FAIRBANKS — A bicycle loan program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has proven to be extremely popular, even though students have to wait in long lines to participate.
In the latest go round, film and theater student Tyler McClendon claimed the first spot in line at 8 a.m. Saturday, four hours before bikes were distributed.
The prize is a free bicycle offered on loan for the next six weeks by the UAF Office of Sustainability through its Green Bikes program, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
The program offers mountain bikes on a first-come, first-served basis.
The program was launched in spring 2011 with a $10,000 sustainability grant. Green Bikes has about 50 bicycles available, up from an initial fleet of 20.
“We’ve always had more people in line than bikes,” said Michelle Sutton, a coordinator of the program. “We’re always adding more to try to keep up.”
On Saturday, McClendon held a place in line for his girlfriend, sophomore theater student Sierra Trinchet.
Trinchet rides more than four miles onto campus from Gold Hill, and said her current clunker isn’t working out.
“Just being able to shift gears will make it a lot nicer,” she said. “And this has the word ‘green’ in it, so I’m good.”
The program aims to cut exhaust emissions on campus and make UAF more environmentally friendly.
It also offers winterized bikes — with studded tires, insulated hand covers and low-temperature gear grease — starting in mid-October.
UAF Recreation Director Mark Oldmixon said the program is among several factors behind growing bike traffic on campus in recent years. Improved winter technology and more bicycle-friendly roadways also have led more bike traffic, according to Oldmixon.
“I’ve been here seven years, and I’ve definitely seen an increase,” he said.
___
Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com
Comments (25)
Add commentSierra said, "And this has
Sierra said, "And this has the word ‘green’ in it, so I’m good."
It's so easy to fool some of the people, some of the time...do you suppose Sierra realizes that she's paying for the 'free bike prize'?
From AASHE.org (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) -
29.Students Take the Lead for Innovative Sustainability Programs at America's most Northern University
Conference: AASHE 2011
Category: Co-Curricular EducationPlanning, Admin, and EngagementHuman Resources
Authors: Michele Hebert
Type: Concurrent Session Workshop
Organization: University of AlaskaFairbanks
Abstract:
The students of University of Alaska Fairbanks, in 2009 voted a $20 dollar sustainability fee, which is matched by the Chancellor and anticipated to raise $5,000,000 over its 10-year initiative. The Office of Sustainability was created in 2010 to assist the students in managing these funds. Since then we have begun institutionalizing sustainability and changing the culture at UAF. There will be introduction on the Student Lead Initiative, followed by an overview of student position, student projects and the RISE Board which manage the funds. Programs highlight in the presentation will include: the green bike program, our first solar PV projects, power saving auto cords, local foods initiatives and the student RISE board that manages the funds.
"AASHE’s mission is to empower higher education to lead the sustainability transformation." It's another 501(c)3 with a $2M+ annual budget. And of course Soros' fingerprints are all over it.
And we wonder why America's education system comes up woefully short when compared to the rest of the world...because a certain segment of Americans are busy, busy indoctrinating our young people...
If only student/teacher ratios were our biggest worry...
Pay attention people to what's happening right in front of our eyes.
Calypso, Good info, thank
Calypso,
Good info, thank you.
I wonder what the admin cost are for this program.
Do they care?
If these folks really cared about the environment they'd attend school in a location with a more moderate climate!
above comments are
hunh?? the above comments are astonishingly ignorant.
Great program UAF
@ NewLife & Calypso
wow. just wow. I am continually baffled at your basic hostility and vitriol.
I read the student's "green" comment as a snarky joke. Maybe neither of you has ever heard irony or sarcasm before?
You continually spew the "if you criticize you have to give it up" line of thought. If you have ever been to Fairbanks you would know about winter air quality. Anytime you can take a car off the winter roads has an impact on air quality. And really: anyone who rides a bike to class at 40 below has oodles more Alaskan cred than anyone who drives a car at 40 below.
Since you are criticizing a bicycle program you have to give up the use of the wheel, gears, roads, and anything that comes from naive attempts to make the world a better place. Please note: Jesus naively tried to make the world a better place. By your train of “logic” you must give up all teachings of Jesus. For some reason, I don't think that would change anything about either of you.
@boorba - tone down the drama
@boorba - tone down the drama with your "basic hostility and vitriol" accusations.
Some of us are just fed up with all this "sustainability" blather in all aspects of our lives. Since when was it a university's job to pass out "free" bikes? And doing it under the guise of "green this and that" with a projected haul of $5M over 10 years from the very students it purports to help?
