As the days start to get colder and the snow starts to fall, an already problematic situation on campus is going to get worse. The problematic situation I'm referring to is student use of the 80, a campus bus route that most, if not all of us have ridden during our time in Madison.

Though I'm a huge fan of the 80 and I think it's a great resource — especially for those of us who take classes at the far ends of campus — recent abuse of the bus has to be curbed. The abuse of the 80 by students of all ages is making it unpleasant for those whose home location mandate using the bus on a daily basis.

I'll admit that I was guilty of misusing the 80 on occasion early in my college career, as I think most of us are. There were definitely times when I could be seen riding the bus from the Memorial Union to Bascom Hall; too lazy or too cold to walk up the hill to class, even though it took longer to wait for the bus than to walk. However, never did I chronically abuse the bus system or take part in the rude, oblivious and sometimes downright inconsiderate behavior I have seen from people riding the bus lately. In fact, after seeing the widespread problems with the 80 connected with one-stop riding, I realized the error of my ways and stopped using the bus altogether.

This year, taking classes on west campus and using the 80 on a daily basis has opened my eyes to the pervasive and irritating phenomenon of one-stop riding, especially since it's made me late for class on more than one occasion.

We've all seen it: people crowding at bus stops in front of Humanities and the Memorial Union between class periods, with the sole intention of riding the bus up the hill to Bascom Hall and Social Sciences. Although this may seem relatively harmless, what is more problematic is the mentality people take on while trying to board the bus.

The pushing and entering the bus from the back door are bad enough, but not letting people on who are physically unable to walk up Bascom Hill or have to travel longer distances is fairly low, especially among those able to make the walk in a fairly short amount of time.

Bus overcrowding and one-stop riding are not new issues and they come up every year when discussions take place about the allocation of funds for the 80 bus. In the past, several suggestions have been made as to how to curb this behavior, including removing the Bascom Hall stop or reinstituting a small charge for the 80 bus. Though either of these options might do their part to curb one-stop riding and bus overcrowding, these options would also penalize the individuals who legitimately ride the 80.

Most of the problems, however, don't lie with the availability of a free campus bus but with the behavior of individuals using it. Though people would argue the bus is available and free and they should be able to use it however they want, that doesn't take away from the fact that these problems could be curbed if everyone simply showed some common courtesy for others and used the 80 more responsibly.

If you see a large group of people waiting for the bus and you have class on Bascom Hill, do the responsible, courteous thing: walk up the hill and let students with classes farther away get on the bus and get to class on time. The same holds true for a number of situations, including letting people on crutches, or senior citizens who are waiting to use the bus get on ahead of you.

Having a free campus bus is a wonderful, convenient privilege and I hope that it can stay free and accessible to those who really need it on a daily basis. One has to wonder, however, if the irresponsible, discourteous actions by a few aren't going to end up ruining the system for everyone else.

Janelle Wise ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science and journalism.