Central Florida Future, Vol. 06 No. 11, January 11, 1974

              ORLANDO, FLORIDA
JANUARY 11, 1974
MassTransit Group
Seeks Express Bus
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Armed with computer-analyzed data, FTU's Mass Transit
Committee is meeting the energy
crisis head-on.
The committee, chaired by
Dr. George F. Schrader, is
presently working with both the
Tri-County Transit Authority
and the State Department of
Transportation to establish
express busline service to FTU.
An implementation date for the
program has not been projected.
The computer analysis used
by the committee is the result of
a survey given to students in 10
a.m. Wednesday and Thursday
classes during the week of Nov.
26.
The survey, designed by Vice
President   of   Business   Affairs
John P. Goree, yielded 25,004
respondents, according to Bill
Morris, director of the computer
center.
According to this sampling,
the majority of respondents
were full-time undergraduates,
driving motor vehicles to FTU
and traveling at least 11 miles to
campus. The majority of
respondents favored public
transportation and preferred
either Butler Plaza or Colonial
Plaza as pick-up points at 8 a.m.
and 5 p.m. Most would be
willing to pay a one-way fare of
30 cents for transportation
Monday through Friday, and
would walk three to four blocks
to reach a bus.
The    Orange   -    Osceola    -
Longer Hours,Wine Not Approved
By Mike Myers
The State Board of Regents
recently failed to approve
measures which would extend
dorm visitation hours and allow
the sale of wine on campus.
Pt their meeting in Boca
Raton last month, the BOR
Facilities Committee postponed
f action on the proposal for
extended visitation hours
submitted by the State Council of
Student Body Presidents
(SCSBP). Fred Parker, chairman
of the committee, moved that the
proposal be prevented from
coming to a vote until the SCSBP
could provide the BOR with
further information on the
matter.
The BOR also failed to make a
final decision regarding the wine
resolution. The issue was voted
♦ on and resulted in a four to four
deadlock decision. The ninth
board member, who would have
normally cast the deciding vote,
was absent from the meeting.
The question of extended
residence hall visitation hours was
brought to the attention of the
BOR by a report submitted to
them by the SCSBP. This report
contained petitions, signed by
nearly 10,000 dorm students,
stating dissatisfaction with the
i current policy. The report also
included the council's
recommendation for a daily two
hour extension in both the
afternoon and evening.
Parker acknowledged the
validity of points made in the
report, but he raised questions
related to visitation which he said
merit further study. The question
deal with the effects of extended
hours on dorm security, the
educational environment and the
consumption of energy.
Since the meeting, the SCSBP
• has written and submitted a
report countering contentions
that the factors cited by Parker
would be adversely affected. The
report contained evidence that
extended hours may actually be a
positive force on these and other
factors. One example indicated
that a student visiting another
would use the electricity in the
other's room, thus cutting
consumption.
FTU Student Government
President Lee Constantine, who
serves as the chairman of the
SCSBP, is optimistic about
getting BOR approval for
extended hours. He said that the
objections raised by the BOR are
relatively unimportant and that
the questions were satisfactorily
answered in the second report.
"As it stands now, I can't see
any barriers to getting passage for
the proposal," said Constantine.
The BOR will vote on this
question at its meeting today in
Tampa. If passed, it will go to the
State Board of Education for
final approval.
"The State Board of
Education is decidely more
liberal than the BOR, but it is also
very sensitive to public
sentiment," he said. "They know
the Florida voters remember
Elizabeth Kovachevich's
'taxpayer's whorehouses' and
they may vote accordingly."
A second important proposal
before the BOR last month was a
recommendation by the SCSBP
and the State Council of Student
Affairs    that    the    sale    and
consumption of wine be allowed
on campus. The standoff vote at
the meeting means the issue will
come up again.
Constantine said the
opposition is based on the
association of wine with hard
liquor.
"Unfortunately wine has a bad
connotation. If we could get
them to realize that today wine is
culturally equated with beer, I'm
sure we could win," he said.
In all probability, the SCSBP
will use its influence to see that
the wine resolution does not
come to a vote until it has
adequate support among BOR
members.
Seminole Transit Authority is
already handling express service
to Martin Marietta Corp. and
Disney World. Setting up
comprehensive service for FTU
will, however, introduce extra
operational costs to the busline.
Extra costs will have to be met
through subsidy funded either
by the university or the State of
Florida. The amount of the
subidy will depend on how full
buses are, Schrader said.
Bus service is expected to
provide two runs in both the
morning and afternoon hours.
Computer analysis also
attempts to encourage staff and
faculty in energy conservation
effrots. A compilation of map
data has located all staff and
faculty in the Metro
Orange-South Seminole area
within one square mile of each
other. In addition, 6,000 FTU
students received computerized
car pool lists over the Christmas
break.
Members of the Mass Transit
Committee are Dr. Stuart
McEwan, Dr. Robert Hicks, Bill
Morris and James K. Eller,
coordinator of energy
conservation.
Chairman of the FTU Energy
Task Force is Dr. C. B.
Gambrell, Vice President for
Academic Affairs.
For information or assistance
in forming car pools, contact
either Aurelia Jones, monitor of
the staff and faculty master list,
in AD 109, or Student
Government in the Village
Center.
FTU Car  Pooling On The  Move
By Jerry Brooks
Today is the end of the first
week of classes at FTU and
perhaps   the   beginning   of   a
practical university-wide car pool
system, Student Government
(SG), the special Task Force on
Energy   Conservation,  and  the
SG President Lee Constantine and Mrs. Aurelia Jones
check   the   computerized   listing   of   FTU   students,
designed to enhance possibilities for car pooling. Over
91  per cent of FTU students commute.
(Photo by Jerry Brooks)
pp
FTU computer were busy oyer
the holidays mailing out some
6,000 letters to FTU students
informing them of possible car
pool groups within their zip code
area.
There is little evidence of a
mass effort to organize into car
pools at this time, but as one
student put it, "I've been too
busy going through add-drop and
making it from one class to
another to even consider getting
into a car pool."
Several students complained
that of the five students listed on
their letter only one or two lived
close enough to be considered as
fellow car poolers. SG President
Lee Constantine explained that in
order to have the letters out
before the end of the holidays,
the zip code method was used
since it was the fastest way the
computer could print out the
letters.
A larger list is available at the
SC office in the Village Center.
This primary list is in sequence by
street name with each zip code,
thus enabling a student to see
exactly who lives along his or her
route to and from school.
Both Eller and Constantine
agree that forming a car pool is
not possible for many students
and that a 20-30 per cent student
involvement in a car pool system
would be a success.
According to Constantine,
"the SG has provided the
students with a service. They will
have to use their own initiative to
make the system work."
Eller believes that with an
increase of car pooling, less
university money would have to
be spent on parking lot
construction, thus freeing that
money for other FTU projects.
Savings would result from less
need for security guards in the
parking lots, and there would
probably be fewer accidents.
The amount of bicycle traffic
to FTU is not expected to
increase, mainly because the
traffic is heavy on access roads.
Most of the 124 bicycles
registered on campus belong to
students living in apartments
adjacent to the campus. An
increase in the number of
motorcycles registered (114 at
last count) could be expected,
once gas becomes a luxury item
to many students.
According to John Smith,
head of the FTU Police
Department, 7,800 autos were
registered during the fall quarter.
On a normal day, according to
Smith, 3,000 cars are parked on
campus. More than 91% of the
FTU student body commutes to
school.