SGA supports Campus Drive route for Purple Line
Marissa Lang
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: News
The SGA lent support to the Campus Drive alignment for the Purple Line transitway last night, becoming one of the last in a slew of student groups to vote in favor of the route.
Legislators said plans to send the proposed light rail line down Campus Drive - rather than Preinkert Drive as administrators have proposed - would place the transitway in a location most central for students.
Administrators have long opposed the Campus Drive route because they say it would tarnish the look of the campus.
Maryland Secretary of Transportation John Porcari is expected to make the final decision on the Purple Line's route next fall, but the Student Government Association legislators said their show of support for the Campus Drive route last night sends a clear signal to Annapolis on where students stand on the issue. The Residence Halls Association and the Graduate Student Government have already voted to support Campus Drive.
"The GSG, RHA, and now, the SGA have all come out with a united position on the issue, contrary to the administration's position," said SGA Legislator and author of the resolution Matt Verghese. "The students are united on this. ... This is our campus, and our home."
While the SGA had long considered both perspectives on the Purple Line debate, their decision to support the Campus Drive plan last night leaves administrators alone in their position.
Ann Wylie, university President Dan Mote's chief of staff, said the administration doesn't plan on budging.
"We're not going to change our position," she has said.
Verghese said this type of "us or them" mentality is what drove them to propose an amendment saying, "the University Administration has endangered the expedient construction of the Purple Line by ignoring student opinion."
But not all legislators had such strong reactions to the administration's uncompromising stance.
In recent months, administrators have proposed multiple routes to avoid a Campus Drive option. SGA President Andrew Friedson said he has tried to guide the debate within administration ranks throughout the process, but concluded last night that a vote was necessary to voice student's opinions.
A lengthy argument pushed Verghese to back off his amendment in order to expedite the passage of the bill, though he remained resolute in his stance.
"President Mote is entrenched in his position," he said. "Mote should care. As our president, he should take our viewpoints seriously."
langdbk@gmail.com
Legislators said plans to send the proposed light rail line down Campus Drive - rather than Preinkert Drive as administrators have proposed - would place the transitway in a location most central for students.
Administrators have long opposed the Campus Drive route because they say it would tarnish the look of the campus.
Maryland Secretary of Transportation John Porcari is expected to make the final decision on the Purple Line's route next fall, but the Student Government Association legislators said their show of support for the Campus Drive route last night sends a clear signal to Annapolis on where students stand on the issue. The Residence Halls Association and the Graduate Student Government have already voted to support Campus Drive.
"The GSG, RHA, and now, the SGA have all come out with a united position on the issue, contrary to the administration's position," said SGA Legislator and author of the resolution Matt Verghese. "The students are united on this. ... This is our campus, and our home."
While the SGA had long considered both perspectives on the Purple Line debate, their decision to support the Campus Drive plan last night leaves administrators alone in their position.
Ann Wylie, university President Dan Mote's chief of staff, said the administration doesn't plan on budging.
"We're not going to change our position," she has said.
Verghese said this type of "us or them" mentality is what drove them to propose an amendment saying, "the University Administration has endangered the expedient construction of the Purple Line by ignoring student opinion."
But not all legislators had such strong reactions to the administration's uncompromising stance.
In recent months, administrators have proposed multiple routes to avoid a Campus Drive option. SGA President Andrew Friedson said he has tried to guide the debate within administration ranks throughout the process, but concluded last night that a vote was necessary to voice student's opinions.
A lengthy argument pushed Verghese to back off his amendment in order to expedite the passage of the bill, though he remained resolute in his stance.
"President Mote is entrenched in his position," he said. "Mote should care. As our president, he should take our viewpoints seriously."
langdbk@gmail.com
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