If you read the post from the AASHE (which I can't even believe exists) you should be angry that this kind of agenda has invaded our institutions of higher learning.
I looked and looked for a dollar amount in the budget of the UofA for the Sustainability Office but it's well hidden, by design I'm sure, because I couldn't find anything.
I don't know if you have kids in college but what do you suppose contributes to the cost of a higher education these days? It's crap stuff like "bicycle loan programs".
How 'bout this - you want to ride a bike in Fairbanks in the winter, go to the local bike shop, a small privately run business, and rent one.
An ever growing majority of Americans are sick and tired of government intruding into our lives and making we taxpayers accountable for picking up the tab for an ever smaller minority of kooks that have fostered and pushed their agenda on us.
America is out of money and if we don't take some drastic actions I don't think you're going to enjoy the aftermath of this overspending, at all levels.
Yeah, I'm pizzed and your attitude contributes to my "basic hostility and vitriol".
And leave Jesus out of your lame argument.
I always think information is a good thing. If anyone is interested where the "roots" of political correctness started, here's a good article on the Frankfurt School and what they have been able to accomplish within America's education system. We are reaping the "rewards" this many years later...
http://frankfurtschool.us/history.htm
@Calypso
The internet was created for universities and research institutes to share information. A government sponsored program. [see "ARPANET"]
Time to get off line and stop using things created by "kooks."
I'll be worried when kids stop trying to make the world a better place.
Our Vision: (AASHE)"AASHE
Our Vision: (AASHE)
"AASHE envisions a prosperous, equitable, and ecologically healthy world. In such a world, higher education plays a vital role in ensuring that people have an understanding of the interdependencies between environmental, social, and economic forces and the skills and abilities to meet sustainability challenges."
http://www.aashe.org/about/aashe-mission-vision-goals
"you should be angry that this kind of agenda has invaded our institutions" Calypso
Calypso, I think you should call 911 and get some help.
elboob - I don't know how
elboob - I don't know how using the internet has anything to do with your argument.
I don't have to stop using anything just because I disagree with giant government intrusion and propaganda at every turn.
Whatever...
@conner - oh, doesn't that
@conner - oh, doesn't that sound so gentle and touchy, feely!!
You're such a good little sheeple to be spreading the "message"!!
Alert, alert... National debt
Alert, alert...
National debt just passed $16,000,000,000,000...
$5,400,000,000,000 under Obama in less than 4 years
@calypso
One would almost think that running up debt would be unamerican.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyLmru6no4U
calypso,
with all that debt racked up, I wonder, I bet Obama has racked up a few frequent flyer miles... which he probably just became president so he could make the million mile club.
And Michelle, she's probably spent a few trillion herself.
I bet george soros has a personal FED credit card, huh? Right?!? Oh ya!
And Al Gore too!
yaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnn
"If these folks really cared
"If these folks really cared about the environment they'd attend school in a location with a more moderate climate!"
Ummm, what?
I'm confused with the exclamation mark at the end...
I would suggest a question mark be more applicable.
National debt per household
National debt per household on Jan. 20, 2009 - $90,412
Today - $136,260
Since poof doesn't seem to think this is a big deal, perhaps she can chip in for the rest of us.
Darn right increased public
Darn right increased public debt should get a thumbs down! Obama certainly thinks it's unamerican to borrow money from the Bank of China and increase the national debt. He has said so in no uncertain terms.
I've got 99 problems, but math ain't one
Number of dirt particles per household on Jan. 20, 2009 - 9.5 trillion
Today - 11 trillion
Number of bacterial and fungal cells per person on Jan. 20, 2009 - 90 trillion
Today - 90 trillion (plus one!)
Annual swear words per household on Jan. 20, 2009 - 1,244
Today - 1,537
Glasses of milk spilled per household on Jan. 20, 2009 - 9
Today - 13
Number of conspiracies Calypso believes in on Jan. 20, 2009 - 3
Today - 23,443
Wow, it's almost as if ANY number can seem imposing and serious when taken out of context or intentionally misunderstood!
akjim,
I didn't support the bush tax cuts or the wars in afganistan or iraq. I don't qualify for any welfare programs, I pay my fair share of income taxes, and I don't pay an accountant to show me tax loopholes so I can pay the accountant instead of the federal government. My conscience is pretty clean on the spending front.
How's yours?
akjim,
I think it's you that gets the thumbs down...
