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Editor:
The journalistic quality of this semester's Wildcat is better than what I've seen in years. I like the way you keep focusing on real campus issues. Your continuing press about the Student Union neglect while big money is so magically available for new buildings or campus is a welcome change from prior inattention. Your focus on the inadequacies of parking and transportation is long overdue. Your coverage of the leaders around campus could actually result in some improvements around here (eventually).
Speaking of leadership, there are lots of old maxims that say that action speaks much more effectively than words. So I thought you might like to know how bemused I was by the Marlis Davis statement you caught in the Sept. 9 issue: "We want people to get out of their cars." The fact is that when I spent an hour showing her a number of problems around campus with bike routes a couple years ago, she wouldn't get out of her car. She drove around following me on my bicycle! And most of those problems still exist, discouraging people from getting out of their cars.
I hope this serves as a reminder to Ms. Davis that she listen to her own words. By doing so, and sharing the experience of others with the problems of alternative modes, she will become a better manager of the Parking and Transportation budget.
I believe your publication of the Parking and Transportation budget figures is the first time printed in the Wildcat. It's interesting to see how much money is going to the shuttle (which supports car traffic) while the number and quality of bike racks is thoroughly inadequate. Isn't it obvious to everyone that a little money for bicycling is a whole lot more cost effective than the big bucks for cars?
It was also startling to see that the budget for such a capital-intensive department as Parking and Transportation has one-third going to wages. I'm sure there are all kind of bureaucratic reasons, but I smell a rat.
Keep bringing us the news.
Soaring Bear
pharmaceutical sciences grad student
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