Escort still seeks student input on changes

While the new Penn Transit system was devised by a task force composed mainly of University staff -- with only two student members -- team members said they were aware of student concerns and that feedback on the new system is still being solicited. Director of Transportation and Mail Services Robert Furniss said the two student representatives on the committee applied directly to the team and were only a part of the student input that the nine-member group received. "We did have one undergraduate and one graduate student on the committee, and I guess if one person could represent 12,000 people, they did," Escort supervisor Russell Silverstein said yesterday. Furniss said the team also used surveys distributed on handivans last year to solicit student opinion. And several members of the team said that they are still open to student feedback on the new system. "I know that there's feedback, but I haven't had a whole lot myself," Assistant Director of Transit and Parking Ron Ward said. He said he did receive two complaints about the system from parents of freshmen women who were concerned about their daughters using walking escort at night. Furniss said the task force, which met last spring, was somewhat of a revolving-door, with its membership constantly changing. Furniss became chair of the group in January when Assistant Director of Transit and Parking Steve Carey resigned and left the team. Executive Assistant to the Deputy Vice Provost Carolynne Martin was later replaced by Executive Assistant to the Vice Provost for University Life Barbara Cassel. And Ward joined the group a month after his being hired in February. Furniss said the rest of the team was composed of the Office of Victim Support and Special Services Administrative Assistant Rose Hooks, Team Facilitator Jill Mazer, full-time Escort service supervisors Silverstein and John Gustafson, undergraduate student representative Chris Brady and graduate student representative Tim Fletcher. While students must apply to the Nominations and Elections Committee to serve on University-wide committees, Brady and Fletcher applied to the group itself, which Furniss said is not a committee, but a "process management team." Process management teams were devised by Executive Vice President Marna Whittington to evaluate numerous aspects of the University, one of which was Escort. "[The process management team] doesn't fall under the category of University committees or their status," Furniss said. The team members also brought information and opinions that they had received independently into the discussions. Cassel said she utilized her role on the team to convey feedback that she received from students on the old system. "I was trying to give input based on the complaints and comments that have come to my attention during my tenure in [the Vice Provost's office] and by virtue of serving on the Safety and Security Committee," Cassel said. And University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said that he also had heard student opinions of the old system. "If people remember, back last year there were complaints and complaints and complaints about the escort system, mainly that the walking escort wasn't really being used and that walking and driving [escorts] should be combined," Kuprevich said, adding that both of these needs were met by the team. "We're not saying that this is an ideal transit system, and we're analyzing it right now on a day-to-day basis to see if, in the long run, this is going to be a satisfactory transit system for the whole University," he said. Kuprevich said that he has only received one complaint this year from a student who had to wait a long time for a ride.