Gas Prices Fuel Student Transit Riders

Graduate SPEA student, Emily Giovani rides the bus to campus every day. “I take the bus for a couple reasons. First, to save money on gas,” states Giovanni.

Like Emily, several students are taking strides to add some weight in their wallets by dodging high gas prices. Most often, this is by riding the Bloomington Transit.

The average monthly ridership on the transit increased from 197,000 in 2007 to 203,600 in 2008. That's nearly a 10 percent increase over the course of one year. This increase according to Bloomington Transit's General Manager, Lew May has been occurring for the past 25 years.
May states that the foremost reason for this increase is due to IU students. “Students make up about 65-70 percent of all BT ridership,” states May. With the increased student population and the mandatory transportation fee that was added to the IU tuition in 2005, it's no wonder that students are the main bus riders.

While the enrollment rates may play a part in bus ridership, most are willing chalk most of the transit rider boost to the ever increasing and changing price of gas.

Graduate student at IU, Erica Hunter explains, “I ride the bus because it's easier, more convenient and so much cheaper than paying to park or just paying for the gas to drive.”

As the City of Bloomington's website states, “As gas prices rise and commuters become more familiar with Bloomington's public transit offerings, these systems will continue to see increased usage.”

May explains that it's not just Bloomington that's experiencing the public transportation increase. “In the past year, the cost of gasoline has had some impact on our ridership as well. Transit ridership nationally has grown as a result of gasoline price increases,” he states.
While it costs an average of $7,000 annually to operate a car, it only costs $150 for a yearly BT pass or if you're a full time student, $107 that's included in tuition. That saving is a key reason why more people are opting to take public transportation.

But, fuel prices haven't just students. The transit uses an estimated 290,000 gallons of fuel per year which estimates to a cost of $700,000 for 2008. These high costs have taken their toll on the BT. May stated in a previous interview with the IDS that 2008 has been one of the most challenging budget years.

The hardships were seen in cuts made by the transit system this year. IU was forced to cut funding to the Bloomington Transit. In years past, IU was able to pay for routes 1 South, 6 Campus Shuttle and 9 Route (formerly C-9), but this year the university was unable to support them.

This led BT to end service an hour earlier during the semester weeknights and to end service two hours earlier during the summer and break periods. The Sunday route service was also shortened by two hours.

2008 also saw price increases for the transit. For the first time in the past 11 years, BT was forced to increase its daily dare from .75 cents to $1. Yet, the student transportation fee remained the same set at $54.37 per semester for full time students

Now that gas prices have dropped, most would believe that transit rider numbers would drop as well. That doesn't necessarily seem to be the case.

The average retail gas price for Indiana, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA), dropped from $3.70 in September to $3.05 in October. Yet the transit experienced a 2 percent increase in riders from September to October. This could have been due to the hesitancy in drivers. Hunter explains, “I didn't think the low gas prices would last. They tend to go down for a week and then go right back up.”

Yet, now that fuel prices have stayed significantly lower, the BT rider numbers are beginning to decline. The EIA estimates that the average retail gas price dropped from $3.05 in October to $2.15 in November.

The transit numbers seem to mirror this decline with a drop in monthly riders from about 357,000 in October to 266,000 in November. That's nearly a 25 percent drop and while some of that may have to do with the Thanksgiving Holiday when students leave town, the drop is still significant.

While it still may be too recent to tell just how lower gas prices will effect the ridership on the transit, several students are feeling a relief. Hunter says, “I now only take the bus to campus when I'm coming to class. If I'm going to the store or anywhere else, I usually drive since the prices have gone down.”

Although the transit may see some lower rider number, the low gas prices are also a relief. In a recent Public Transportation Corporation (BPTC) board meeting, May announced that there will be a fixed price fuel contract with IU. The university purchases the fuel and then bills the Bloomington Transit. Typically IU would purchase the fuel from the open market at whatever the daily price was, which rose this past year to as high as $4.00 per gallon. For the upcoming year, IU and BT have an agreement for a fixed price on fuel. IU was currently billed for $1.77 per gallon of fuel. This will hopefully be the fixed rate for the BT fuel for 2009, although the contract has not yet been signed.

The future of gas prices may be able to predict the ridership on the BT, but no one is quite sure what gas prices will be in the future. While some believe the low prices will last until the spring (AAA), others are looking further in the future. In a recent MarketWatch story, gas prices were expected to hit $7 a gallon by 2012.

