Bike Cops Are Buckling Down
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THE THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN STRIP CLUB Bike Cops are COLLEGIAN the unseen Tuesday, October 15, 2013 • Volume 122 No. 46 • collegian.com scourge that resides on the campus of Colorado State. While profess- ing to regulate our cycling endeavors, they also provide a thorny pain Bike cops are in our sides whenever we are pulled over for some minor offense or an- other. However, there are worse buckling down things than the bike cops… By Josephine Bush goes to funding the bike racks on campus, The Rocky Mountain Collegian signage, student bike enforcement offi- cers, student employees that handle the In the past month, bike cops have is- payments and appeals of bike tickets, the sued 376 tickets, collecting a combined bike fleet and bicycle encouragement and total of approximately $8,675 in fines. education events. The CSU Bike Cops are out and they are not slowing down. They are cracking down on and ticketing students on cam- THINGS pus and making sure they abide by traffic “Our job is teach MORE laws. students how not to AGGRIVAT- “Our job is to teach students how not ING THAN to get into trouble and to keep them safe,” get into trouble and said Matthew Staley, Colorado State Uni- BIKE COPS versity officer. keep them safe.” Students who commute by bike are getting pulled over by CSU bike police. According to Officer Staley, the most Matthew Staley common ticketing offenses are biking in a Colorado State University dismount zone, riding through stop signs, officer not registering their bikes and lacking a headlight while riding their bikes when it “There were 1,090 bike tickets issued REGULAR is dark out. in the ‘11-’12 school year, so that breaks COPS “Everything we pull students over for down to 3.6 tickets issued daily,” Chil- Imagine bike is regarding their safety ... for instance, if dress said. cops, just with a student gets pulled over at night with- Last month, the ticket breakdown cars. They run out a light, we often hand out free lights,” was approximately 12.5 -- nearly four you down when Staley said. times what last year’s was. you least ex- pect them and According to Staley, it is not about Michael Faulkner, a wildlife biology weigh down pulling students over to make an income, major at CSU, has been a student bike cop your car in tick- but rather to educate them about their for six years. According to Faulkner, if ev- ets. Worse still, safety. eryone follows the laws, working together they show up at parties just for However, students are paying the does wonders. the sheer plea- price. “It never gets old. I’m a shy individual, sure of denying According to Joy Childress, Traffic but I love that people know about us and a good party. and Bike Education and Enforcement we can get our message out. It is kind of #buzzkillers Program Coordinator, there were 376 a community push for safety,” Faulkner bike tickets issued last month. said. According to Childress, only one Faulkner works for the CSU commu- KEVIN JOHANSEN COLLEGIAN SEGWAY student appealed their ticket and 58 of nity to keep students safe in hopes of ev- the 376 took the bike seminar online for Bike cops are known across campus for many different reasons. CSU graduate officer COPS eryone following the laws. Matthew Staley takes pride in his work as he tries to make CSU a safer place for its You thought ticket reduction. The money from tickets See BIKE COPS on PAGE 3 students. the bike cops were aggravat- ing? Try the humiliating experience of being forced to stand next “We’re really to a friggin’ Segway in the worried this money FoCo Girls mall while an overweight may not come in rent-a-cop cites you for what- Nov. 1.” Gone Derby ever reason. By Hannah Hemperly Marc Barker The Rocky Mountain Collegian manager of veterans benefits They’re quick. They’re feisty. And they’re on skates. FoCo Girls Gone Derby were dressed to the nines this past Saturday at the Qdoba Events Center for the “Black and Benefits Blue Ball,” where Cinder Hellas and Psy- OTHER cho Sirens went head to head decked out CYCLISTS/ in prom dresses and sequins galore. PEDESTRI- FoCo Girls Gone Derby, the first ANS northern Colorado derby league, has Let’s be honest, on hold ELIOTT FOUST COLLEGIAN been around since 2006 and has been for all we com- Head coach Jim McElwain discusses the Ram’s loss to San Jose State University, taking members, anywhere from lawyers plain about the despite the steady improvements the team has shown throughout the season. to cat ladies. bike police at least they aren’t Chloe Muir, a junior biology major, everywhere at for vets started with the FoCo