Yes:
Keep your eyes open when crossing Rivers Street; we now have to worry
about getting tagged by a car and the campus police.
The campus police are pissing students off by giving out jaywalking
citations and eventually tickets.
Last week, ASU police began issuing the citations in response to the
accident that happened at the intersection on Rivers Street at the Kerr
Scott Building on Sept. 2. A student was hit by a car crossing the street
and was airlifted to Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem.
The reason behind the delay in the tickets that are being handed out
was published in the Sept. 24 issue of The Appalachian. Captain Larry Foster
was quoted saying, “Jay-walking is a crime, and if the problem does not
diminish, then tickets will be written for this crime.”
As stupid and pointless as it seems, the penalty for jaywalking originated
in hopes of protecting pedestrians. Those little white lines protect our
money, in that, as we all know, pedestrians can’t get sued if they get
hit within them. It is a common American mentality to protect our
money, if nothing else.
After waiting until a fresh coat of paint covered the original crosswalks,
the ASU police were out in force writing tickets. Approximately 50 tickets
were issued to students within the first week, Foster said.
Students can’t seem to take responsibility for their own safety, so
the university had to step up so more students would not get injured, as
embarrassing as that is. We’re all around 20 years old. You’d think we’d
actually look out for ourselves.
Students will not be looked favorably upon if the university has to
keep after us like our parents to follow the law.
Most students, myself included, had not ever seen a jaywalking violation
seriously enforced, especially in Boone. You can jaywalk all day
long on King Street and not get reprimanded, but strange things are known
to happen on our campus.
Unknown to most students, the campus police are also ticketing vehicles
that fail to yield to pedestrians crossing the street. The campus police
are not just singling out and picking on students, as it may seem.
They are looking out for our safety, because we seem to think that nothing
will hurt us.
I know that when hurrying to my classes in Walker, I haphazardly look
both ways across Rivers Street before I cross it.
More often than not, it is nowhere near the crosswalk. I have
been chided by friends to be more careful about my crossing habits, but
now under the threat of a citation, you can bet that I’ll cross on crosswalks
when I’m on campus.
Eventually, this reverse psychology that the university is trying out
on us will work. We’ll stop getting hit by cars, and the campus police
will stop giving out tickets. Then we’ll all be one happy family
again.
Instead of griping that you got a ticket when you get to your class
in Walker, just remember the saying that might be able to help you before
you cross the street: Stay in the lines...the lines are your friends.
NO:
Are you frustrated about the parking situation on this campus?
Are you scared to drive in this town because of how many different police
officers there are just waiting to meet their ticket quota for the month?
Have you basically given up on the possibility of having a car in Boone?
If you answered yes in your head to the last question, it probably means
that you do quite a bit of walking on campus and around town. But if you
thought that made you safe from the possibility of getting a ticket, beware.
Recently, the university has begun cracking down on one of society’s
most heinous crimes; jaywalking.
Last week, the University Police began issuing warning citations to
people caught jaywalking on Rivers Street. In a few more weeks, those
warnings will become $25 tickets.
Traffic Control Officers have already set up shop in front of Walker
Hall and handed out warnings to those evil souls who made a run for it
while the crosswalk light was yellow, or those who simply crossed when
they saw no cars coming at all.
The point of all this seems to be that the university is trying to make
Rivers Street safer. This is certainly a noble cause that the university
should be commended for. Rivers Street can be very dangerous for those
who try to play Frogger and make it across, and for those drivers who have
to keep looking in every direction for nutty students while also trying
not to rear end another car.
But does this problem really require paying another traffic officer
to sit in a lawn chair all day with sunglasses and a book full of tickets,
stopping students who are just trying not to be late for class?
And if there are no cars coming in either direction, why shouldn’t students
be able to cross the street? We’re big boys and girls here, aren’t we?
If the university thinks that we’re not, maybe they should hire a crossing
guard with a big red stop sign to protect us, instead of a hired gun with
a pen and ticket book to steal more of our money. Seriously.
A crossing guard could make sure all the cars stop and give us someone
to smile at while we cross the street. A traffic cop with sunglasses and
a mean look asking us to wait while they write us a friendly little ticket
is only going to make us all more pissed and unsafe because we’ll have
to jaywalk farther up the street.
And how exactly are these jaywalking cops going to stop people anyway?
Are they going to put a light on their head and make a siren sound with
their mouth and run after us?
I know that if I had to get to class and crossed the street like a big
boy and then someone tried to stop me to write me a ticket, I’d freaking
run. What are they going to do, get the license plate number off
my backpack and call for backup? Maybe they’ll try to tow me away if they
catch me.
And what if I’m in a group? Can they stop eight or nine people all at
once and expect everybody to wait in line to lose 25 bucks?
And what if I don’t have any identification on me? Can I just tell them
my name is Jack Daniels and to send the bill to Lynchburg, Tennessee?
As Editor-in-Chief of The Appalachian and a student leader, I would
not do any of these things, but my point is that someone else can and will.
While keeping Rivers Street safe should be a priority, this particular
strategy is probably not the right way to go about it.
How about another tunnel to paint?
|
October 27, 1998