If the student ridership does indeed mimic gas prices, with an estimate like this, the Bloomington Transit better start purchasing more buses.

Although some students are opting to drive more with lower prices, other like Giovanni continue to take the bus. “When gas prices are high or low, I generally try to minimize my driving” by taking the bus say Giovanni.

Senator Edwards Reflects on Past Campaign and Looks Towards the Future Presidency

North Carolina, Democratic Senator, John Edwards ended his summer long silence as he spoke at the Indiana University Auditorium last night. The event was surrounded by more eagerness and excitement than the expected controversy. Since the senator came public about an extramarital affair, several thought there would be protests, but the only thing present was an auditorium filled with people eager to here the Senator's thoughts on the election.

Edwards looked back on the campaign and looked forward to what President Elect Obama has in store for his presidency. Most of all Sen. Edwards spoke on the need for global compromise.
Edwards opened his speech by explaining why he wasn't being sworn in, "because an extraordinary man is being sworn in." He explained that the belief in the early campaign was that whoever won the opening Iowa caucus would have a large lead in the election- Obama won that caucus.

The Senator then went on to explain that he thought once he dropped out of the race for president, that the nominee would be decided soon after. However, the race drew out with NY Sen. Clinton and, then, IL Sen. Obama. Edwards paid respects to Clinton as he knows first hand how hard it is to keep fighting when you're behind.

The republican race was also discussed as Edwards explained that McCain was able to "come back from the dead" in the summer of 2007. While this comment received several laughs from the audience, the Senator was quick to clarify that he has not intended that as a joke on McCain's age.

Obama was able to win the election because of his unique campaigning style explained Edwards. Organizing the grassroots, energizing the people and raising the issues that people wanted to hear is what won the election for Obama.

Edwards took a moment to extend his gratitude and amazement for the Indiana University student body and the Bloomington area for registering voters and helping with the election.

The Senator then moved from discussing the past campaign to discussing the future of the presidency in Obama's hands. He explained that all the issues facing the United States: failing economy, dependency on fossil fuels, poor house market, job loss, poverty and health care, is all tied to the rest of the world. President Elect Obama must convince the American people that these issues are global issues not just those of the United States.

Obama will be able to do this, claims Edwards, because he has proven to the world that America is still a land of hope. The President Elect "symbolizes what's possible in America."

After his speech, Sen. Edwards answered a multitude of questions written in by audience members. In his answers he detailed his personal goals of working in the fight against poverty both in the U.S. and abroad, urged for the need of universal healthcare, described the large impact of young voters in this election, remarked that it's only a matter of time for equal rights for gays and lesbians and explained the need for public financing of elections.

The only question the senator dodge was in regards to his opinion if Connecticut Senator Lieberman should be stripped of his chair since he stumped for McCain in the election. Edwards only claimed that he disagreed with Liberman's choice, but didn't say if he should be impeached of his duty.

The final question revealed that if Senator Edwards could be a superhero, he would be Superman.

The senator left the stage the same way he entered, calm and confident. Perhaps some quite time did Senator Edwards good.

B-Town Water Better Than Bottled?

With the current economic and environmental state, several Bloomington residents are ditching plastic bottles of water to fill up reusable water bottles with the goodness straight from the tap. While this effort may save some money and help out the ozone, how safe is Bloomington tap water?

Bloomington’s drinking water source comes from the surface water of Lake Monroe. Built in 1964, the lake solved Bloomington’s ground water shortage. Had the lake not been built IU was considering moving to a different location or the city would have had to keep relying on the water shipped in by rail cars.

Now that the groundwater shortage supply is taken care of, Bloomington has to deal with the contaminants in Lake Monroe. Rachel Atz, Water Quality Coordinator for Bloomington, explains, “The biggest concern for Bloomington’s water quality is persistent development and recreational activities on or around Monroe Reservoir.”

Because the lake is used for recreational activity and a few companies are built around the lake, there are bound to be some contaminants.

An analysis of the Bloomington water record reports for the past four years shows positive testing for Lead, Nitrate, Coliform bacteria, Copper, Barium and Sodium among other contaminants regulated for testing by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, USEPA. These contaminants are either added to the water, naturally present in the environment or caused by runoff from soil, fertilizer or factory waste.

