THE PENDULUM
NEWS
WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 2. 2009 // PAGE 5
New stops improve BioBus
efficiency
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I
n ... ^ LINDSAY FENOTI staff Photographer
Rather than all five bus routes stopping at the McMichael depot, two buses will stop at the Moseley and Belk
Library lot and one will stop at the Center for the Arts. The heavy traffic congestion around McMichael and the
desire to make the bus stops more convenient for students are the primary reasons for the change.
Alexa Milan
Managing Editor
BioBus riders may have noticed
some changes to the bus system when
they arrived at their stops on the first
day of class. Rather than having all
five bus routes based at the McMichael
depot, two other campus depots have
been added and arrival times have been
adjusted.
The West Loop’s campus stop is now
the Center for the Arts. The University
Drive Line and the East Outer Loop
will now use the Moseley lot near Belk
Library. The East Inner Loop and the
Danieley Tram will stay at McMichael.
“It puts a couple of the BioBuses even
more in the center of campus,” said
Keith Dimont, supervisor of automotive
services.
The bus will run every 15 minutes
on the West Loop and Danieley Tram,
every 20 minutes on the East Inner and
Outer Loops and every 30 minutes on
the University Drive Line.
Dimont said the primary reason
for the change is the amount of traffic
congestion near the McMichael depot.
With lots of students walking between
the buses on cell phones and iPods
during high-traffic times, Dimont said
people were concerned about students
getting hurt.
“It just got to the point where we
thought it was a safety issue," Dimont
said.
Dimont and Robert Buchholz,
director of physical plant, started
looking into a new BioBus plan in early
May. Dimont said it was a team effort
he thinks will save mileage and fuel
and be more convenient for students.
For example, rather than looping all
the way back around to McMichael,
the West Loop stops more closely and
conveniently at the Center for the Arts.
“We looked at different variations
and came up with what we feel is a
better service and a safer service for
folks," Buchholz said.
Before settling on using different
bus stops, Dimont and Buchholz played
with a few other ideas. They considered
having a bus go to the Koury Athletic
Center parking lot but determined the
bus would be hard to maneuver in the
crowded lot, so the Center for the Arts
was selected instead.
“We looked at actually changing the
curb at McMichael and making the space
at the bus stop wider," Dimont said.
“But we decided even though it would
be more room, we would still have the
same problem of congestion."
When they started developing the
plan, Dimont and Buchholz talked to
bus drivers about where students who
rode the bus were going to and coming
from. They realized many students came
from Moseley to the McMichael stop, so
they decided to add another stop at the
Moseley and Belk parking lot.
“We had to consider that there was
concern about the Moseley and Belk
lot being crowded, so Keith came up
with the idea of the one (University
Drive) bus that only runs from 4 p.m. to
midnight,” Buchholz said.
Last year there was a 23 percent
Increase in BioBus ridership, and Dimont
and Buchholz said they are hoping for
an even bigger increase with the new
system. Buchholz also emphasized the
BioBus’ role in campus sustainability
efforts.
“It’s better if you’re getting on a bus
carrying 15 or 20 people than taking a
car," Buchholz said.
Though the new BioBus system just
went into effect, Dimont and Buchholz
are already brainstorming other ideas
for the bus system. Dimont said students
have expressed interest in a route that
goes to South Campus. Buchholz is also
looking into a new device that counts
riders getting on and off the bus, which
would provide them with more accurate
ridership statistics.
Buchholz said above all, they are
looking for comments and suggestions
from students.
“We're always looking to improve
and make sure we’re meeting people’s
needs," Buchholz said.
To view the new bus schedule, visit
http://org.elon.edu/transit/biobus/
busSchedule.html.
University acknowledged for
financial, workplace distinction
Laura Smith
News Editor
This summer, Elon University added two more
recognitions to its already long list of honors.
The first was the title of “Top Financial Find
of 2010,” according to Bruce Hammond, a former
managing editor of the Fiske Guide to Colleges
in an article on Reader’s Digest.com. Criteria
that gave Elon this honor included its welcoming
environment, supportive faculty, hands-on
learning opportunities and emphasis on global
perspectives.
“Comparison shopping is the name of the game
in today’s college market," Hammond said in a
statement. “College costs continue to rise, but more
aid than ever before is available to help soften the
blow.”
Susan Klopman, vice president of admissions
and financial planning, said Elon deserved this
honor because of its policy of financial equality.
Compared to a larger school that offers larger
financial aid packages but comes with a heftier
sticker price, Elon keeps the tuition affordable to
all, not just those receiving financial aid, Klopman
said.
