By Jessie Lee

Day in and day out, I see CSB/SJU security officers driving around aimlessly in their gas-guzzling SUVs. On a beautiful 50 degree day this past week, when many students were passing the time jogging and rollerblading outside, it dawned on me that these SUVs are unnecessary. If Life Safety and Security performed some of their duties on bicycles instead of vehicles, just imagine the amount of money CSB/SJU could save.

With gas prices currently at $3.15 per gallon, and SUVs averaging a meager 14 miles for gallon, literally thousands of our tuition dollars are being wasted every year. And the problem is almost certain to get worse. Gas and oil prices are expected to increase even more in the future, further increasing the financial burden that the SUVs place on CSB/SJU.

Perhaps the student activities budgets that were cut by 30 percent this year are now being used to fund these monstrous vehicles. What programs will have to be cut in the future to keep these SUVs patrolling campus nearly 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? Imagine if next year there was a lack of funding for the Festival of Cultures, concerts at Br. Willie’s or a decent band at Pinestock. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather eliminate SUVs continually roaming campus than eliminate any of the above.

I acknowledge that in some cases, some sort of motor vehicle is necessary. For example, a bicycle is certainly not a feasible mode of transportation in central Minnesota in January. Also, car jumpstarts, student escorts, and high-speed chases all require a vehicle.

However, I don’t believe a SUV is really necessary to perform these tasks. An economy sized car has plenty of storage space and can hold the same number of passengers, yet has double the fuel efficiency. In fact, according to the Sierra Club, switching from an SUV to an average car for just a single year saves more energy than if you left your refrigerator door open for six years, your bathroom light on for 30 years, or your television turned on for 28 years.

While the administrators of CSB/SJU assert that they are concerned with improving the environment and using our tuition dollars efficiently, they continue to spend hundreds of our tuition dollars each week fueling up Life Safety and Security’s SUVs.

If CSB/SJU truly wants to move into the future, we need to discontinue the use of the SUVs and usher in a new era of a cleaner, greener, more fiscally responsible campus.

Filed under: Opinion by Justin Roth