Although the contaminants are known to increase blood pressure (Barium, Lead), cause liver or kidney damage (Copper, Lead), or cause harm to young children (Nitrate, Lead) the levels in the Bloomington water are significantly lower than the regulations set by the EPA. In fact, SPEA professor and aquatic ecologist, Todd Royer states that “Because Lake Monroe is so large it would take a tremendous amount of contamination to affect our safety.”

And the safety of Bloomington water seems to be increasing. From the 13 contaminants detected in 2008, nine decreased or stayed the same from 2007. Drops in contaminant levels of Copper, Nitrate, Lead, Trihalomethanes, Haloacetic Acids, and Organic Carbon support the increased safety of Bloomington tap water. This increased safety is also seen by the significant drop in Lead levels from 5.2 ppb (parts per billion) in 2005, 2006 and 2007 to only 3.8 ppb in 2008.

While this may surprise some citizens, Atz and Royer aren’t shocked. Atz states that the city of Bloomington has “never violated a maximum contaminant rule and are well within all regulated water quality standards.” Royer claims, “We just have a pretty clean source of water in Lake Monroe.”

The safety and quality of the water can be chalked up to the rigorous testing schedule of both raw water, from Lake Monroe, and finished water, the tap water throughout the city. “To ensure high quality water at all times, we sample every hour, on the hour; 24 hours a day and seven days a week,” explains Atz. The tests are performed by licensed Water Treatment Operators that sample from the Monroe Water Treatment Plant as well as at six locations throughout the city.

All of the tests on Bloomington tap water follow guidelines and standards set by the EPA. These regulations aren’t in place for bottled water. Instead, the Food and Drug Administration or FDA regulates bottled water, and if that water doesn’t cross state lines, it’s not regulated at all.

A report released this month by the Environmental Working Group, EWG, explained the hazards of bottled water. The study examined 10 popular brands of bottled water sold at major retailers. It found 38 contaminants including “disinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue and pain medication.”

One of the contaminants tested for, Trihalomethanes or disinfection byproducts was found to have levels of 88-113 ppb in several of the bottled water. That’s over double the amount found in Bloomington’s drinking water, which levels ranged from 40-54 ppb.

The EWG explains that with bottled water, since it’s not heavily regulated and since the testing results don’t have to be disclosed to the public, you never know what you’re getting.

The EWG report goes onto explain the health risks involved with bottled water. “One bottled water brand spurred a 78% increase in the growth of the breast cancer cells compared to the control sample.”

The health issues aren’t the only high cost of bottled water. An average gallon of bottled water costs $3.79. This is over 1,000 times the costs of Bloomington tap water which averages to $3.00 for 1,000 gallons.

In an effort to go green and to gain some green in your wallet, go ahead B-Towners, drink up- straight from the tap.




**THIS ARTICLE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS AND WILL BE UPDATED SOON!**

Gubernatorial Debate is Debatable

Those who showed up and tuned in last night to the Indiana University Auditorium for the third and final gubernatorial debate may have been a gotten a little something different than what they expected.

The debate served as more of an insight into the personal lives of the candidates rather than an actual debate on issues facing the state of Indiana. Soft questions such as "What makes you want the position of governor?" and "What or who has been the most important influence in your life?" let the candidates dodge the truly important issues facing the state government.

The questions asked throughout the debate were undemanding and served a lack of purpose. With the current economic crisis and continued "tough times" for all Americans, candidates for government offices should be demanded to explain and debate their plans, policies and issues. However, the questions of the debate focused on an overall, general view of government by asking what the candidates believe the role of government is, and little on the issues that matter most to Hoosiers such as education, health care, taxes and the economy.

Save for one question that was so loaded the candidates couldn't possibly cram their answers into the allotted time. The question referred to the issue of mediocrity among Hoosiers and the state of Indiana towards the issues of health care, education, the environment and so on. The candidates attempted to squeeze their supposed policies into this question that stood as one of few that actually asked about the issues and policies dire to the state and federal government.

Aside from the shared life stories from the candidates, there was some heat shared amongst the candidates as well. From the get go, democratic candidate Jill Long Thomson swayed from the undemanding questions to criticize current republican governor Mitch Daniels for the "loss of 64,000 jobs in the state and one of the highest home foreclosure rates in the country." Daniels denied these allegations claiming that Indiana has been one of the few states not facing the deficit that is ongoing in two-thirds of the rest of the country. He also claimed that he had hoped Thomson would be "kinder and gentler tonight . . . but was wrong".

