THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2008
5A
BIKES (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
penalty of $120 composed of a $68 fine and $52 in court costs. Court costs are incurred whether or not an individual challenges a ticket in court. When asked about the
number of citations issued to cyclists on campus this semester, Captain Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office said the department had issued warnings to about a dozen cyclists as of Thursday morning.
"You think a cop would have something better to do than ticket somebody on a bicycle," said Kozak. "Does KU really need the money? It's absolute bullshit."
"You'd think a cop would have something better to do than ticket somebody on a bicycle."
Kozak, however, wasn't so lucky. Officer Carpenter, returning from his patrol car, handed Kozak a citation for one stop sign violation.
MAX KOZAK Anchorage, Ala., junior.
A l a n Schurle,
Manhattan junior,
who said he used his bicycle as often as possible, said he felt that most of the traffic signs weren't really designed to handle bicycle traffic in
r Hur
the first place.
"I figure the reason they put these signs in is to stop cars at the kiaks, which isn't an issue for bikes since you don't need a pass."
Shrul said, "That's how I rationalize it in my mind, anyway"
Though most of the cyclists interviewed expressed a dismissive attitude toward obedience of the signs, the location of two of the signs in particular — one at the Chi Omega fountain, and the other placed north of the fourway stop at the intersection of Sunnyside Avenue and Sunflower Road. While the former struck some as simply unnecessary, the latter proves especially challenging to cyclists already fatigued by Sunflower Road's steep incline.
"It's pointless. I have to keep going," Andrew Blann, Stillwater, Okla., senior, said. He said stopping once at the intersection was enough to lose all momentum, and a second stop only further defeated a cyclist riding northward.
"I don't see a problem with going
through the stop sign," Blann said. "As long as you're slowing down and paying attention, I don't think you should have to stop."
Debbie, a KU employee who works in the traffic booth near the Chi Omega fountain who declined to give her last name in accordance with University policy, said that cyclists rolling through the
cyclists pass on the left," Debbie said. "Sometimes, I have to turn motorists around, and the cyclists throw them off. There's been a
"The rules of the road are the rules of the road. They're rules for everybody."
stop signs, especially when motor vehicles were near, were in more danger than they may realize.
"It's dangerous when people in cars stop at the stop sign and
left," Debbie
I have to turn
and the cyclists
There's been a time or two
when someone almost got hit."
DIANE NOVAK
Member of KanBikeWalk
Transportation, 840 people were injured in traffic-related accidents in 2007, 66 of whom were pedestrians, a category that includes cyclists. Although no pedestrian
deaths were reported within the city limits, Douglas County reported five pedestrian deaths out of 3,518 total accidents during the same time period.
According to statistics released by the Kansas Department of
Diane Novak, a member of the cycling organization KanBikeWalk, which promotes bicycling safety and environmental issues, said the issue was black and white for her.
"The rules of the road are the rules of the road," said Novak. "They're rules for everybody."
Novak, who identified herself as a 24-year cyclist who always stopped at stop signs, said that cyclists needed to obey traffic laws if they wanted motorists to respect their presence on the roads.
"It has to be a two-way street for everybody," Novak said.
Edited by Kelsey Hayes
PROFESSOR (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Was it more about his race than his policies?
Yeah — I do think it is in a general kind of way. Barack Obama is the other. He's not George Bush; he's not the son of a former president; he isn't a white guy who went to Yale. He's a black guy who went to Harvard. The story itself is so much more international, he lived in Indonesia, he's someone who had a Kenyan woman. So we呼
think it's part the race and part the notion that he represents a kind of new era.
One of B a r a c k Obama's key trade policies is to prevent the outsourcing of jobs from the U.S.
wherever can go on the same Web sites we do and learn a lot.
What issues do people overseas ask about the most?
Historically as I've gone abroad, one of the questions I get time and time again is, "Explain the electoral college." And so with a power point, you talk about various states going for Bush or Kerry or for Bush or Gore and what states the Democrats might focus on. They get a sense
"That's part of the whole idea of these trips is that in an internet age, people can be very well informed."
BURDETT LOOMIS Political Science professor
to other countries, including Malaysia and Singapore. What was their attitude toward that?
that this is a contest that's run state-by-state instead of being one big popular vote.
