New cart makes escorts a breeze

The Youngstown State University Student Security Service recently purchased a new golf cart for student escort purposes with grant money from the Hine Fund Sub-Committee of the Youngstown Foundation.

The Hine Memorial Fund awards grant money to help children and adults with disabilities throughout the Youngstown area. The gas-powered cart will make transportation both easier and safer for the students as well as the escorts.

Ian Watson, a member of the YSU Student Security Service staff, has already noticed the resilience of the new cart.

“From the limited amount of time that we have had it, I can already tell a big difference in durability. Because it is gas-powered, it has a better time of making it up the hills on campus,” Watson said. “It will be very helpful in allowing us to do our jobs more efficiently and get our students to their classes in a timely fashion.”

The new cart replaced an old cart that had undergone sporadic use. It contains a ramp for wheelchairs, a horn, wheelchair straps, headlights and a light on the roof for evening pickups.

“It relieves some of the pressure from us escorting long distances,” said Vince Butka, also of the Student Security Service.

Members of the Student Security Service have been trained on how to use the new cart.

“All security aides needed to pass a road course, as well as securing wheelchairs to the inside of the cart,” said staff member Eric Grischow.

The new cart has also come in handy for purposes other than the escort service, such as transporting students with a documented or registered disability and transporting the escorts to fill crime prevention boxes on the campus.

1 comments Dee Smith Tue Jan 29 2013 15:31 Wow, this student can write!