Now it’s certainly true that everyone has the right to choose how he or she gets to class. Some choose to take the shuttle, some drive, the occasional peculiar person rollerblades or uses a scooter and the majority of us walk.
There is a small percentage of students, however, who choose to get around campus in the most irritating way possible: biking.
On one hand, our school has set up a great program for students to be able to rent or purchase bikes through UBike, which is a fantastic way to give people the opportunity to get a bike if they really want one.
On the other hand, the reality of the situation is that the system has not worked out well.
The actual rules state that all bikes must be ridden on the road with the flow of traffic as far to the right side as possible. Most people biking choose to weave and cut through hundreds of people walking along the sidewalks, narrowly avoiding hitting everyone by a matter of inches.
I cannot even tell you the number of times I’ve resisted throwing a book at a nearby biker and hoped to watch him hit a tree. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way.
Another aspect is that people get sick of their bikes, always having to lock them up, unlock them, find a bike rack and so on. When people don’t care for their bikes anymore, the result is about 30 rusting, dented, twisted bikes, locked up in a cluttered pile next to every dormitory.
Is that really what we want sitting there? You’ll never see a picture of that on the UM Web site.
The bottom line is that it takes 20 minutes to walk clear across our campus, and with the sharp turns and sometimes congested walkways, it takes nearly 15 minutes to bike across it.
Are those extra five minutes so important? What’s the rush?
Our campus is beautiful, and more of us need to appreciate that we are blessed enough to go to school here. It’s this writer’s opinion that everywhere on campus is within walking distance, as long as you take the time.
Evan Peskin is a sophomore majoring in pre-med psychology. He may be contacted at epeskin@themiamihurricane.com.