I think the notion of reducing freedom of trade in any way, particularly for Singapore and Malaysia, which depend almost exclusively on trade. I think it's certainly cautionary for them. That's part of the whole idea of these trips is that in an Internet age, people can be very well informed. People in Indonesia or
You've also visited Mexico, Argentina and Brazil in the same sort of forum. What was the difference between
what South American countries and Southeast Asian countries were interested in?
One of the things that's interesting is, compared with a wide range of students in Malaysia or Singapore, the English in South America and Latin America is much worse. When I was in Argentina and Mexico recently, we had simultaneous translation. So basically you had a couple of translators and people
with ear pieces. That was the single biggest difference in terms of communication. The second big difference is that South Americans and Latin Americans often feel ignored by the United States. We're close to them; we share a name and continent, but we don't pay much attention. Our main focus is on Europe or Asia or the Middle East.
What do they say about it?
They would say, "We have these interests and we try to put them forward to talk to the United States but they'll never respond. They'll come down and be very arrogant in their policies or they'll promise something and never follow through." There were all kinds of examples. Now, many people had been to the United States. The Argentina group — many of them came to the U.S. the following year on an exchange program. And the United States works hard in many ways to promote good relations. But honestly I think there's this sense that they just don't feel very important. So you end up with someone like Hugo Chavez who maybe doesn't reflect the sentiment of most South Americans. But even among people who aren't crazy about Chavez, there's a kind of sympathy for that sort of populism, "Screw you United States." I think part of the problem is allocation of resources. If a major inflammation
INTERNATIONAL South African president mediates Mugabe conflict
HARARE, Zimbabwe — South Africa's president says he has successfully mediated a power-sharing deal between Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and the opposition.
South Africa's Thabo Mbeki did not offer details, but said Thursday that the agreement would be signed Monday. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told reporters the parties "have got a deal."
Mbeki has been in Zimbabwe since Monday trying to work out how Tsvangirai and Mugabe
would run a unity government.
The key stumbling block has been how the two rivals would divide responsibilities and who would have the most authority.
Mugabe had shown little willingness to give up much of the power he has held since independence from Britain in 1980.
Associated Press
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tant. So in the end I think Latin America, South America and Africa get lefi out a little bit.
is going to occur, it will probably occur someplace, roughly speaking, in the Middle East. Russia is growing, China is growing, India is growing, Europe is always impor-
Would you say there's an anti-American sentiment in South America and Latin America?
time. I do think South America has a little more ingrained anti-Americanism. At the same time, everyone likes the idea of America and people like Americans. You
don't find animosity. And even if people are going to criticize you they kind of say, "Now don't take this personally but," and you find yourself defending the United States or trying to explain it. You don't want to get defensive but you do want to explain it.
"I do think that they feel Americans aren't very good at understanding nuance in other countries."
BURDETT LOOMIS Political Science professor
There's certainly an Anti-Bush sentiment in both places but probably more in South America. When you went to South America in 2004, they found it highly ironic that the U.S. was having a highly contested election. In 2000 when the Supreme Court decided our election, they sort of gave us a pass saying, "You know, any one can have a close election." They really had a hard time understanding how we could have elected George Bush a second
How did people in Mexico perceive the illegal immigration debate?
— using immigration as a whipping boy — being racist on immigration and not really trying to come to terms with this problem of a poor country and a rich country side by side.
I think they just see it as economic realism. They've got a relatively poor country and they've got a very rich country on their border. When that happens, poor people go find work. I think they find American politicians very cynical
It's there all the time. There's no question. The American projection of force around the world is part of any conversation. I think the Iraq war was highly unpopular. I think people are mostly sympathetic about the war in Afghanistan. Everyone understands Afghanistan and why we went in to get Osama bin Laden and reduce the effectiveness of al-Qaida and all that stuff. But the connection to Iraq — the reporting around the world is much more objective on Iraq than it is in the United States so the level of knowledge and skepticism around the world is very high because the reporting has been better. I do think that they feel Americans aren't very good at understanding nuances in other countries.
How often do people from these countries bring up the U.S. presence in the Middle East?
Edited by Brieun Scott
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