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Show OPINIONS r VOL L ISSUE 1 JULY 5, 2010 www.uvureview.com New master plan should include bike paths By CELESTE THOLEN Asst. Opinions Editor : " While some students, due to how far > ; away they live, may not realistically be able * * to take a bike to school ever)' day, those of -, us who live closer may find it in our benefit > ; to do so. *>"" Student Body President Richard Port";• - wood said, "We don't have the capability of •; • building more parking... [Alternative modes >;" of transportation] are essential to our devel- by four years of college (and that's if the student finishes that quickly), it comes to $745.68 - or two semesters of student fees. If a student chose to ride a bike that same distance, the only cost would be the bicycle and its occasional tire repairs and replacements. Wal-Mart currently prices adult bikes from $75, which could be paid for with less than a tenth of the price of driving to school. :•• o p m e n t . " Aside from parking and fiscal benefits, With overcrowded parking lots, and our slowing down and getting a little exercise ' , • • inability to expand parking, biking is a good can be helpful. Riding a bike gives you a ".• alternative. If more people were to bike, better chance to come across outdoor activi' perhaps the greatest concern most would ties and facilities you may not know about < have would be finding a spot on the bike when you're confined to the hallways and " rack closest to your classes. parking lots. Altogether, biking saves you Think biking may be too time-consum- money, gives you an opportunity to become ing? How long do you spend each day driv- more engaged on campus, and is the best aling to school and getting a parking spot? ternative to fighting for a parking spot. How much do you spend on the gas it takes Therefore, UVU should seek to put more to get you to school and a parking pass bike paths on campus. Ideally, standard sixeach year? Have you tried getting yourself foot-wide bike lanes on each side of the around in something other than a car? road would be installed instead of the curLet's do some math. Setting a realistic rent three- to four-feet wide shoulders. parameter, let's consider a person within a With the recent approval of UVU's new three mile radius who drives to school each master plan to expand the campus and its day. Unleaded gasoline in Orem is cur- roads, and UTA's plan to extend TRAX to rently, on average, $2.82 a gallon. A mid- Orem, perhaps the installation of bike paths sized vehicle may get (on a high) 26 mpg. could further improve the campus and its If that were to be a constant price, each year safety in bicycle travel and accessibility. (not including any summer semesters), that Like the University of Utah and BYU, we student spends $106.42 on gas only to get should give students an option to become to school. Add in the additional cost of an less reliant on automotive travel, making the annual parking pass for $80 and that takes commute more affordable. *™ ?^r86.42 out of a pocket a year. Multiply that Touching up bike paths could give students a pocket- and environment-friendly way to get to school. Ul.V- Grabbing a good deal 1 The Geneva purchase isn't just about the sports By MATTHEW A. JONASSAINT Opinons Editor It's hard not to be a little suspicious about the Geneva land purchase. No, it's definitely not because there's a man somewhere behind a curtain twirling his mustache while plotting world domination. And it's not unreasonable to think that the campus Powers That Be have only the best intentions extending farther into the future than we can currently see. But there just seems to be something strange about .spending $5 million on property - and for intramurals, no less - in the middle •of a wave of budget cuts. As reported in this issue's news section, UVU is ".currently awaiting approval from the Board of Regents ; to purchase 100 acres of /Jand east of Utah Lake for "the intramural sports program. The $20 million value will be halved with a donation from Anderson Geneva, then another $5 million from Vineyard - leaving $5 million to UVU and private donors. The land will then be turned into fields for rugby, soccer and other intramural sports. Although not immediately likely, it's plausible that someday there could be space for a football team. The school in general does, however, seem to be in the middle of some hard financial times. Each department is going through some of the biggest budget cuts yet, some student jobs may suffer, tuition has just gone up and1 the entire school is under a hiring freeze. So the critical question is, where is the money coming from? Some of it will come from private donors and some will come from the athletics department. Some of it may even come from a loan from the UVU Foundation. If some of the money is coming from athletics, then some of it is coming from students because stu- Ceurtesy of slocfcxchng The potential Intramural field will be the new home of rugby games. dent fees fund athletics, and hence most of the intramural programs. Student fees may not help pay for the Geneva purchase, but if they are, shouldn't students Jcnow? Intramurals are not necessarily an unworthy reason for using student fees and a loan. But when we can't even hire faculty (never mind adequately paying current faculty), one must ask: Why now? And why intramurals when, as stated by Sr. ASfeociate Athletic Director D. J. Smith, we have enough trouble getting students to attend basketball and baseball games? Construction is cheap during this recession, and that may be one reason for seizing the opportunity now. But perhaps it's possible there is a long-term benefit to the land that extends beyond the current request for expanding the intramurals program - potential student housing, for example, or another satellite campus extension. All of this is still unknown, and it may take some time before we learn anything official; the purchase isn't set in stone until the Board of Regents gives the stamp of approval. Despite rumors of a possible stadium, students will have to prove they are appreciative of more intramurals space before anyone can start thinking about a football team. But what's important for the school requires hindsight. Only time will tell if these ideas were good ones to bank on in the middle of struggling with other insututional finances, but at tne same time: taking advantage of a good opportunity typically can't hurt -, and stu- dents would do well to pay more attention to the current sports programs before getting too ambitious over a football team. Additional reporting by Gladis Higginbotham. If you'd like to voice your appreciation or concern about the Geneva purchase, contact Student Body PresiBent Richard Portwood. |
