To the Editor:

Should Moonlight Express remain a service of Cy-Ride? Should the Purple, Yellow or Brown routes be cut from Cy-Ride? These are just two of the questions that will have to be answered in the coming months.

As Cy-Ride’s budget is shrinking due to federal budget cuts, students may see some major changes in the services offered by the Ames Transit Agency.

Unfortunately our leaders in GSB are not reaching out to students to find out their feelings on the proposed cuts in bus services. They are instead taking the “smaller government at all costs” approach, saying that students would never be in support of raising student fees by about $13 over the next eight years to preserve the integrity of Cy-Ride. Think about this: our leaders, without asking us, are saying we are not willing to pay about $1.50 more for each of the next eight years to keep Cy-Ride operating at its current level. Iwill not be so conceited as to assume students will support this, but I believe that they must be asked.

Student leaders are also considering taking Moonlight Express away from Cy-Ride and contracting it out to Cy-Cab, the local taxi service. Their reasoning: “too many people are riding Moonlight Express who are not drunk.” This is absolutely ludicrous! So what?! Not only will Cy-Cab not be able to handle the volume of students that Cy-Ride currently does, but their whole line of reasoning is flawed. What is wrong with a sober woman not wanting to walk by herself from her dorm room to a friend’s house on a Saturday night? Moonlight Express costs the students about 50 cents per student per semester, or, less than a can of pop. Isn’t it worth it when you consider about 400 students use the service each weekend? Think of the property and personal damage even 200 drunk drivers could cause in a single weekend. Iwould say it would be much more than the $25,000 a year it costs to operate Moonlight Express.

Speak Up! Let your voice be heard, call GSB President Dan Mangan at 294-1585 and tell him what you think of these ideas. Tell him that students value Cy-Ride and its current services.

Dustin Shaver

USAC Mayor