Girls Gone Derby once. Regular By Scott Fromberg in Sept. of 2012 and by March, she was people doing dumb things on The Rocky Mountain Collegian ‘Shirley Temper Tantrum’ in her first Addressing the problem bout the track. the sidewalk or on their own If the partial government shut- Though he is frustrated that Alabama Muir, who stands at 5 foot 4 inch, says bikes swamp the down continues into October, veterans McElwain discusses isn’t the only game they’ve lost, Head that the first response she gets is, “You campus at all Coach Jim McElwain isn’t ready to play derby? You’re so tiny, though. I can’t times of the day, will not see benefits on the first of No- which can ruin vember, according to Veterans Affairs team’s standing in push the panic button. see you being aggressive.” Shirley Dosch, who came to see your day just Secretary Eric Shinski, in a testimony “There’s lots of disappointment, a as much as any in front of the House Veterans Affairs press conference lot of hurt, but that’s good,” he said in Dawn Rider, the “Husker Hussler,” loved cycling police Committee. Monday’s press conference. “We are the get-up of the night. officer. As of Oct. 1, backlogged disability By Cali Rastrelli putting ourselves in the position to win. “Ridiculous costumes always make things fun,” Dosch said. Written by the editorial claims have increased by 2,000 people, The Rocky Mountain Collegian I’m not sure we had done that for a lot assistant. Designed by the according to the VA. of years.” Skaters and referees alike were chief designer. With VA employees being fur- The wildly popular Geico com- Of course, it almost hurts worse to See DERBY on PAGE 8 loughed, disability checks may come in mercial featuring a camel on hump day be a hair's width away from a win and later than usual. epitomizes this season for the Rams. end up with an loss than if it wasn’t an CSU Veterans receiving tuition as- They are stuck on the hump between option in the first place. But while the INSIDE TODAY sistance or the GI bill should also be failure and success, but they are happy Rams had spent ample years in the lat- receiving FASFA, according to Marc to be there. ter category, they haven’t had much ex- Barker, manager of veterans benefits perience with the former. They intend OPINION TUESDAY at CSU. FAFSA can assist veterans to take full advantage. with their hardships. All students not “It’s like taking a punch, but we are enrolled in both veteran and federal “There’s lots of going to punch right back and come Debate: Corruption vs. Necesssity? Is benefit programs should do so imme- disappointment, back stronger the next time,” offensive Back on Trac good for students? diately via the student financial aid of- tackle Brandon Haynes said. “If we ex- opinion page 4 fice because FAFSA can help pick up a lot of hurt, but ecute, we are going to come out on top.” the slack when military benefits do not After watching the film from Satur- come through. that’s good.” day’s game, McElwain regained some Students are not alone in this bat- of the gumption he had lost after the Guest Column: Are you tle. tough loss. While he had never given up a fair trade student? "It's a case by case basis,” Barker Jim McElwain on his team, he said it was reassuring to opinion page 4 said. “If a veteran needs $1,000 or less head football coach recognize the mistakes that occurred for rent or other important things, and were not due to a lack of effort. their benefits aren't coming in — they A year ago, McElwain could have can get help. The Veterans Benefits Of- After Saturday’s loss to San Jose easily pinned a loss on the motivation Fosdick: People should fice or the Adult Learner Veteran Stu- State, the Rams have fallen to a 2-4 re- of his players. But since then, he has learn to take “no” for dent Center (ALVS) will guide them cord but they have had every opportu- worked to change the mindset of an answer See VETERAN on PAGE 3 nity to be sitting pretty on 5-1 instead. See MCELWAIN on PAGE 6 opinion page 4 2 Tuesday, October 15, 2013 | The Rocky Mountain Collegian collegian.com FORT COLLINS FOCUS IN BRIEF Campus News (970) 491-378 CSU presents the 2013 RamRide Natural Gas Symposium Wednesday and Thursday at Volunteers Needed the Hilton Fort Collins from Are you interested in vol- 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. The unteering for RamRide? If so, third annual event will fea- they are in need of volunteers ture Chuck Davidson, CEO of for the following dates: Noble Energy; Jeff Immelt, Friday CEO of GE; John Minge, 3 Dispatch President and Chairman of Saturday BP America; Mark Brown- 1 Driver stein of the Environmental For more information on Defense Fund; and U.S.