The U-Pass can't happen at NEIU

As a freshman coming to NEIU, I have to say I was pretty excited to be starting college. I was able to build my own schedule, take whatever classes I wanted to take, and although not quite living on my own yet, my parents had given me the freedom to come and go as I pleased as long as all the chores were completed.

I do have to say, however, that one of the biggest thrills I had for starting college was the access to my own U-Pass. Having lived in Chicago for the past seven years and still without a license, the thought of being able to have unlimited access to public transportation would have made my life much better. I do not have to exaggerate the disappointment I felt when the commuter school I am attending did not have this most sacred of passes. Being the extremely annoying journalist that I am, I decided to find out exactly why NEIU has not been granted access to a U-Pass.

I recently sat down with NEIU's provost Laurence Frank to ask him about this very subject. Needless to say I was not the first freshman who had come knocking at his door demanding free public transportation. In his well-organized answer he told me that in order for the school to be able to buy U-Passes, they would have to buy them for the entire student body. This didn't seem like a problem to me seeing as how NEIU is a commuter school, so I was sure everyone would benefit from the pass. He then told me that it turns out most of the commuters prefer to drive or simply live at a walking distance, making the people, such as myself, who spend five dollars on public transportation per day a staggering minority. Furthermore, if U-Passes were to be bought, they could only be used by full time students and Northeastern is comprised of mostly part time students. This in turn would jack up the tuition costs and not be benefiting many people.

Although my meeting with the provost did answer many questions, I figured one source would not be enough to build a sufficient argument. I chose to attend the recent town hall meeting during which I was sure another frustrated yet na've freshman such as myself would go forth and ask these same questions. My predictions were correct as President Sharon Hahs was once again pelted with demands for U-Passes. Her answers were the ones I had already heard but I did receive a little snippet of new information from her response. It turns out the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) does not want to add any more schools to their U-Pass receivers. They are losing money with the privileged schools already on the list. Anyone who survived the construction and subsequent fare hike the CTA implemented the past year can safely say that another fare hike would not be the best thing.

Despite the fact that the cost of getting to and from school is burning a deep hole in my wallet, I do have to say that I sympathize with the school. In all honesty, there is nothing they can do and most of the school does not need a U-Pass. As a self-centered teenager, I was sure that I would be bringing strong arguments to the tables of the highest powers-that-be in this institution, demanding the right that all college students in Chicago should have. It turns out logic beat me on this one and I fully support the school's choice to refrain from getting U-Passes. Hopefully, aggravated freshmen in the future can heed this advice and come to terms with the truth.