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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2002)
\ I HE BATl )te Uinued from pa, tore the attacks, r ' SCt ‘ I »ed apathfi; ’> Holison said. E " s at A&M vott. s and more J pulled to the. Aggielife The Battalion Page 3 • Monday, September 16, 2002 M. Ri ’iison said. Campus bus drivers share what ifs like to be Behind the wheel tuse attracts p, pital. Public •ation is asking st^ graduate stude ''aid Absentee kJ > option for stude v ‘»te in their Ikr ill Iv aw ay from ■ n day. Stone said dom’s Answer • itet an age grot;: cpresented in I lo vote and; Paiallel parking a bus has become second nature for senior democratic f ithropology major Jennifer Corley. In fact, Corley confesses she d. in parallel park a bus better than she can her own car. orps of Cadet Cprley has been employed with Bus Operations, the campus halls are in; ansportation system for five years. Since its beginning in 1982, get more stud us Operations has relied on students to drive the buses through By Lyndsey Sage THE BATTALION t week, utfit of the 1 see whoc outfit unpu ght and the community from early in the morning until late at )tc a Corley said that although she was “scared to death” to drive her rstffoute, driving a bus has now become “as easy as snapping” * r ^ 1 • Corley said bus drivers undergo vigorous training that prepares ^ . tern to handle the difficulties of maneuvering a bus. ^ Assistant Director of Bus Operations Gary Jackson said the ' /y tudints’Viriving records are monitored before they are even con- tdeied to be a bus driver. He said having less than two citations indicates that the student as a decent driving history. fflpnce their driving records have been reviewed, applicants go ^Hgh the interviewing process to be hired. Then, before the hixvl stude are alsc w nh f V non sate : .^oweek training session, the hired drivers obtain learners’ per- Ten and Adopt Kknts comm: ighborbood > g high schoc* in the jf H ued from .1st League tmt icn Ministe; lits from the Department of Public Safety [DPS] to drive the •uses. Jackson said they must take five tests to get their learners' •ermits. “It is a computer test that we give them a book to study for. )nce they pass the test, we put them through about 20 to 25 hours vorth of academics,” he said. After the classroom training, the students are allowed in the dri- 'er’i seat. This section of the training consists of about 20 to 25 lours of hands-on experience. “After they go through the driving part, we take them down to he DPS office so they can take the test to obtain their license,” lackson said. “About 97 to 98 percent of students pass the first ime. In my five years here, it has only taken one student three imes to pass the test, everyone else has passed by the second time.” Bus Operations currently employs approximately 400 students Saturday ; r to operate a fleet of 80 buses, Jackson said. i t the iaepec Daryl Pratho, a senior history major, said he felt prepared when fore certain. he first sat behind the wheel last January. I he I'lWi*/ 1 “[Bus Operations] does an excellent job in training,” Pratho d an) c.' .aid. “It covers all aspects of what we might find, different situa- •nt Bush. - ions that might happen, what to do in case of an emergency.” idem SadteH- iling weafwti >n. has urits Council l (HI 1(1 M.'t i stW! resumption of threaten actios i imply Bush mted States * \ if Iraq c and the s dill not resp^l •airily Council •d after the W Iraq must el lit mass des •ans to produce , to have done' ed to admit l N nice 1998. However, he admits that there is still “a lot of learning involved after you start driving routes.” Bus accidents, Jackson said, especially major ones, are rare but do occur. “Historically, we have a rash of little ones at the beginning of the semester. Even though the drivers are trained very well, it takes time getting used to having a bus full of people. There are about four to five accidents for every 100,000 miles,” Jackson said. Both Pratho and Corley acknowledge that driving buses offers a lot of benefits, such as the camaraderie among drivers and the handsome paychecks. Corley describes the atmosphere of Bus