I understand the logic behind banning smoking in Madison bars. I almost understand the threats to stop Halloween. Taking away SAFEwalk, though, is something that boggles my mind.
The SAFEwalk program is an essential part of our campus' safety procedures, and with its removal, UW risks seeing an increase in students walking home alone at night, which will ultimately result in more sexual assaults as well as muggings. We are already much too familiar with those problems.
The SAFE Nighttime Services include not only the controversial SAFEwalk, but also SAFEride cab and SAFEride bus. The budget for these safety resources is under review after several committee members expressed views that SAFEwalk is "unnecessary." The supporters, however, argue that without SAFEwalk, the entire program will crumble, as each of the resources relies heavily on one another to function. In order to fairly assess these arguments, let us consider each part of the organization separately.
SAFEwalk, which costs an average of $53 per walk, according to SSFC statistics, is a quick way to provide students with a safe way to return home from closer locations on campus in situations when calling a cab would seem unnecessary or excessive. For example, a student who lives on the far end of Langdon Street may call for an escort to accompany her from College Library. SAFEwalk services are available from approximately 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., depending on the semester.
SAFEride cab, on the other hand, is a service students can call through the campus dispatcher and request a cab be sent to their location and then ride for "free." It is suggested on the SAFEride website that each passenger give a $1 donation in addition to an appropriate tip for the driver. Hours for SAFEride cab are a bit later than those of SAFEwalk, starting around 10 p.m. and going as late as 3 a.m.
Lastly, SAFEride bus is a service that runs three bus routes from 6:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends. The different routes cover the majority of the residential areas of campus, but, like any such service, buses are not always available the moment a student arrives at a bus stop.
Considering these three methods of safety on our campus, it seems obvious that each is essential to making the system work as a whole. Without SAFEwalk, many more students will call cabs, which will mean not only a higher demand on an already limited resource, but will also mean more cab drivers will have to deal with intoxicated passengers too incoherent to leave them a tip, let alone donate to the program. The increase in SAFEride cab requests will drive up the cost of having such a resource in the first place, arguably more than it would cost to keep SAFEwalk as an alternative. And students who begin to rely solely on the bus system will be left standing at bus stations in the middle of the night — certainly not a good method of making students feel safe on campus.
Though it's sometimes easy to forget, Madison is a city. There are dangers to walking alone at night here just as there are walking alone anywhere else. Although SSFC representatives argue a friend is always available or a regular cab is easy to call, this is not always the case. Circumstances arise when friends are not as responsible as expected or cab-company telephone lines are tied up, leaving a student anxious to get home walking alone in the early hours of the morning. This situation alone should be reason enough for SAFEwalk to continue. One of the SSFC representatives in favor of eliminating SAFEwalk was quoted in The Badger Herald as saying, "It's an easy decision. Look at the numbers and think about this. It's not worth over $50 a trip of our money." What, exactly, is not "worth it?" Saving one student from a sexual assault or a mugging is worth all the money in the world.
Emily Friedman ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism and legal studies.
