Spring Break
Don't drink and drive, get a safe ride
By: Kenny Ryan
Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: News
| |
|
Car after car pulls into the small church parking lot across the street as Aggies make their way to the tiny building. Inside, a sense of energy and purpose brews as members of CARPOOL prepare to provide their service to the community: a night of free non-judgmental rides to anybody in need of one.
From the outside, the house looks like any other building laying outside of town. But inside, the walls are adorned with memorabilia, everything from "outstanding member" and "rookie of the year" awards, to posters honoring CARPOOL's accomplishments.
Tonight's theme is "Rappers vs. Rock Stars," and fans of the feuding arts are dressed accordingly. One member wears a giant digital clock hanging from a chain around his neck; others itch for their chance to play the house copy of "Guitar Hero."
As the clock nears 10 p.m., Chris McKinney, a junior political science major and the director in charge for the night - referred to by the acronym DIC by his subordinates - gathers the more than 30 members in attendance to a small tightly packed room to have a refresher covering all of CARPOOL's policies and procedures. These refreshers are every night before the organization starts taking calls to make sure everyone is prepared for the long night ahead.
CARPOOL is no typical organization; this became apparent when McKinney starts asking for nouns, verbs and adverbs from his audience. He then incorporates the hodgepodge of vocabulary into his presentation, turning this refresher into a game of "Mad Libs."
Courtney Cooke, a junior communication major and a vice chairwoman of CARPOOL for 2008-2009, explained that CARPOOL is about having a fun time while helping the community. By turning such mundane events as a training refresher into a game, CARPOOL turns the environment into one that its members look forward to coming back to.
This is one of the many reasons CARPOOL has grown so quickly in the past nine years into one of the largest organizations on campus, with members from all walks of life who have become friends thanks to a common cause.
"That's what I like about CARPOOL: you come in not knowing anybody and you make a lot of friends," Cooke said. "It's a lot of fun."
With the refresher out of the way, food is served. Tonight, the kitchen is stocked with a plethora of sodas and a table stacked high with boxes of pizza provided by Boston's restaurant, the night's sponsor. The men and the women square off in a game of "Simon Says" to compete for the right to eat first. Tonight the women win, which they say always happens.
The clock strikes 10 p.m., and members of the director staff head for the control room. Roughly the size of a campus dorm room, it serves as the nuclei of the organization. Six computers keep the room humming as the staff takes calls and monitors the location of its cars.
Three CARPOOL executives are tasked with constantly keeping in touch with the cars on assignment. At any given moment, they can know where a car is, how long it's been there and where it's going from a glance at their custom-made computer program, developed in-house by a member of the organization.
CARPOOL has 16 cars it rents from Enterprise for its services. Each car is driven by a team of two, always one man and one woman. One team member is given the role of driver and is told to focus strictly on the road.
The co-pilot handles everything else: adjusting the AC, controlling the radio and talking to the client in the back seat. The co-pilots are known as "navigators," and resting in their lap is the car's "Oracle," a binder full of area maps of all shapes and sizes to make sure the driver doesn't get lost finding the destination.
Cars are equipped with CARPOOL-provided cell phones, donated by Nokia with free service provided by AT&T. If their cell phones die, CARPOOL provides the cars with a box of supplies that includes spare change for pay phones. As extra security, each car is given a GPS device that can be tracked from the control room through a website.
The first of these car teams hits the road at 10:18 p.m. after CARPOOL receives its first call. The Schmitt house is a scene of perpetual motion as members busy themselves with a wide range of games and activities.
Some prepare for the weekend's CARPOOL Gala, others play "Mario Kart" or Catch Phrase and a few carry on old debates on the pros and cons of Hannah Montana, a.k.a. Miley Cyrus - pros? She has two personalities; cons? She isn't legal.
Rebecca Taylor, a graduate student in educational administration, is one of the University's two risk management staff advisers who works with CARPOOL.
"This year, when I heard there was a spot with CARPOOL, I came running," Taylor said. "We are so lucky to get the support of the [A&M] administration; I have a lot of respect for how they approach this organization here."
Cooke explained that CARPOOL was far and away the largest collegiate safe-ride program in the nation. She said this is partially thanks to the way the University supports it, unlike the stances other colleges have toward similar programs. A&M recently had a conference of safe ride programs from other universities, and she said all of the visitors asked what it was that made CARPOOL so successful.
"We're the biggest safe-riding program because A&M is such a big school that wants to be involved," Cooke said. "Other schools ask how we get so many people to want to join us. I explain it's because of the Aggie Spirit. Aggies help Aggies."
In the case of CARPOOL, Aggies don't just help Aggies. CARPOOL will give a ride to anyone who needs it. Sober or drunk, Aggie or not, when the phone rings in the Schmitt house, CARPOOL will be on its way.
As the night wears on, the house slowly empties as more calls come in and more cars hit the road. At 10:40 p.m. the games of choice are "Goldeneye," Scattegories and an intense round of Jenga. For members of CARPOOL, these games are only a small part of the reason they work so hard for the organization.
"I joined CARPOOL because I think it encompasses every good thing about an organization," said Caitlin Skelley, a sophomore nutrition major. "[CARPOOL combines] fun, service and being part of the Aggie community."
More than 300 applications were turned in for CARPOOL by Aggies who want to be part of the growing tradition. The organization has very modest requirements for what it expects from applicants.
"People must be nonjudgemental [because] we are a nonjudgemental organization," Cooke said before adding with a wink, "[and we want] people who can sit in a car for five hours at a time."
As such a rapidly growing organization, CARPOOL has set ambitious goals. One such goal is to instate a $2 million endowment within 10 years. With three years and $60,000 down, the initiative is picking up steam and has the potential to double its value during the next year.
"We have $60,000 as of February, and we just got a $25,000 pledge from Slovacek sausage," said McKinney, who is the endowment director for CARPOOL. "They offered $25,000 more if we can raise $25,000 ourselves [from other sources]. It's a challenge to us - they think we are the greatest thing since sliced bread."
The one-year clock for raising the money began Saturday at CARPOOL's Gala. McKinney said he is excited that CARPOOL is on its way to reaching the $2 million goal.
By 11:33 p.m., the house resembles a skeleton crew, with many more cars on duty. For those who remain at the home base, they entertain themselves with games of "Rampage World Tour" and Catch Phrase. In one room, the movie "The Sandlot" plays before a hushed crowd as the guys dream about getting their own pair of PF Flyers.
At a frenzied pace, CARPOOL continues to do its job late into the night. Rides are offered until 3 a.m. As the cars return from their duty, each pair of drivers is debriefed by the executive staff to and discuss the course of the night. Cooke said CARPOOL has gotten many of its best, most innovative ideas from these debriefs.
The final car rolls in at 4 a.m., signaling the end of another successful night for the organization. A glance at the monitor in the control room reveals that 282 rides were given to Aggies and other community members in the course of the night. The last members leave the house at 5 a.m., just less than two hours before the sun rises.
Finally, the little house on the edge of town is empty - its once-bustling halls are silent. To anyone passing by, it's just an old, quiet house. But for those who know, they see a house full of memories - a house which is merely lying dormant until the sun sets again.
Be sure to include your name, major, and class year. Submissions without this information are subject to deletion.
By submitting a comment, you agree to thebatt.com's Terms of Use.
You may also send a Mail Call to The Battalion at mailcall@thebatt.com