LASER Team vehicle parked outside Vaughn Center. Abby Sanford/The Minaret
See update and comment below by Rachel Rollo, LASER Team Supervisor. According to Rollo, the battery problems have been fixed and LASER Team is fully operational.
Over the past year, traveling around campus at night has been a safety issue and the LASER Team has been a sure way to get from point A to point B. That is, of course, if the golf cart batteries last long enough.
On Feb. 17-19, the LASER team carts were supposed to be driving students from parking garages, dorms and other venues. They had apparently shut down around 1 a.m. when they were supposed to be running until 2 a.m.
From Sunday to Wednesday LASER Team is supposed to run from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. From Thursday to Saturday the service runs from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
By a little after 1 a.m. on Thursday, students called in and were told that the carts had already been returned back to Thomas Parking Garage for the night because the batteries died and needed to be charged.
The LASER Team (Law Abiding Students Ever Ready) which was coined by Student Government has been providing a “Safe On-Campus Escort” for 19 years, giving free golf-cart rides around campus after hours.
The business has become well-known for quick, safe rides from dorms to late night food grills. The golf cart employees have built up a strong rapport for getting students where they need to be when they need to. But lately something hasn’t been going right.
Rachel Rollo, coordinator of student programs and events (which includes LASER Team) admitted to battery problems but said they aren’t too alarming.
Rollo said the carts were made in 2005, but UT began using them three years later. At the time of printing on Tuesday, Rollo said that the Golf Car Depot was coming by Wednesday to check them out.
“Hopefully it will be as easy as a battery replacement,” Rollo said.
Rollo said employees drive them safely and at the designated speed limits.
“We provide a safety service to students, not a chauffeur service,” said Rollo.
However if, one does have to be worked on, the LASER team hours might be reduced, or another cart might be rented, as the school has done in the past.
Even after LASER Team stops running, UT security can escort students if they need a ride.
“If students feel unsafe at any time, they can call security for an escort across campus,” Rollo said. “So while some of these carts have broken down early some nights, security is still an option for students finding themselves feel unsafe or alone at night.”
Kevin Howell, assistant director of campus safety and security hasn’t heard that the LASER team carts have stopped their service early and hasn’t seen it impact campus security.
“It depends on the specific night and whats going on,” Howell said.
Howell said that having the carts run is a benefit for security and as long as they are not busy it isn’t a problem if they give rides.
However, Howell said it really depends on the situation. If students need to get a ride from security they may have to wait longer because more important calls such as a response to a fight will have precedence over pick-up. Security has to prioritize each situation and they can’t have students on board when they respond to an emergency.
Officer Jackie Smith, UT security midnight shift superviser said he has seen an increase in pickups because LASER Team stopped running early due to battery issues and that the problem has been more frequent lately.
Smith said it varies but three out of the six days he worked last week, they were not running when he came in for his shift around 11:30 p.m.
“It’s not a problem but it could be,” Smith said. “If we got more serious calls, we’d have problems.”
He constantly monitors the radios especially when an office is tranfering a student. If a more serious event occurs he usually has to leave his post to cover for the call. Officers usually complete the transfer.
Students waiting outside of Straz one night said that they call and they call and continually wait but LASER Team never comes.
Students weren’t happy to hear that LASER Team wasn’t running during its usual hours.
“I can’t believe it shuts so early,” said Kate Coffey, a UT senior. Now’s when you want it, when its cold out it’d be annoying if I had to walk from the library to Rescom.”
“I don’t mind it but I know girls would,” said Max Agrodina, a UT senior. “It’s a safety thing.”
Charlie Hambos contributed to this report.
As the supervisor of the LASER Team, I would like to follow up on this article. The golf carts do have mechanical issues from time to time, and unfortunately, it takes a lot of time and money to repair them. This particular issue with the batteries lasted for one week, but the carts have been repaired and are fully functioning now. In fact, they were repaired before this article was even printed. I hope that UT students still feel that they can rely on this very beneficial and important service. LASER Team operates Sunday-Wednesday from 7pm-1am and Thursday-Saturday 7pm-2am. Call 813-257-4515 for a ride. As stated in the article, if for any reason LASER Team is not running and you do not feel safe walking across campus, please do not hesitate to contact Safety and Security for an escort.
a. In response to “autsenior”: It is security’s job to cover laser team shift if it stops early. That is school policy.
b. Security is approachable: you call their number. If you can’t trust our security officers, you have issues.
c. I’m sorry that you don’t feel safe. I wouldn’t walk alone either. That’s why security is there.
d. If you read the article, you would notice that the laser golf carts have been failing due to mechanical problems because they run every night for years and eventually breakdown. It costs time and money to fix them. They are getting them fixed so there is no need to complain.
e. In response to Kate Coffey: It’s annoying to walk from the library to Rescom in the cold? So what. Laser team is not there to drive you when you are cold. It is there to drive you when you don’t feel safe. It’s one thing to not feel safe; it’s another thing to be lazy. Put on a coat or something.
f. To Charlie Hambos: What is the point of this article?? Were you thinking, “I’m going to write an article about a free service on campus that keeps people safe and slam them for having unforeseen mechanical problems during the semesters of daily use.” Why did you not bother to interview the actual drivers of the laser team???? How do you think they feel when they can’t perform their jobs? That doesn’t seem like fair reporting. You should do research for your investigative articles before you interview people with bias questions prepared. For being the Editor-in-Chief, you need to grow up.
I have called various times in the past 3-4 weeks to get a ride from laser team from Urso to Stadium. On the weekends, I called once at 12:45am and during the week, I called 4 times at 11pm. All times I called, Laser team had stopped running for the night. If security was more approachable, I would have called them, but all times I walked the campus alone. I did not feel safe, especially on kennedy blvd waiting for the light. Not after all the incidents we have had.
It should not be security’s job to cover laser teams shift.