Intoxication transportation

Perhaps you've seen the T-shirts: "Dry Campus, My Ass." As college students, it's our prerogative to do stupid things. Sometimes we play in traffic. Sometimes we sleep through class. And yes, sometimes we drink.\nIf we throw the Midnight Special bus service to the wolves, we won't stop drinking. Instead, we'll lose a means by which to get home safely. \nNow in its fifth year of operation, the Midnight Special covers three routes on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. The IU Web site touts it not as a haven for inebriated students but rather a "fast, convenient, and safe way to get home." \nStill, to those who don't use the bus service, the mandatory fee might seem unfair. To them, we say, consider all the campus services you pay for that no one uses. The cost of the Midnight Special is only 5.3 percent of the student transportation fee, which amounts to about $2.70 per full-time student, per semester.\nIs that really going to drain your wallets? $2.70 is not even enough to buy a slice of pizza with toppings at Sbarro.\nBesides, the bus provides a valuable service to everyone in the IU community, not simply campus wasteoids. Much of the bus' reputation is fiction, rather than reality. \nMyth #1: The bus is a way for the IU Police Department to catch underage drinkers. \nMany students avoid riding the Midnight Special for fear of being busted. However, Saturday night, we spoke with a Midnight Special driver who has driven the route for three years. In that time, he has seen his fair share of drunk teenagers, but a police officer has never set foot on his bus, he said. In fact, IUPD publicly endorsed the bus back in 2003 (IDS, Sept. 3, 2003). \nMyth #2: All people who ride the bus are completely off-their-ass-drunk.\nWhen we took a ride on the Midnight Special, no riders were visibly drunk -- which the bus driver assured us was quite common. Those who ride the shuttle are often just looking for a safe ride home. In fact, even IU professors have ridden it, and we remain fairly certain that they weren't returning home from a wild night of beer pong.\nHowever, if you never leave your dorm room to go out (because what's more fun than a Saturday night of studying?), you may be decrying our seemingly communist sympathies. If this description fits you, consider the following:\n• According to a 2005 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report, 34 percent of Indiana traffic fatalities last year were alcohol-related. \n• In 2004-2005, there was a 5.3 percent increase in Indiana alcohol-related traffic fatalities.\n• About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives. \nThe Midnight Special is a valuable public service -- besides, if the drunk bus saves even one life, isn't it of value?\nNot worth it, our asses!