“We try to keep the cost of tuition as low as
we possibly can rather than the normal higher-ed
education,” she said. “It has always been our policy
to treat students equally with regard to the cost of
tuition. Everyone gets the benefit.”
The second recognition for the university was its
addition to the 2009 list of “Great Colleges to Work
For” program by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The program honors institutions for best practices
and policies, including faculty-administration
relations, confidence in senior leadership and
compensation and benefits.
The second annual list comprises 150 colleges.
Elon was among 10 medium-sized institutions to
receive distinction in the areas of job satisfaction,
policies, resources and efficiency, respect and
appreciation, confidence in senior leadership,
teaching environment, connection to institution
and pride, facilities and security, healthy faculty-
administration relations, internal communications
and physical work space conditions.
“The most important resource Elon University
provides to its students is an extraordinarily
talented faculty and staff,” President Leo Lambert
said in a statement. “They create the environment
on campus that fosters intellectual, personal and
spiritual growth and set the tone for a welcoming,
vibrant community. The survey results point to how
invested our faculty and staff are in making Elon
LINDSAY FENDT \ Staff Photographef
Patrick Rudd, coordinator of access services at Belk Library, helps a
student search for a book. Rudd has worked at Elon since 2005 and said
he loves the benefits, both financial and in general, of working for Elon.
excellent in every respect.”
Patrick Rudd, the coordinator of access services
at Belk Library, began working at Elon in 2005. He
was drawn to a job in the library after spending
time among its shelves during his time in graduate
school at North Carolina Central University.
“What I’ve appreciated the most (working at Elon)
is the respect between the students and staff,” he
said. “It’s a great environment. Everyone’s working
towards the same goals. There’s no hierarchy."
Employees like Rudd also get insurance benefits
for working at Elon, and according to Rudd, “the
benefits are very good.”
Rudd also praised the university for its ability
to disseminate information within the system to
everyone.
“I feel like there is clear communication of the
university’s goals at all levels,” he said.
Results of The Chronicle’s survey were based on
responses from 41,000 administrators, faculty and
staff members at 247 institutions. Questionnaires
were given online in March and April 2009.
Elon’s survey was given to employees in a
random sample said Ron Klepcyk, director of
human resources at Elon.
“This is a testament towards the satisfaction
of working at a place like Elon,” he said. “It has a
reputation for making positive change.”
According to Klepcyk, Elon is still seeing a flow
of applications for positions coming despite the
weak economy. He said there were 200 applications
for the last clerical position offered.
“Elon continues to be a popular place to work,”
Klepcyk said. “It’s a place where people want to be.”
New Student
Convocation
welcomes
freshmen
CONVOCATION from PAGE 1
introduced them to the 340 faculty members sitting
Under the Oaks with them.
“The Elon faculty are truly remarkable and
devoted teachers, mentors and scholars,” House
said. “They will stretch you and challenge you more
than you can even imagine."
In what President Leo Lambert called “one of
the most meaningful occasions of the academic
year,” he announced it would be “the first of many
goodbyes parents will say to their college-age
children.”
“In a parent’s mind, remembrances both big and
small come into clear focus on mornings like this
one,” Lambert said. “I can identify with the tear in
mom’s eye and the lump in dad's throat ... I know
how proud they are and what a privilege it’s been to
help you reach this day.”
Compared with the billions of people on Earth
who live in poverty, suffer from HIV/AIDS and
are illiterate, Elon students are among the most
privileged people on the face of the Earth, Lambert
pointed out. And as such, students must ask
themselves, “What am I going to do with the gift of
an Elon education?"
In the middle of one Elon tradition, Lambert
announced another tradition the class would now
witness.
“You’re going to hear a train go by,” he said, “and
I’m going to grab a drink of water. Justin, you want
to grab some more photos?”
The moment of hilarity was only a slight break
in the tenderness of his message that members of
the Elon community are caring above all else.
“You will be changed in ways you can now not
imagine,” Lambert said.
Donna Van Bodegraven, associate professor of
foreign languages, explained Elon’s four pillars
of honesty, integrity, responsibility and respect,
and Chuck Griffith, father of 2010 graduate Katie
Griffith, reflected on his time as an Elon parent.
Everyone he has come in contact with simply loves
Elon University, he said, and it’s an institution where
everyone has the ability to make a difference.
In his traditional message to the new class,
Lambert said, “You will leave Elon some day, but
Elon will never leave you.”