University Star

Students with Alternate Transportation funding has be reallocated to support research within the Alcohol and Drug Resource Center.

Joanne Smith, vice president of Student Affairs, said the money needed to be shifted. Smith said university officials have no intentions of renting cars for S.W.A.T. this year.

“The money we had was primarily used to rent the vehicles,” Smith said. “As the interest kept dwindling, one of the things we decided to do for this year is to use the money to utilize the graduate research assistant to help us do more alcohol education.”

Student service fees, in the amount of $18,500, had been allocated to S.W.A.T. every year since 2000. Smith said there was a higher need for research in the Alcohol and Drug Resource Center.

“Our primary function of the university is not to provide transportation for students who are at the bars,” Smith said. “Our primary function is how you educate people to make good choices and decisions about how they conduct themselves.”

Smith said the funding went toward materials used for graduate research in the Alcohol and Drug Resource Center. Janelle Hibbing, graduate research assistant, works with the center to educate students of the effects of alcoholism. Hibbing’s work has been funded along with S.W.A.T. by student service fees that support the practice of safe drinking.

“My position specifically: I don’t see it directly contributing to their transportation issues now that S.W.A.T. is not here,” Hibbing said.

She said S.W.A.T. was a one-of-a-kind program, but it did not create revenue.

“I think S.W.A.T was a good program and it was a good idea, but it just wasn’t feasible,” Hibbing said.

Judy Row, former S.W.A.T. director, said research done by Hibbing would help pinpoint where students need more information.

“Right now she is working on some social marketing posters that will go up all over campus this semester stating the alcohol information we got from last year,” Row said. “When they get to the point where we have a substantial number we will start analyzing the numbers.”

Smith said part of the problem with funding S.W.A.T. came from the lack of volunteers.

“We don’t have the man power to manage on our own,” Smith said. “Alcohol and Drug Resource Center has two full-time staff and an administrator, so their whole program is basically based on student volunteers and office workers.”

City Councilmember Kim Porterfield, Place 1, said the council is looking at how they can provide safe rides home for residents. 

“We had just discussed maybe the city distributing some money to S.W.A.T. to expand their services because the bus services that go downtown are very expensive,” Porterfield said.

Porterfield said she supports the furthering of alcohol education both in the university and bars. The extension of bar hours caused an expressed need among the community to better educate bar owners, servers and their customers, she said.

“I don’t want to be naïve, but certainly things that promote a designated driver, responsible drinking and education of bar tenders not serving people, and so some efforts toward that might also help with the situation,” Porterfield said.

The City Council is working with bus and cab companies to possibly get students and bar visitors home safely. Porterfield said these plans would hopefully help take over S.W.A.T.’s duties as a driver service.

“I think we can look at what was good about S.W.A.T. and look at other university communities to see what we can do, this is not rocket science,” Porterfield said.