sometimes I do not know why I even bother waiting for the bus” says Dagma.

Rutgers students are having trouble coping with the summer bus schedule and are finding ways to adjust.

Students say that during the summer session they are aware that there are less passengers than there are during the fall and spring sessions. However the less people there are, the slower the buses seem to run.

Adrain Halton, a Rutgers student, said she was told that buses run every 20 minutes, but “I swear it takes 40 minutes to almost an hour for them to arrive.” she said.

Even though the university provides a satellite tracking system called NextBus, students say it is not always accurate. At times the buses may arrive earlier or later than they are expected to. 

To avoid the frustration of waiting for a bus most students prefer to walk to class, but only if it is nice and warm enough that day.

Diamond Davis, a Rutgers junior, claims that on a good day, during traffic hours, she would decide to walk and eventually bypass the bus and make it to class in a good amount of time.

Many students feel the buses are slowest in the early morning and late evening.

In order to make it to class on time, many students say they have to wake up at least an hour earlier before they normally would if they walked or or if they drove themselves.

Jackasha Wiley, an incoming senior at Rutgers, says, “What motivates me the most to get up early is avoiding the look on my teachers face if I were to show up late to class."

Professors are not quite compassionate to students who arrive late to class, Wiley said. Because most professors do not take the bus they do not understand how frustrating and brutal it is to arrive on time, says Wiley.

However students say if the buses actually operated every 20 minutes as they are suppose to, everything would be fine.

“No two days are alike. Everyday is a new adventure. Some days, the buses are operating just fine and on another they are a pain in the neck” says Shanae Foster, a rising junior.

Students feel the scheduling of bus arrivals and departures during the summer should be  important and maintained as they operate during the fall and spring semester.

Rutgers bus drivers declined to comment on how effectively they believe the buses operate during the summer.