Two separate incidents in which Ball State students were harassed by unknown people in vehicles near campus were reported at the Student Government Association meeting Wednesday.
The problems were raised when Senator Josh Daugherty presented a letter from sophomore Katie Milligan detailing a situation she experienced before Winter Break.
While walking back to campus from the daycare where Milligan worked, she was approached by two men in a gold van near the intersection of Mann Avenue and Petty Road. The van pulled up five feet from her, and the men inside asked for a lighter, she said. When she told them she didn't have one, they demanded she get in the van several times, but she said she refused and ran away. She called the police.
Milligan's boss saw the van the next day, Milligan said. They called they police with the license plate number, she said. The police spoke to the men, who said they were not involved in the situation, she said.
There have been no repeats of the incident, but she said it has changed how she approaches some situations.
"I'm so jumpy," Milligan said. "The day after, I was walking and I had my pepper spray in my hand. I heard a noise behind me and I twirled around and it was squirrel. I almost pepper sprayed a squirrel."
A second situation was brought up by Student Safety chairman John Boone. Sophomore Patrick Mullin, his fraternity member, was propositioned to buy stereo speakers from unfamiliar men in a white van, he said.
The incident occurred Tuesday afternoon outside of Chase Bank on McGalliard Road, Mullin said. The men did not get out of the vehicle, he said, and he refused to come close to them. When he came out of the bank they were gone, he said. Katie Bills, off-campus secretary, asked the senators to let students know these situations had been occurring.
"Just be aware of what is going on and let your constituents know that this has happened, and it has happened since then," she said.
MITS LOOP
Two and a half weeks into its trial run, the MITS Loop trolley is meeting, and even surpassing, its goal of 40 riders an hour.
To make the goal, 307 people must ride the trolley each day. Records show that 296 rode on Monday, just short of the total needed. That number rose on Tuesday to 350.
The average ridership the first week was 115, and SGA Treasurer Michael Gallion said it was probably due to the warmer weather that week. The recent cold weather could be encouraging more students to ride the trolley, he said.
The trolley will continue to run until Spring Break, at which point Team Us hopes Ball State will look at the rider statistics and reconsider the need for the route, Gallion said.
Residence halls and other organizations interested in more information on the trolley, including its stops, should contact Secretary of Community Relations Adam Link.
BRACKEN LIBRARY
Dean of library Arther Hafner said he is pleased with the results collected during Bracken Library's experiment with staying open 24 hours a day during Fall Semester's finals week.
When numbers from the week of Dec. 11 through Dec. 15, 2005 were averaged, Hafner found 179 people were using the library at 2:30 a.m., 88 people at 4:30 a.m. and 60 people at 5:30 a.m.
After receiving feedback from students, a second trial period is being planned to run from mid-April through the end of the Spring Semester, Hafner said.
"We are going to have the trial a few weeks before finals and then during finals to allow our students time to come over and work collaboratively with other people," he said.
The statistics were collected by library employees who counted people using the library at specific times, Hafner said. The librarians also found that almost all the people were using library resources.
TECHTIME
TechTime, a computer help service offered by University Computing Services, has increased its hours, partly in response to support from SGA, President Steve Geraci said.
Extended hours of 9 p.m. to midnight supplement the 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. hours that TechTime operated Fall Semester. Services are only available Monday through Thursday.
This extension falls short of the 24 availbility proposed by SGA in legislation passed in October.
Geraci reported 37 students have received TechTime assistance since Spring Semester began.
While TechTime assistance is free for Ball State students, reservations are required. According to the Web site, students can receive help with software, operating systems and networking.
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