Free campus bus program services few

Manuel Rios Roundup Reporter

Rather than long walks to parking lots trudging up steep hills in withering heat, Pierce students should take advantage of the air conditioned courtesy shuttle bus which moves students to and from assigned areas every 10 minutes.

Computer engineering major Valdaiz Hicks, 19, says he thinks the shuttle bus is perfect.

“This is terrific,” Hicks said. “This is a lot better and it helps because out here it was a long walk especially on a hot day like this.”

Most students know little about the school’s shuttle bus, including the fact that it’s free.

Starting off at the student drop -off center, the shuttle bus has stops in performing arts parking lots east and west, Olympic Drive and Avenue of Champions.

Serra Koyshman, 19, said the shuttle bus is a “well kept secret.”

“The school bus is fantastic,” Koyshman said.

The courtesy shuttle bus runs on school days from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday and Friday until 3 p.m. It runs a dynamic route from the student drop-off in front of the Student Services Building to the outlier areas of parking lot 7.

SMS Transportation Services shuttle bus driver Minerva Espinoza says she drives about 4050 students per day. Pierce has a three-year contract with SMS and it costs roughly $37 per hour to provide, according to a Feb. 27, 2011 Roundup news report.

“Even when my shift’s over, I stay after to make sure every student is accounted for,” she said. “I tell the students that I can take them to their destination and they ask me how much it will cost.”

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Halloween Harvest starts 9/27

[HARVEST, cont. from page 1] the entire festival celebrates. For Halloween Harvest Festival 2013 the theme is “Flight for Life.” The meaning of the theme lies within the corn, according to McBroom.

“The corn fields are a huge part of the festival, but instead of trying to sell all of it once we are done, we are going to leave it on the ground after we cut it,” said McBroom.

“This year instead of growing commercial corn in the fields, we are growing animal feed type corn, primarily for the many Canadian geese that fly in every year around here that have nowhere else to find food. In this way, we can provide both a form of community service as well as a form of entertainment from the corn fields.”

The Halloween Harvest Festival is not limited to Pierce students, but is open for the entire community to enjoy.

Frankie Paglianti, a clerk in the Pierce Farm Center market said, “I’ve only been here for one Harvest Festival, but it’s both fun and crazy once it starts. It goes from quiet to insane just like that. We are selling pumpkins especially like crazy.”

The Halloween Harvest Festival has a $5 admission fee that goes straight back into the Pierce Farm Center with extra attractions such as the corn maze at a small additional fee. The festival opens Sept. 27 through Nov. 3.

For more information visit the official website at halloweenharvestfestival.com.