As far as suggesting the president of the united states is unamerican...I think you get a collective thumbs down from all non-stupid people on earth.
p writes - "Wow, it's almost
p writes - "Wow, it's almost as if ANY number can seem imposing and serious when taken out of context or intentionally misunderstood!"
Let's ask cheesepuff if you qualify as one of the "non-stupid people on earth".
My vote is NO...
Are you glued to the DNC this afternoon and their spectacular line-up of speakers, p?
Personally, I'm waiting for that awe-inspiring moment that Jimmah Carter shows up via video!!! Now that's some FORWARD thinking, if ya ask me!
Do you suppose the featured speaker, Bill Clinton, is going to bolster the dems "war on women" meme?
Laughable...
What is sustainability? Who
What is sustainability? Who decided what is sustainable and what isn’t?
I think this is what aggravates some of us about these programs. They hide behind broad mission statements about “sustainability” or “interdependencies” but fail to actually express their agenda…
It could be that they don’t really have an agenda and just want a cool non-profit to manage and to get a nice paycheck from….ok fine…(AASHE brought in 2.3 Million last year, and paid 20% of that out to management) or it could be that the, Executive Director of AASHE is Paul Rowland who also started the Ponderosa Project at Northern Arizona University which has two of the following for goals
GOAL 2: "Green the Curriculum" so that the theme of environmental sustainability is introduced and reinforced throughout students' educational experiences
GOAL 3: Educate students in all courses of study about the implications of environmental sustainability in their chosen careers
Is the "greening" of our kids what we pay for when we send our kids to college?
http://www.aashe.org/files/2011_annualreport_aashe.pdf
Poofy, I never said the
Poofy, I never said the President was unamerican. It was Obama that said running up debt is unamerican, see the YouTube clip above. It sounds like Obama would meet his own definition of unamerican. Not my words. That's the problem with you liberals - short memory. And if I'm getting thumbs down from the likes of you, I must be on the right track.
And you still seem to have some reading comprehension problems. I was clearly speaking of public debt, not private debt. I'm not sure what "loopholes" you're speaking of, but I'll put good money down you take tax exemptions just like everyone else.
akjim,
When did Obama say running up debt was unamerican?
If I remember right, the real quote was suggesting that Bush's irresponsible spending was irresponsible and unpatriotic.
I don't recall any unamerican comment, but I may be mistaken.
Unpatriotic and unamerican are two completely different terms, by the way. One can be less patriotic and still love their homeland. One can not be unamerican and love America, however. Which is why it's so funny when people suggest that regular Americans are unamerican.
The problem with us liberals is we have short memories? Like forgetting that bush ran up the debt prior to handing it off to obama, where you sharp conservatives forgot immediately who ran it up? Then created a tea party for the exact reason that so many sharp conservatives conveniently forgot the financial irresponsibilities of the bush administration?
The current debt is a product of too many deficits for last decade. The deficits are a product of too much spending with too little revenue. The spending is comprised of increased military budgets due to the wars in the middle east. The low revenue is due to the bush tax cuts along with mediocre economic growth. These have been consistent for the last decade.
The last four years has seen a dramatic increase in spending with an added sharp decrease in revenue. The dramatic increase in spending is mainly due to unemployment relief, interest over a decade on our loans, and two stimulus packages added to the existing wars in the middle east. The sharp decrease in revenue was marked by the economic crash in 2008, the global economic meltdown thereafter, and the sluggish global economy to date, on top of the existing bush tax cuts, and mediocre economic growth.
So, tell me, how's your memory doing? Explain how Obama's irresponsible actions have created any of this?
As far as your comment regarding my reading comprehension, I notice many wingnut commentors on here mention comprehension, like they assume they portray it eloquently... new life, grendel, etc... probably one person with multiple screen names, but whatever.
You suggestedI should help out with the [filtered word] debt, and I reminded you that my philosophy is not responsible for the decade of irresponsible fiscal policies. I was hoping the light bulb would turn on for you... obviously it's a little dim.
Those sure are some pretty telling numbers Rough.
So let's see, the 2.02 a gallon increase, went directly and indirectly into the hands of the 1 %, thereby causing much of the $4018 lost in median income, and increasing unemployment.
And, because we all know the White House sets fuel prices, it's Obama's fault. That about where you're trying to go there?
Gas was $ 1.51 Jan of 2001, and went up over $4.00 a gallon while GW Bush was at the helm. It averaged $3.30 in 2008