According to USA Today, incidents on bar buses, such as a knife on the bus, vomiting, and overcrowding, have  contributed to the University of Rochester enacting a moratorium on the buses. This article says the university is considering whether or not to ban these buses altogether.

While a consensus is being reached, students must find their own way to and from bars. The bar bus is a great idea because it can possibly bring the DUI and intoxication manslaughter rates down drastically. As a result, universities that have not already jumped on board should incorporate the buses, and those that utilize the program should continue to do so.

The obvious reason to continue supporting the bar bus program is because of the designated driver. Unless you have a friend who absolutely refuses to drink at all in his or her life, chances are that he or she may end up having a drink by the end of the night.

To be practical, everyone would be out unwinding for the weekend and trying to have a good time. Some friends just cannot deal with being the odd or sober man out.

In turn, these friends may be willing to take a risk by having a drink. There goes the designated driver. With buses, the pressure is off and all of your party would be able to have a good time because you would be putting your life in the hands of someone who is paid to ensure your safety.

TCU students pay over $32,000 in tuition alone every year. After writing that big check, it is understandable that we could find a million better things to do with $40 than wasting it on a taxi. The bar bus program speaks directly to the idea of financial priorities.

For example, if the school could blow some of our tuition money on The Fray concert (not that it wasn’t enjoyable), then we definitely could spend some of it toward potentially keeping ourselves alive.

The real problem with banning bar buses would eventually become the idea of Bar versus Dorms, meaning students will drink anywhere, whether it is at a bar or in their dorm rooms. If they do not have dependable friends or are not dependable themselves (which you can’t be if you’re wasted), and they cannot use the bar bus program, more than likely they will be stuck on campus with their liquor.

This will become a detriment within the university because it could be easier to access alcohol on campus, especially to under-aged freshmen and sophomores, whereas bars would not even let students step a foot into the venue in the first place unless they are 21 or older.

Critics may argue that a school would earn the reputation of being one heck of a party school because the students get so slovenly that administrators must hire staff just to transport them to and from bars. Conversely, I feel it is not only responsible, but very mature of administrators to realize some college-aged students are going to drink.

Those proprietors who do what they can to unconditionally ensure the safety of these students can give a school the best of reputations. Student safety and livelihood should be the first priority.

Should the university ban Froggie Five-0 just because there would still be some young women who walk alone at night? No, because I am sure the rates of incidents have decreased since enacting the program.

This is the same idea behind bar buses. One bad egg should not spoil the rest, and the University of Rochester should lift the moratorium and continue employing the program.

As a freshman, I wouldn’t know anything about the university’s stance on the issue, but if we do not already have the program, we should definitely begin creating one.

Rozlin Draper is a freshman criminal justice major from Fort Worth.