Operations as a “great community.” “A lot of my friends from college, I’ve meet at Bus Ops,” she said. Pratho said being a part of Bus Operations has given him the sense of being connected to a “big extended family.” Corley said driving buses has also presented her with amazing opportunities. “I’ve met George and Barbara Bush twice,” Corely said. “I was driving people that were going to have dinner with him. When I opened the bus doors, he was standing there waiting to meet and greet. “Since I've been here so long. I’ve gotten to drive for a lot of important people, including the Board of Regents.” Pratho said being in an atmosphere of students is one of his biggest perks. He said interaction with passengers makes the shift go by faster. However, working in an environment with students can have its drawbacks. “Sometimes people yell at you because the bus system does not always flow perfectly,” Corley said. "They don’t realize that it isn't the bus drivers’ fault and that we can't do anything to change the bus system. When they are 30 minutes late for class it doesn’t mat ter what we tell them, they just want to yell at someone.” Pratho said traffic irritates him the most when he is driving his route. “There are some people that don't need to be driving or people that don't carpool. Then there are people that are driving on cam pus and just stop to pick someone up or wait to try to find the best parking spot so then you have to wait on them,” Pratho said. In addition to driving regular three to four-hour routes during the week, students are given the option to drive for other events, primarily charters. “Some of my most interesting experiences have come when I We're looking for great minds like yours to join us in the diverse and challenging world of energy. Shell opportunities offer you responsibility, innovation, and the chance to make a difference. 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AI.JSSA HOI.UMAX ♦ THE BATTALION Senior management information systems major J.T. Albert inspects the bus tires before he goes on route. have driven in downtown Houston or Austin,” Corley said. “The streets are about a foot wider than the bus and people on the bus start to panic because they don’t think I can make it; it’s really funny.” Another experience I had when driving a charter was when I had to go offroading in the bus. The only way to turn around was to drive through a field.” While the experiences of driving a bus can be unpredictable, Pratho said one thing is certain. “It takes a lot of patience to be a bus driver.” Cosmo - Fashion magazine with informative articles Costive - Affected with constipation Cossack - ofTurkish origin Costard - Large English cooking apples COSGA - SGA Committee hosting largest nationwide student-run leadership conference. Applications for fall committee are available at the SGA office in Koldus. Visit our website http://cosga.tamu.edu for more information about the conference and committee. Applications are due Tuesday, September 17 by 5 pm. 4.0 & GO The week of September 15 - September 19 -- Acct 209 Part I of 2 Sun Sept 15 7pn»-IOpni Part 2 of 2 Mon Sept 16 7pm-10pnt Check out our web page at wwwAOandGo. Acct 229 Part 1 of 2 TucScpt 17 9pm-12am Part 2 of 2 Wed Sept IS 7pm-10pm I com Acct 230 Part 1 of 2 Mon Sept 16 lOpm-lam Part 2 of 2 Tue Sept 17 6pm-9pm mxLmsk Biol, Chem. Econ, Info, Math, Mgmt, Mktg Chem 227 Part 1 of 3 Mon Sept 16 10pm-12am Part 2 of 3 Tue Sept 17 8pm-l 1pm Part 3 of 3 Wed Sept 18 8pm-J 1pm Fine 309 Part 1 of 4 Mon Sept 16 7pm-9pm Part 2 of 4 Tue Sept 17 7pm-lflpm Part 3 of 4 Wed Sept 18 7pm-9pm Part 4 of 4 Sun Sept 22 7pm-10pm Fine 341 (’art 1 of 4 Mon Sept 16 7pm-9pm Part 2 of 4 Tue Sept 17 7pm-I0pm Part 3 of 4 W ed Sept 18 7pm-9pni Part 4 of 4 Sun Sept 22 7pin-19piti Mgmt 209 Part l of 2 Sun Sept 15 5pm-7pm Part 2 of 2 Mon Sept 16 9pm-l 1 pm Phys 201 Part 1 of 3 Mon Sept 16 7pm-10pm Part 2 of 3 Tue Sept 17 7prn-10pm Part 3 of 3 Wed Sept 18 7pm-1 Opm Phys218 Part 1 of 3 Mon Sept 16 Jftpm-lam Part 2 of 3 Tue Sept 17 lOpm-lam Part 3 of 3 Wed Sept 18 10 pm-lam SW Pkwy and Tx Avo, behind KFC next to Lack's. Check our web page at http://www.4.0andGoxom or call 696-8886(TUTOR