John Ferretti has driven the less-than-a-mile loop from Caritas Christi, to the Administration Building circle countless times. His friendly wave is often seen at stop signs and pedestrian cross walks on the Seton Hill University (SHU) campus, where he waits for students to safely make it to a sidewalk before letting off the brakes of a familiar grey van.
Students, faculty, and visitors to SHU are relieved to see his face when making the journey from Parking Lot D to main campus, for Ferretti is one of the shuttle drivers at SHU.
By Stormy Knight,
News Editor
John Ferretti has driven the less-than-a-mile loop from Caritas Christi, to the Administration Building circle countless times. His friendly wave is often seen at stop signs and pedestrian cross walks on the Seton Hill University (SHU) campus, where he waits for students to safely make it to a sidewalk before letting off the brakes of a familiar grey van.
Students, faculty, and visitors to SHU are relieved to see his face when making the journey from Parking Lot D to main campus, for Ferretti is one of the shuttle drivers at SHU.
�I�m almost like a psychiatrist or a barber because I hear all kinds of stories,� said Ferretti.
�The students feel free to voice their problems on the shuttle…sometimes I give them good advice and sometimes I can�t,� he said. Sometimes, Ferretti added, students cry on the shuttle.
�It’s happened four or five times this semester already,� he said.
Though he may be a mentor and emotional outlet for students, Ferretti’s main goal is to safely transport people to various places on campus.
Ferretti initially worked in the campus police department, then moved on to the shuttle, which he has driven for four years. In his downtime, Ferretti coaches youth football for Jeanette School District, and will coach for Greensburg Central Catholic this season.
There are three shuttle shifts, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1 to 6 p.m., and 6 to 10 p.m. Despite the fact that the shuttle runs for 15 hours straight, some students still voice problems with the shuttle services. According to Ferretti, there are often two vans running in the morning and only one in the afternoon and evenings.
�If you do your math, that doesn’tcome out even. People get upset if they have to wait an extra five minutes,� Ferretti said. �They�ll ask me where I�ve been – where could I have been? I never leave the shuttle, I even eat lunch in here.�
Ferretti does not have the opportunity to take breaks on his shift. Those who use the shuttle often also complain that the older General Motor Company (GMC) van is too high off the ground.
�SHU owns the GMC van, and it is old, but it runs so frequently so we don’tput miles on the new van,� said Ferretti.
The GMC van usually runs the entire shift, and occasionally the new shuttle runs for about four hours at a time. Ferretti has no control over which van is used.
As for the students, Ferretti has a few qualms of his own, especially with people parking in the Administration circle.
�Sometimes there’s six, seven, eight cars out there,� he said, �If there was ever a fire, it would be a real hazard because the trucks couldn’tget through here.�
Ferretti also has difficulty driving through Parking Lot A because students sometimes back out of their parking spots too quickly.
�I�ve learned to slow down because it’s hard for students to see sometimes until they get out of their parking spot so far, but what some of them do is they back out too fast,� Ferretti said.
He added that students who park after the first stop sign on campus, near the art department, pose a hazard as well.
�They just park there and put their flashers on, and this is a thru road,� he said.
It is hard for Ferretti to maneuver the van around illegally parked vehicles.
�Signs mean nothing to people,� he said, �I wish I had a dollar for everyone who went through a stop sign.�
The road leading from main campus to Caritas Christi also poses a problem for the shuttle drivers.
�Try driving on it for five hours. It’s like going from the Pennsylvania to the Ohio Turnpike,� said Ferretti.
Littering is also a problem in the parking lots and roads on campus.
�The maintenance crew is awesome with the way they keep campus clear of debris and snow, that’s important in my job,� he said
Despite some minor problems on both ends, Ferretti enjoys his job.
�After all, there’s wonderful kids here and even if I have complaints, after what happened at Virginia Tech, I remember that they�re just kids,� he said.
Ferretti becomes very attached to the students he sees everyday and it saddens him when they graduate.
�Kids never yell at me, people wave, I know people’s names,� said Ferretti.
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