Meanwhile, Libertarian candidate, Andy Horning tended to answer every question with his strong belief in the constitution. Explaining that if all officials were required to read the state and federal constitution and solely abide by those constitutions, there wouldn't be such a government "monstrosity". When asked to rate the Indiana legislature, Horning stated, "nine in intention, one in execution" and again proceeded to rely on the constitution to fix things.

After fifty minutes of little action and even littler acknowledgement of issues, most left the auditorium in bewilderment, wondering if they had indeed witnessed a debate. While many were expecting some heated arguments about economic, education, health care and tax reform they were instead greeted with candidate's explanations on how their code of ethics will integrate into their work and how they overcame their life's biggest defeats.

In a time when United States citizens and Hoosiers are in desperate need of answers and solutions, last night's debate left the audience with more questions and a continued longing for explanations.

Urgency for Change Resonates at Obama Rally

Several thousands gathered at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis yesterday to see presidential candidate, Barack Obama. As the line to the entrance of the grandstands grew, so grew the anticipation, motivation and sense of urgency among the crowd.

Volunteers walked the line urging those waiting to sign up for early voting and to volunteer for the Obama campaign’s 100,000 doors program happening in Indiana throughout the four days prior to the election.

Once the gates opened, “Yes We Can,” “We Want Change,” and “O-BA-MA” chants echoed throughout the grandstands. However, nothing seemed to resonate more amid the people than the need for change and soon. This urgency comes accompanied by the current economic crisis and wall street failing.

Tracey Duerson of Indianapolis says the reason she’s voting for Obama is because, “I’m tired of the republicans and the situations they have put us in. We deserve better.” Barbara Terry agrees, “This is a chance to make a difference and make a change in Washington. We need change now more than ever.”

Agreement also stood on the issues of this presidential election. Education, the war in Iraq, energy reform and health care were among those voiced in concern next to the economy. The current wall street crisis and economic downfall took the lead of the most concerned issue in this election among the crowd.

In the minutes before Senator Obama took the stage, Indiana government officials rallied those in attendance for their support of the democratic ticket, which has been absent in the state for several years. Brief appearances by candidate for governor, Jill Long Thomson and Congressman Andre Carson furthered the need for change in Indiana. Senator Evan Bayh explained that the change needs to “not further divide red and blue states, but unite states as red, white and blue.”

The cheers erupted as Obama took the stage even when he proclaimed, “We meet with great uncertainty.” Opening his speech with the most urgent issue of the economy, Senator Obama explained that the U.S. economic issues have gone global with the Wall Street crisis causing a “ripple effect.”

Quick to offer hope, he explained that even though times are tough, “this is not a time for fear. It is a time for resolve and steady leadership.” As he explained his economic plan to give $15 billion a year to renewable energy sources that would create jobs especially in the closed factories to make wind turbines, solar panels and energy efficient automobiles.

Obama criticized McCain, who proclaimed that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong,” by stating that “there is nothing more fundamental than a job.” Obama also explained their differences in tax cuts. While McCain’s tax cuts are supposedly focused on C.E.O.’s and large corporations, his tax cuts would give 95% of workers a break, especially those making under $250,000. The middle class deserves a break, and “the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class,” stated Obama.

The differences between the two candidates didn’t end there as Obama then moved to discuss his health care plan. Claiming that McCain’s plan would give health care to families by taxing benefits and because American people wouldn’t notice. Obama responded, “Well, I’ve got news for John McCain-we do notice things.” Obama’s plan would lower premiums and ensure that those without health care would be given a government plan.

The senator then briefly discussed educational issues proclaiming that every child must be given the skills and knowledge they need to compete globally. He stated that he “won’t allow other countries to out teach us.” Obama also explained that college education will be made more affordable for those willing to serve their country whether by joining the military, americorps or volunteering in government organizations.

As he wrapped up his speech, Senator Obama asked the audience to believe. “I ask you to believe in yourselves, believe in each other and believe in the future.” The chants range through the crowd again, but as they died down the sense of urgency and desperation remained. While early voting has begun in Indiana, perhaps the election can’t come soon enough.