Due to the absence of shuttles making their rounds across campus, students have begun hitchhiking along the Spine to get to class.
Stu Ranger and Dan Ger, two junior sociology majors, are heading up the hitchhiking efforts by giving students rides. After being late to every class for three years because of the shuttles’ unreliability, they finally decided to use their cars for the good of others. “I just didn’t want other people to be late the way I was. It made my professors pretty mad,” Ranger said.
Ger, however, has a different motivation: “I just drive people around because I want to show off my Corvette ZR1. It put me into some serious debt, and the only thing that can repay it is getting compliments on it from other car guys.”
The two students have divided up responsibility to keep things running smoothly. Ranger handles the students down at the Ent Center and the 500 lot, and Ger picks students up from the Roaring Fork and Centennial Hall.
Ranger is proud of his DeLorean that he uses to fly students across campus. “Anywhere you want to go, I can take you. Even if there’s no roads. We don’t need them,” he said.
Last Tuesday, The Scribe accompanied Ranger on his rounds, because Ger was too busy detailing his Corvette to pick anyone up. Ranger spent the day circling the 500 lot overhead, stirring up the dust, but he considered his time to be “fairly productive.” He transported 15 students, some of which had opinions to share about the new system.
“I get a funny feeling about random people who come to pick me up in flying cars,” freshman English major Susy Picious said. “It makes me think I will never get to class.”
When asked why she got in the car anyway, Picious said, “I never really wanted to go to that class, so I don’t care if I miss it. It’s like a real-life Canvas discussion — it should’ve been an email.”
Nya Eve, a senior computer science major, had a different attitude. “I love this service! I get to go to class in style and get dropped off right at the door. And I’m never late, because this guy can just take me back in time to the moment class started,” they said.
In response to Ranger and Ger’s efforts, more and more students have begun to join the hitchhiking service. Ger has begun to keep a car registry of each participating student and their car. Some of the rides include an Aston Martin DB5, a Batmobile, a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, a Mach 5 and a Kia Soul.
Apart from the registry, an additional white van with the words “FREE CANDY” in Comic Sans font has been one of the most popular vehicles. Many students have flocked to the van, despite its presence correlating with a sudden spike in unexcused absences.
Students who want to get rides from strangers should contact a trusted friend instead.
A student waiting to be picked up. Photo by Lillian Davis.