GUSA to introduce a Cash Cab lite during Thursday SafeRides
Posted by: Jackson Perry in News, Vox Populi, tags: GUSA, Hoya roundtables, SafeRides
Since November, the Georgetown University Student Association has operated a SafeRides van on weekend nights. This Thursday, the humdrum experience of using SafeRides is about to get more interesting for a few unsuspecting Hoyas, as GUSA plans to launch a trial run of a Cash Cab-style game show in the SafeRides van that GUSA operates. Speaking to potential copyright issues, GUSA Vice President Greg Laverriere (COL ’12) wrote in an email to Vox, “For the time being we are technically calling it ‘Snack Cab.’”
Driven by a desire to promote collaboration between students and administrators and to encourage students to wait for the SafeRides van to show up, the “Snack Cab” will consist of Sporcle-based category questions, in which participants will have the entire duration of the journey to give as many answers as possible. Prizes will be paid for by the office of the Chief Operating Officer, Chris Augostini Prizes will be paid for with sponsorships from local businesses. Concerning the prizes, Laverriere wrote:
The prizes would be based on how many answers you got right. For example, a question could be “Name the neighborhoods in DC.” If you got all of them or nearly all of them, you get a gift card to a local business, but if you only got 2-3 you get a bottle of water.
Don’t expect to see any scandalous behavior in the videos that will eventually be published though. Any student that doesn’t want to participate will just be taken to their destination. Any students that do agree to participate will sign a waiver at the end of their journey. The next day, GUSA will follow up with the students in question to confirm that they are okay with GUSA using the footage.
Once GUSA puts together a complete show, the Office of Communications must approve it before it is released. “We don’t want to be posting any information that could be damaging to the University,” Laverriere wrote.
The program can be chalked up as a success of Augostini’s new initiative, the Hoya Roundtables. According to Laverriere, the idea emerged after a roundtable last semester. Laverriere, Special Assistant to the COO Michael Wang (MSB ’07) and GUSA senator Bridget Power (COL ’12), first brainstormed the idea, which is being test-run at the end of this week.
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I think this is a fun idea, but I don’t think it is a good solution to the current problem. In order to “encourage students to wait for the SafeRides van to show up” Saferides should allow students to wait inside, exactly like cabs do. The driver can give a call to the student. I have personally waited outside for more than 45 minutes. Not only is it unsafe, but it also inconvenient. They should also increase the number of drivers.
I have also had issues with gender bias when I have called the Saferides operator. If you are a guy, good luck getting a ride. This is particularly of conern for LGBT people who have been victims of attacks in recent years.