Students Elect Limos for Transport
These days students are not only using limos for their prom night - the flyers reminding everyone of Election Day are everywhere; campaign workers roamed the halls early in the afternoon knocking on doors; campaign posters for the candidates are posted up on bulletin boards. And professional hired limousines are driving students to the polling station at 401 North Boundary Street.
It is City Council Election Day in Williamsburg, and for the first time, students make up a large percentage of the registered voters.
As a black limousine wound its way around the parking lot outside Yates Hall and came to a stop next to the baseball backstop, Student Assembly Undersecretary for Student Voting David Witkowski ’11 is sitting with his back to the driver. He quickly begins briefing the students who pile into the limo, on what they will face when they arrive at the polling station.
Form his limo workstation, Witkowski gives them directions to walk there from the drop-off point at the Amtrak Station, located a few blocks away and where it is easier for the limousines to turn around. He makes sure they know the physical address of their dormitories, and verifies that they have some sort of identification. He adds that the limo will be back to pick them up as soon as they are done.
According to Witkowski, the limo hire was organised after it was decided that the limousines would get people out to vote. For each of the three limousines, a Student Assembly member is assigned to make sure students are prepared to vote, while other SA members hold signs directing students to the pick-up and drop-off locations.
The limousines were rented using funds from the SA’s Off-Campus Account. This is separate from the Student Activities Account, and funds for the Off-Campus Account are generated by fundraising.
It seems that kids are in fact growing up earlier these days. Once upon a time it was only corporations that hired limos to impress their clients. The message is clear, you can’t beat a limousine to make an impression; as can be seen even student bodies use them to convey an image of a dynamic professional organisation.
