One member of the Student Senate Shuttle Bus Committee spoke as though meetings this year were run like a dictatorship, citing uneventful meetings and a lack of communication while the alleged dictator, Ronnie Deedrick, said there just wasn’t enough time.

Kenneth Bauer, member of the committee, began riding the shuttle bus routes to see if he could pinpoint problems and provide feedback to shuttle bus committee meetings.

Bauer said he approached the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union stop and, from afar, observed one passenger exiting the bus. He then walked ahead to the next stop to question the driver on the amount of passengers for that day.

“I jumped on and asked how many people there were who rode the bus; the driver said he had just dropped off 24 students at the last stop,” Bauer said.

Bauer voiced his concerns to Speaker of the Senate Joe Robbins, who suggested he join the Shuttle Bus Committee, Bauer said.

Eager to voice his concerns, Bauer attended the meetings and offered what input he could, but in his opinion, Shuttle Bus Committee Chair Ronnie Deedrick, was not very receptive.

“We agreed as a committee to do a survey; he kept putting it off, putting it off, until it never got done,” Bauer said. “I don’t understand why there needs to be a committee if nothing is going to change.”

Bauer said Deedrick was instrumental in planning the routes and making the schedules. He also said that Deedrick was stubborn about changing the system he designed.

Deedrick said he was open to the survey idea but changes take time.

Deedrick also said he had heard complaints from students about the various stops, but stops which receive the most traffic have to be accommodated first.

“If we were to try to shift to every complaint that was put in, we would be doing a great disservice to people who use the shuttle bus the most,” Deedrick said.

Deedrick admitted that he could have been more receptive in communicating with the Shuttle Bus Committee, but to change the system so close to the end of the semester is a difficult task.

“For us to try to resolve those conflicts, we would have to totally restructure the shuttle bus route,” Deedrick said.

Deedrick said the survey idea was good, but the committee had a problem deciding on what questions would best suit the survey.

According to Deedrick, the plan was to get the survey out before spring break so they could tally the results and organize a bill to present to Student Senate, and there just wasn’t enough time.

Deedrick claimed Bauer told him about other complaints.

“I told him to tell those people to get a hold of me…They never did,” Deedrick said.

In the end, Deedrick seemed to have no animosity towards Bauer’s criticism.

“Ken did provide very useful insight, and I suggest he be a part of the committee next year,” Deedrick said.

One member of the Student Senate Shuttle Bus Committee spoke as though meetings this year were run like a dictatorship, citing uneventful meetings and a lack of communication while the alleged dictator, Ronnie Deedrick, said there just wasn’t enough time.

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