2008 Woodie Awards
Will ponders off-road habits of DCS officers
Will Maddox
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Opinion
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Green is so in right now. From Ford to Al Gore, the whole world is recognizing our environmental dilemma and turning it into a marketing scheme. It seems like a win-win situation, and as a bike-riding recycler from Austin, I am happy to see big business embrace more sustainable lifestyles, even if it is in order to perpetuate their own greed.
Even on campus, home of the never ending piles of to-go order garbage, there have been some environmental measures. The showers and toilets in Lightner use less water, and believe it or not there are flush free urinals in Mabee.
Several things still sadden me when it comes to the environment. All the litter that gets thrown off balconies and people who drive from Prassel to Mabee or from their dorm to upper campus really aren't helping the situation.
But one of the most frustrating decisions made by this University was the choice to spend tens of thousands of dollars on an oversized police truck for the Department of Campus Security. Not only is this high-emission, gas guzzling truck environmentally insensitive, it is a ridiculous vehicle to have on a campus with no through streets, much less anywhere where an off-road vehicle chase might ensue.
There was once an article in the Trinibonian about the new DCS helicopter, but honestly, this truck is about as unnecessary as the helicopter would be. Let's think about the reasons one might need a truck: to haul stuff, to tow a car, to look like a big cool Texan and to drive through rugged terrain are the only feasible explanations for our DCS cops (who don't have on-road police chases, much less off-road) to have a big truck.
When my girlfriend so kindly comes to visit me, do they need a giant 4x4 to give her a ticket for not having a parking permit? Do they need a Hemi in order to park on the sidewalk by the Bell Cen-ter or to slowly circle throughout their jurisdiction? Where would they ever use the truck's capabilities? Are the officers secretly off-roading in Olmos Basin between their rounds of campus?
Even on campus, home of the never ending piles of to-go order garbage, there have been some environmental measures. The showers and toilets in Lightner use less water, and believe it or not there are flush free urinals in Mabee.
Several things still sadden me when it comes to the environment. All the litter that gets thrown off balconies and people who drive from Prassel to Mabee or from their dorm to upper campus really aren't helping the situation.
But one of the most frustrating decisions made by this University was the choice to spend tens of thousands of dollars on an oversized police truck for the Department of Campus Security. Not only is this high-emission, gas guzzling truck environmentally insensitive, it is a ridiculous vehicle to have on a campus with no through streets, much less anywhere where an off-road vehicle chase might ensue.
There was once an article in the Trinibonian about the new DCS helicopter, but honestly, this truck is about as unnecessary as the helicopter would be. Let's think about the reasons one might need a truck: to haul stuff, to tow a car, to look like a big cool Texan and to drive through rugged terrain are the only feasible explanations for our DCS cops (who don't have on-road police chases, much less off-road) to have a big truck.
When my girlfriend so kindly comes to visit me, do they need a giant 4x4 to give her a ticket for not having a parking permit? Do they need a Hemi in order to park on the sidewalk by the Bell Cen-ter or to slowly circle throughout their jurisdiction? Where would they ever use the truck's capabilities? Are the officers secretly off-roading in Olmos Basin between their rounds of campus?
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