This editorial represents the opinion of The Bona Venture staff
One of the most commonly broken rules on the St. Bonaventure campus is the 15 mph speed limit posted on campus roads.
Safety and Security has been attempting to put a stop to this and other violations of the rules which endanger pedestrians and other drivers.
Campus security uses radar guns to try to catch drivers speeding above the mandatory 15 mph. These efforts have not been for nothing. Security has ticketed approximately 10 drivers for violating the speed limit since the semester’s start, according to Vito Czyz, director of Safety and Security.
The extra monitoring of the speed limit is really making a difference in reducing the amount of speed violations on campus and it should be continued until the problem is eradicated.
Although speed is an important issue on campus, it is not the only one security has taken notice of. Security also hopes to crack down on drinking and driving, Czyz said.
Security guards will go around campus stopping cars that they suspect of having drunk drivers. If they do suspect the driver is intoxicated, they will take away their keys. If the driver refuses to comply, Safety and Security will call the police, according to Czyz.
This kind of precaution is extremely necessary and will make campus a much safer environment – especially on the weekends.
Fridays and Saturdays aren’t exactly serene at Bona’s, and if you have ever stepped outside on either night it is obvious where the lack of peace and quiet comes from. When alcohol is involved, students can do some pretty crazy things, such as driving a car when they aren’t even coherent enough to recite the alphabet.
A study found in a June 2 U.S. News and World Report article stated 1 in 5 students admitted to driving while intoxicated. This number is far too high. Obviously the effects of alcohol impair people’s decision making abilities, but to head out for the evening with your car knowing that there is the slightest chance that you will be consuming alcohol that night is simply irresponsible.
The same study stated the 40 percent of the test subjects said that they knowingly got into a car where the driver was intoxicated. If you are conscious to realize the driver isn’t sober you would think that you would be conscious to realize that you shouldn’t be a passenger to a driver that doesn’t have full use of his or her brain.
This should never be an issue at Bona’s and, thankfully, security is trying to prevent it.
Bonaventure students are privileged to be confined to the ‘Bona Bubble’ where the consequences are not as dire as they would be if you committed this crime outside of campus. In reality, driving while intoxicated would end in an arrest or even something more severe. Simply having your keys taken away for the night may seem like a big deal at the time, but what if they weren’t, the consequences could be death to yourself or others. Taking away an inebriated student’s keys should be seen as somebody trying to make sure the student doesn’t cause harm.
Security doesn’t do things like passing out tickets just for its own pleasure. They do these things so all members of the Bonaventure community can breathe a little easier knowing they can walk around in peace without fear of getting hit by a car.
The office of Safety and Security should be applauded for taking so much interest in the students’ well being. Although getting a speeding ticket may seem like an annoyance, it is all beneficial in making Bonaventure a safer place to be.
