Letter to the editor

This archived article was written by: Christina Lasslo

Editor:
With an alarming number of tragedies striking America, the last thing we need is a false sense of security and false publishing. That is why I am writing this response to the recent article in The Eagle, “CEU’s 15- Passenger Vans Deemed Safe Despite Recent Tragedy.”
I am a student at CEU, and recently my rock climbing class boarded these vans for our trip to the Quarry. It was quite obvious that these vans were not as safe as they had appeared to be, simply because they had not been properly maintained.
My instructor, Nathan, checked the pressure in the tires the Saturday before we left and informed the maintenance team that it was half of what it should be: 42 psi (pounds per square inch) on all four tires when they needed to be set at 75 psi.
On Tuesday when 15 of us students boarded those vans, the same maintenance sheet Nathan had left on Saturday was still in our van, making it quite clear that nothing had been done to maintain these vans and insure our safety. A simple mistake like this, along with reckless driving, was the cause of the fatal accident at Utah State. I can only thank God that Nathan was responsible enough to double-check the psi and fix the problem himself before it had dire consequences. The writer of this article even openly stated that the largest problem with the passenger vans is that in most cases tires are not inflated to the proper weight.
Given the description of my rock climbing class experience with these vans, wasn’t it false reporting to state on the front page of our newspaper, “CEU’s 15- passenger Vans Deemed Safe Despite Recent Tragedy,” when our maintenance team failed to fix a problem that they had been made aware of?
If an article is going to be published in big bold letters on the front of the newspaper, please make sure you are not checking only what CEU claims to be doing, but what they actually are doing. My own safety was in jeopardy, and it was quite frustrating boarding a van with half of what the tire pressure needed to be, especially because of Utah State’s recent tragedy. However, it was even more frustrating to see an article claiming the van’s safety making the front page of our newspaper.