By LOMBARD, SALAFIA, AND KOMAR
LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The University of New Haven’s current class of 2015 last year had 47% of its students transfer. That is roughly half of an entire group of people who lost motivation for higher learning and may wind up taking longer to finish school. Some of this can be attributed to the apathy of young people, or shyness, etc. However one cannot blame the transferring of 47% of a grade, or the constant complaining of students, and student athletes here at the University of New Haven on the attendees alone.

The University offers public transportation. It is mentioned on all campus tours, on the websites, and its presentations. What is not discussed is the constantly talked about inadequacy of the offered transportation. The courtesy vans that the University offers are a potential trouble spot. Athletes at the University could greatly benefit from the convenience of these vans, as schedules are made specifically around practices, meets, workouts, etc. Which calls for the constant commute between North Campus, the main campus, and sometimes the southern part of campus.

With such a busy commute like that, especially for underclassmen, this can cause tardiness or lack of motivation to even go to class. Adam Salafia is currently a jumper for the universities track and field team, and has experienced this both semesters. Several times the courtesy vans have not picked him up, nor does he have knowledge of any schedules for them. To obtain a van you need to call campus police, which is somewhat of a useless middleman. If the van is in place for courtesy, why do athletes have to constantly rush or struggle between classes, practices, and sometimes even games?

The courtesy vans can not only benefit athletes and their schedules, but even regular full time students as well. The University of New Haven is located adjacent to Campbell Avenue in West Haven. So while the school does provide laundry, food, and some other conveniences, how is someone supposed to simply get a haircut without having to pay for a cab or the city bus? If the school offered transportation up and down Campbell Avenue, which is only a few miles long, it could definitely benefit the schedules of any student living on campus.

Another huge reason for the disappointment of some students here at UNH, lies with the lack of advertising for the city of New Haven and its surroundings, and the unreliable shuttle services to different locations offered. The shuttle to downtown New Haven runs only Thursday through Saturday, and at its earliest is 6:15pm. Granted it does run until times between 2:00-3:00AM, which deters DUI’s, the services provided are only in the evening. Prior to the shuttle running, students at UNH will have to pay if they want to get downtown. The city has much to offer. Including, restaurants, nationally known pizza, culture, shopping, etc. Personally from asking over 100 UNH students who are not from Connecticut, more than 75% claimed to a lack of knowledge as to what downtown has to offer besides its nightlife experience. Also for students who reside on campus, there are several times between both semesters, where students who dorm are required to leave the university, based on the distance there home of record is to the school.

While there is a shuttle to New Haven’s Union Station, the services are unreliable to the fact that you cannot set your schedule accurately because the number of shuttles and the times they run are not consistent with the posted schedule.

To fix these issues are something the students cannot do themselves, but technically do financially. To come to the University of New Haven for two semesters and live on campus it costs about $41,250 without any financial aid or scholarships. If you attend the school for four years, that is approximately $165,000. The school has roughly 4,000 Undergraduate students, so if they all go here for four years that is a total of about $660,000,000 coming in roughly every four years. While this is only a ballpark figure, the numbers are still there.

So while students or parents are paying for the cost of tuition, a student also needs to pay for books, supplies, food, etc. Therefore transportation should be a guarantee based on the geographical location of the school. If UNH was located in Storrs, CT, it would be a different story, there is no place to go, for it is surrounded by farms. While New Haven is an economical backbone for New England. If the transportation of students and student athletes was improved, the overall morale of the student body would improve, which would cause less transfers, more attendance in the classroom, and more support at school led events. The facts are present, as is the money, so let’s stop making our students attempt to hitchhike when they need a haircut.