Letters to the Editor

2/19/09 6:00pm

METRO public transit overlooked

To the editor:Two weeks ago, the Student Association conducted a poll asking how to best meet student needs for service to Houston airports. The answer is apparent: use METRO public transit.

Some argue that transportation to and from Rice would adequately serve student needs, but experience suggests that it will not. Just like Houston METRO, a Rice airport shuttle has to keep costs down by taking a quorum of students on each trip. Near breaks and especially at the beginnings and ends of terms, students have wildly asynchronous itineraries. Without a high enough passenger volume, Rice buses would be unable to leave for the airports more frequently than METRO at a comparable cost. Students argue that METRO trip durations are longer than shuttle rides, but they ought to remember that with infrequent departures, many students will wait longer at the airport after early arrivals just to use the redundant Rice service.

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Using their QCards, students can secure free trips to Houston airports in one transfer or less. METRO has a Web site, tripplanner.ridemetro.org, that efficiently helps people organize transit itineraries. Flyers making the long trek to George Bush Intercontinental Airport can take the Airport Express service from the Downtown Transit Center, which is about 10 minutes away on the METRORail. This service leaves every 30 minutes, takes 30 minutes and usually costs $30 for a round trip but is free to Rice QCard holders. Other routes to Bush and Hobby airports cost no more than $5 round-trip, also on Rice's tab.

Riding METRO addresses Rice's budgetary needs by reducing duplication and thus saving money. Encouraging the use of public transit also fulfills Rice's educational imperative to encourage socially and environmentally considerate behavior by promoting responsible options.

Usually, if students can fit their luggage on a plane, then they can fit it on a METRO bus. Students with extraordinary baggage amounts ought to shoulder the cost of private transportation alone.

Additionally, METRO equitably provides service even to students that live off campus, while the Rice shuttle would presumably only provide service to students living on campus.

With METRO, however, conveyance to and from Rice remains a problem because Rice service extends all the way to the Inner Loop while METRO only provides carriage to Rice's borders. If the SA feels a need to fill this gap, it should sponsor service from the Inner Loop to a METRORail stop but no further.

METRO may not serve students well for late-night food runs or getting outside the 610 Loop, but no other service can provide more competitive shuttle service to Owls planning to take flight.

Jacob Poteet

Martel College junior

Credit due for Leadership Rice

To the editor:

Last week's article about John Castle's Martin Luther King Jr. lecture was great but lacking in accuracy: The headline was misleading and failed to properly give credit to Leadership Rice, which was the primary sponsor of the event ("BSA sponsors King lecture," Feb.13). Leadership Rice is a great part of the university and deserves more, if not all, of the credit for bringing such a recognized dignitary to the campus. The amazing lecture took a lot of hard work and planning and credit should be given where it is due. The lecture would have never happened and run so efficiently without terrific leadership from Director of Leadership Rice Brad Smith and Associate Director of Leadership Rice Judy Le.

Additionally, although it was implied in the article that Leadership Rice and the Black Student Association always look together for speakers during Black History month, this was the first collaboration between the two organizations. We, the BSA, thought Castle was a great choice by Leadership Rice to speak given his leadership credentials and Martin Luther King Jr.'s impact on his life. The BSA is thankful that we were asked to participate in the lecture. I hope that this initial collaboration will foster future partnerships, but for now I also want to clear any inaccuracies.

Chuck Franklin

Wiess College senior

BSA President

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