Student protests inappropriate warning stickers on bicycles
Issue date: 9/20/07 Section: Letters
I recently found two stickers attached to my bicycle warning me not to secure it to anything other than a bike stand or else risk its impoundment. I appreciate these warnings from the Department of Public Safety and do not intend to intentionally violate the rules about having a bike on campus in the future, unless out of necessity.
However, I find these stickers completely inappropriate. There are not nearly enough racks on campus for bicycles to be secured safely without risking damage to either my or another person's bike. As a person who has had a bicycle stolen on this campus before (in 2005), I, as well as many other students I know, am unwilling to simply leave my bicycle parked beside the already crowded rack.
Perhaps DPS should reorganize its budget and provide less funding for warning stickers so it can purchase more racks. A bicycle rack would not be difficult to make for someone who had simple welding skills - perhaps there are mechanically inclined students on campus who would be willing to work to that effect for scholarship hours. I am fully aware that extra funds are difficult to come by in any school setting, including universities, and therefore I understand DPS's failure to correct this problem in the past.
If DPS is unable to obtain more bicycle racks, however, and must continue attaching stickers to students' bicycles, perhaps it should attach them to pedals, wheel spokes, seats or handlebars - not the main body, or tubes, from which white adhesive residue is difficult to remove. Furthermore, if there is another sticker placed over the paint on my bicycle (my private property), I will expect to be compensated for any damage that may occur in its removal. I believe other Truman students feel the same way.
Elizabeth Simmons
Senior
However, I find these stickers completely inappropriate. There are not nearly enough racks on campus for bicycles to be secured safely without risking damage to either my or another person's bike. As a person who has had a bicycle stolen on this campus before (in 2005), I, as well as many other students I know, am unwilling to simply leave my bicycle parked beside the already crowded rack.
Perhaps DPS should reorganize its budget and provide less funding for warning stickers so it can purchase more racks. A bicycle rack would not be difficult to make for someone who had simple welding skills - perhaps there are mechanically inclined students on campus who would be willing to work to that effect for scholarship hours. I am fully aware that extra funds are difficult to come by in any school setting, including universities, and therefore I understand DPS's failure to correct this problem in the past.
If DPS is unable to obtain more bicycle racks, however, and must continue attaching stickers to students' bicycles, perhaps it should attach them to pedals, wheel spokes, seats or handlebars - not the main body, or tubes, from which white adhesive residue is difficult to remove. Furthermore, if there is another sticker placed over the paint on my bicycle (my private property), I will expect to be compensated for any damage that may occur in its removal. I believe other Truman students feel the same way.
Elizabeth Simmons
Senior
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