Letters to the editor
Issue date: 9/15/08 Section: Letters
Bikers share responsibility for peaceful coexistence
I am writing in regard to the recent article "Biking Green" written by David Taintor and featured in the Showcase section of your publication. I would like to thank Mr. Taintor for his efforts in illuminating Eau Claire's rich and diverse cycling community.
However I feel I must express my sincere disappointment in the way some of my statements were represented in his article, specifically in reference to the critical mass community.
To clarify my position, it is my feeling that to best raise awareness to cyclist's rights, cyclists should ride safely and predictably in accordance with state and local traffic laws. Anyone intentionally antagonizing a motorist is damaging the cause that they are passionately representing.
My point, that Mr. Taintor failed to capture, is that while cyclists have indelible rights that should be exercised, we also have the responsibility to coexist peacefully with our fellow motorized citizens. From what I have seen, the organizers and riders of Eau Claire's Critical Mass Rides strive to do just that and I fully support their efforts.
Eric Johnson
Manager, Anybody's Bike Shop
Student suffers horrible summer experience at Towers
I decided to stay in Eau Claire this past summer and found out that if you work a housing job you get to live on campus for free. Sounded like a sweet deal at the time. A fairly easy part-time job that paid minimum wage but allowed me to save a little over $900 in rent cost. How could I pass that up? So I moved into Towers for the summer. I had a room all to myself and felt pretty excited about having a king-sized bed as well. But that was before the problems started.
The first issue was maintenance. There are crews of students who do maintenance work over the summer and are given master keys. What this meant was that they could come into and out of our rooms when they wanted to. While this didn't happen to me (that I am aware of) because I happened to be in the room when they stopped by, you can imagine my friend's surprise when he came back to his room to find maintenance in there. We were given no notice that this would happen. I have never felt unsafe in my own home until this summer. I wrote e-mails trying to figure out why this was being done and how this could be done and got the same responses of "we are sorry for the inconvenience you should have been notified," but nothing was done. This turned out to be the story of the rest of the summer.
I am writing in regard to the recent article "Biking Green" written by David Taintor and featured in the Showcase section of your publication. I would like to thank Mr. Taintor for his efforts in illuminating Eau Claire's rich and diverse cycling community.
However I feel I must express my sincere disappointment in the way some of my statements were represented in his article, specifically in reference to the critical mass community.
To clarify my position, it is my feeling that to best raise awareness to cyclist's rights, cyclists should ride safely and predictably in accordance with state and local traffic laws. Anyone intentionally antagonizing a motorist is damaging the cause that they are passionately representing.
My point, that Mr. Taintor failed to capture, is that while cyclists have indelible rights that should be exercised, we also have the responsibility to coexist peacefully with our fellow motorized citizens. From what I have seen, the organizers and riders of Eau Claire's Critical Mass Rides strive to do just that and I fully support their efforts.
Eric Johnson
Manager, Anybody's Bike Shop
Student suffers horrible summer experience at Towers
I decided to stay in Eau Claire this past summer and found out that if you work a housing job you get to live on campus for free. Sounded like a sweet deal at the time. A fairly easy part-time job that paid minimum wage but allowed me to save a little over $900 in rent cost. How could I pass that up? So I moved into Towers for the summer. I had a room all to myself and felt pretty excited about having a king-sized bed as well. But that was before the problems started.
The first issue was maintenance. There are crews of students who do maintenance work over the summer and are given master keys. What this meant was that they could come into and out of our rooms when they wanted to. While this didn't happen to me (that I am aware of) because I happened to be in the room when they stopped by, you can imagine my friend's surprise when he came back to his room to find maintenance in there. We were given no notice that this would happen. I have never felt unsafe in my own home until this summer. I wrote e-mails trying to figure out why this was being done and how this could be done and got the same responses of "we are sorry for the inconvenience you should have been notified," but nothing was done. This turned out to be the story of the rest of the summer.
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