Winter at Cornell can be hazardous to your health. As some of you roll your eyes at this obvious statement, think back to your first bad experience with the weather here. I remember mine vividly. I was walking up Libe Slope towards Uris Library. I couldn’t help smiling as I watched other students recklessly slide down the Slope on dinner trays, gleefully endangering their health. My smile didn’t last long. I tripped and fell on the ice-covered sidewalks no less than three times. I certainly wasn’t tipsy, although an onlooker might well have mistaken my floundering for something worse. Fortunately, I reached safety with nothing injured save my dignity.

If some of you read last Thursday’s article on the proposed safe-ride program, you might know that I’m a strong supporter of this initiative. The aim of the program is to provide students who feel unsafe a ride back to their residences, with no questions asked. It is anticipated that this service will have three to four vans operated by student drivers. A central dispatcher will coordinate the student drivers. To ensure safety in the van, each driver will be accompanied by an additional student. Also, in cooperation with the campus police, the student driver will have a phone to call for police back-up should the need arise. The details of the program are still being worked out.

If a student has been drinking, it is far better for the individual (and for others) to get back home safely rather than trying to get behind the wheel of a car. Similarly, if a student feels afraid to walk back to North Campus from Sheldon Court during inclement weather, a safe ride home would be only a call away. And, when the sidewalks are icy and dangerous, particularly during the dark winter nights, students would have a safe alternative as they try to return to their residences.

Currently, Cornell does offer two other services that, unfortunately, fall short of their objectives of ensuring student safety: the Blue Light Bus Service and the Blue Light Escort Service. The bus service, which operates between 6:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. daily, is inflexible: it is tied to a fixed route and a fixed time schedule. And the 2:30 a.m. cut off is far too early for most students who pull all-nighters — either in Olin or at Johnny O’s. The buses run hourly, so there is a long lapse between buses. Most students, particularly during the winter, don’t want to stand in the freezing cold for an hour. Sober or drunk, students will more often than not, opt to walk or drive. Not surprisingly, the bus service is underutilized. The proposed safe-ride program, on the other hand, is an on-demand, door to door service.

The escort service is quite attractive in terms of its flexibility. A student can call in and request an escort to walk to wherever the individual would like to go. Safety is certainly addressed — if the student chooses to walk. Of course, when faced with rain, snow or ice, most students will try to drive if they can. Again, not surprisingly, the escort service is grossly underutilized with only twenty calls recorded last year. The safe-ride program seeks to provide safety combined with convenience and comfort.

Some administrators have claimed that a safe ride program will actually lead to an increase in irresponsible behavior, that it will enable and even facilitate further alcohol consumption, resulting in a net decrease in overall campus safety.

But the safe-ride program is designed to promote safety first — it is not an invitation to engage in irresponsible or unsafe behavior. The sole concern of the program is the physical safety of the student. Safe-ride programs have been put in place at a number of institutions, including Yale, Princeton, Northwestern and University of Virginia. By all accounts, safe-ride has been quite successful at these schools. Furthermore, there has been no evidence suggesting that safe-ride programs at these schools have encouraged or facilitated irresponsible student behavior.

At Cornell, presumably a student under the influence of alcohol can get on a Blue Light bus. Indeed, such a student should be encouraged take the bus rather than attempt to drive. Indeed, the individual should also be encouraged to use the escort service to get from the bus stop to the residence. It would be a cruel caricature to claim that the bus service and escort service somehow facilitate bad behavior.

The paramount concern of the University must be the safety of its students. Cornell has made a major effort to address this challenge. The Blue Light Bus and Escort Services are concrete examples of the steps that have already been taken. Likewise, as a member of the President’s Council on Alcohol and Drugs, I know that the administration is determined to combat abusive and self-destructive student behavior. Cornell has always recognized that student safety and responsible behavior go hand in hand. The proposed safe-ride program furthers these objectives. Let’s hope the safe-ride program is adopted.

Sanjiv Tata is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be contacted at stata@cornellsun.com. The Vested Interest appears alternate Tuesdays this semester.