Dallas Cab Drivers

Has anyone ever ridden in a taxi around Dallas and realized how unbelievably expensive it is? They charge you by the person and then put they’re flat rate on top of that, which, let’s be honest, isn’t always accurate by the company standards. I feel like I’m being completely ripped off though and charged far too much for a five-minute ride from place to place.

These taxi drivers frequent the Greenville bars and restaurants on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for a good reason: they know that at least one and as many as fourteen SMU students will jump in their cab looking for a ride. They’ve decided to take advantage of this by charging pricy amounts for each extra person in they’re car after one. Not only do they do this though, but then when you go to pay for the ride with a credit card because there’s nowhere near enough cash to pay for the ride, they get all upset because they won’t be able to pocket any of the tips we give.

I know there are some drivers out there that are very willing to work with us as students and are not trying to take advantage of us. But I feel like, in general, they are exploiting the basic fact that a lot of these people in they’re cab are in it because they cannot drive and are choosing a safe way to get home. I think it is wrong that cab drivers are looking to young college students to make a little extra money off of. They know we’ll be there every week , and that we are a big part of their income already. By charging such high prices, it makes students not as willing to pay for the cab ride home and more willing to either try driving home themselves or finding someone else to drive home, both options that are much riskier than taking a cab.

Anyone feel the same or differently about these drivers?

Speaking English

So I think we can all agree that SMU is a little pricy, yes? And with that price I think we can also all agree that we expect faculty who are capable of teaching us what we need to know in a way that we can understand. However, in my first two semesters being here, I have now had at least three teachers whom I cannot even understand enough to comprehend the words they are saying or the lessons they are teaching.

I don’t want this to come off at being prejudice or racist in any way because that is not my intention in writing this and is not part of who I am. I do however, believe that, before being given a position at this school to work as an educator, professors should have to pass some sort of English speaking test. My pre-calc teacher, my stat teacher, and my advertising teacher are all of foreign decent and were born in different countries. As a result, they all have very strong accents. This creates a problem for us as students because when they are lecturing to us for three hours a week every week and we can’t understand what they are saying, it robs us of valuable learning time.

Now I’m not saying every teacher should have to develop an American accent to teach here. I would just appreciate if SMU took the time to find educators who were capable of being understood, and that, if they did hire a teacher with a strong accent, that they made it a priority to have that teacher be reviewed on his or her lecturing capabilities before presenting them as a college-level professor.

Anyone have any thoughts on this one way or another?