“Let’s Talk” Dialogue panel leaves some wanting more Page 5
Opinion: Social media is problematic Page 8
Shah donates $5 million to basketball program Page 12
Wake “alternative facts” Page 18
Old Gold&Black WA K E F O R E S T ’ S S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R S I N C E 1 9 1 6
VOL. 101, NO. 4
T H U R S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 , 2 0 1 7 “Cover s the campus like the magnolias”
www.wfuogb.com
Campus Emergency Medical Services granted new vehicle WFEMS responds to a variety of emergencies, many of which are unrelated to alcohol consumption BY EMILY LAIR Staff Writer lairev14@wfu.edu Wake Forest Emergency Medical Services (WFEMS), which has provided care to the campus community since 1996, recently received an upgraded vehicle to assist them in efficiently serving the campus. After meeting with the Wake Forest Board of Trustees, WFEMS was granted the new Chevy SUV to help the organization better provide effective basic life support to the Wake Forest community. “While our old vehicle got the job done, it was slightly outdated and not fully functioning in some aspects, such as a siren and occasional engine issues,” said Equipment Lieutenant Cy Fogleman. “We are very lucky to have this new vehicle which will allow us to assist Wake Forest students, faculty, staff and visitors 24/7 in any medical emergency.” Responding to anything from drug overdoses to sprained ankles, WFEMS provides services for a multitude of situations and members of the campus. Because the organization is operated by students, members of WFEMS may have unique relationships with their peers. “I have had people that are my friends and that I have class with, so it is kind of an interesting relationship,” said Personnel Lieutenant Brad Feldman. Members are honored to serve the campus and be in a position to help their fellow students in need. “We often see students in really vulnerable and personal situations, so it is a different dynamic,” said WFEMS Publicity Lieutenant Ali Eakes. “But it has taught me a lot and has made me want to treat a patient as more of an individual.” Contrary to many assumptions, WFEMS responds to much more than alcohol and drug-related incidents. Last year, less than half of calls received involved alcohol-related incidents. “A lot of people think we only respond to alcohol intoxication calls,” Eakes said. “We really get a lot of sports injuries calls, mental health emergencies, like panic attacks,
See EMS, Page 5
Erin Stephens/ Old Gold & Black
Beginning this year, a massive overhaul of the Winston-Salem Transit Authority redesigned the major bus routes. Route 89 used to weave through campus, but now drops employees on University Parkway.
Bus routes pose harm to employees Wake Forest employees began a petition to reroute the bus back onto campus BY HEATHER HARTEL Social Media Chair harthf15@wfu.edu The looming winter morning is cold, dark and bleak. As riders going to work step off the bus and onto University Parkway, an unwelcome combination of brisk air and morning traffic greet them. Eyes still covered with a layer of grogginess from the night’s sleep before, the travellers must continue their morning trip across four lanes of racing cars, as the sun only begins to break from the horizon. “It’s very dangerous crossing that street,” said Wake Forest employee Temple Jones. “Especially if you have to be here at 7, you have to cross in the dark at 6:30 a.m., half sleepy, with the fast traffic.” Jones has lived in Winston-Salem for over 50 years and has taken the public bus for as long as she can remember. In December 2015, the Winston-Salem City Council voted to approve new bus routes to become effective a year later, in January 2017. This is the first ever massive overhaul of the bus system in the
decades-long history of the Winston-Salem Transit Authority. City Councilman Dan Besse is the Chair of the Public Works Committee. This committee helped to redesign and approve the new routes that became effective on the first of the year. “In a nutshell, the routes had never been redesigned since the system came into existence,” Besse said. “It was an inefficient patchwork of routes. What we did was a comprehensive study of those who use the system and redesigned the routes to add frequency for heavily used routes.” Since the system’s creation, the busses in Winston-Salem had explicit routes, but traditionally veered away from them. Instead, they would drop individuals where they needed to go. Regular riders on the busses have long relied on them as their main form of transportation around the city. Councilwoman Denise Adams grew up in Winston-Salem and remembers she and her mother always depended on the busses and their reliance in the city. “The way the bus used to be routed was that it just meandered its way through the community, stopping wherever people wanted to get off,” Adams said. “It was not efficient or timely. People would get on the bus and never knew where they were going to get off.” To deal with the gaps in the transit sys-
tem, the Public Works Committee and the Winston Salem Transit Authority (WSTA) set out to modernize the historic busses. “The system redesign and new routes are intended to provide better service to more riders, faster transit times and more cross-town routes with fewer transfers,” Besse said. “The shorter ride times will also make it possible for us to improve transit further in the future by adding more frequent service on the most heavily used routes and peak times.” While these additions to the transit system aim to increase efficiency and customer satisfaction, the routes themselves are the source of the discontent among the riders. As Wake Forest is the sixthlargest employer in the city of WinstonSalem, many of the employees who work on campus rely on public transportation to get them to work each morning. “A lot of people have lost their jobs just because they can’t get to work on time with the new busses, and now they’re struggling day to day just because they couldn’t get here on time” Jones said. “When the bus doesn’t come, people have to dig into their pockets to pay for a cab, which is very expensive. That leads into a domino effect where you’re always in a bind paying for transportation when you should just be able take public transportation.”
See Bus Routes, Page 4