FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2004
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3A
Lock, smart parking keys to stopping bike theft
BY NICOLA ROWE
nrowe@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WINTER
Bike thefts made up the majority of the 77 reported thefts on campus last year, according to the KU Public Safety Office. Today, though, one KU student isn't concerned with bike theft.
Joe Coburn, Beloit junior,
uses a $35 lock to protect the
heirloom bike he inherited
from his grandmother. With
rusted spots and a banana seat,
Coburn's bike has more senti-
mental value than monetary.
"If someone steals my bike and breaks my lock, they can have it because that's a lot of work." Coburn said.
Not all students are as easy-going when it comes to bike theft. Dan Sushes, owner of Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop, said he understood why students would be concerned about preventing bike theft. Bikes are expensive. Suhges sells bikes that cost from $250 to $3,000. He has worked at the shop at 804 Massachusetts St. since 1989, and said he had not noticed an increase in bike thefts lately.
"We do get calls from people
needing to know their serial numbers because their bike was stolen, but I haven't seen an increase in thefts since the mid-1990s when mountain bikes became popular," he said.
Sughes said most thefts happened when an owner had a lock but forget to use it. Short stops at convenience stores or friends' houses are easy targets for thefts because the owners do not take the time to lock their bikes. Parking in the same spot every day can also make a bike a target. If someone notices a bike in the same location, a thief can figure out what type of lock the bike owner uses and then come back the next week with appropriate tools to break the lock. Locking your bike in a hidden location doesn't help because if people cannot see the bike, people cannot see the thief. This gives the thief time to work on breaking the lock.
To prevent bike theft, Sughes gave four suggestions. First, buy a good lock. Second, use that lock. The third suggestion to prevent theft is to park in different spots every day, and finally, park in a visible location.
Sughes sells two types of
locks in his shop. One is the cable lock. It is more convenient because it is easier to carry and makes it possible to lock a bike to things other than bike racks. The other type is the U-lock. The U-lock is more secure than the cable lock but harder to carry. Sughes said the cable locks were not as secure because it would only take a person about 20 minutes to cut through a cable lock with bolt cutters.
The owner also has to remove the front wheel to lock the entire bike to a rack. The cable locks cost $20 and the Ulocks cost between $25 and $30.
Sughes said there were also hardened-chain locks that gave more security than the U-locks but cost between $70 and $80. Sughes said the shop did not carry these locks because of their price.
The first questions Sughes asks customers when they buy bike locks are how often they ride their bikes and where they are planning to park. Sughes said U-locks were best for those who ride their bikes often, such as students who ride to class, and those who lock their bikes outside at
A bike stripped of all its functioning parts was locked up outside Robinson Center. Aside from chained bikes being stripped, stolen bikes make up the majority of thefts reported in Lawrence.
night.
Cycle Works, 2121 Kasold Drive, also carries cable locks and U-locks. Matt Klock,
Cycle Works associate, said the cable locks were more convenient. Both types of locks cost $19.95 at Cycle Works. They
are also available at retail stores such as Wal-Mart.
- Edited by Anna Clovis
Pet-friendly hall wing debuts at Stephens College
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Abbey Road is making friends at Stephens College. It's hard to resist the little newcomer's energetic personality, her intense eyes, her lovely hair.
And those uninhibited kisses — especially if you throw the Jack Russell, terrier's slobber-slick tennis ball.
Abbey Road moved in this week with owner Alexandra Geisler at Stephens' Prunty Hall, where the first floor is debuting as an unusual pet-
friendly zone for dogs, cats and rabbits.
"It means everything to me. I am so much happier when Abbey is around," said Geisler, a 20-year-old sophomore from Long Island, N.Y.
Most colleges and universities don't allow pets beyond fish or small reptiles, with legally required exceptions for service animals. There are many reasons. Noise. Smell. Safety from bites and scratches. Allergies. Having to watch where you step.
neglect when the appeal of a cute pet is overtaken by the hectic pace of student life. College-town animal shelters frequently take in more abandoned animals when school is out.
And there's a potential for
At Stanford University, a rescue society unaffiliated with the school has been established for stray cats around campus, many of them abandoned.
"There were lots of discussions, but students asked for this — so after the knee-jerk reaction that we cannot do it, we started talking about practical ways we could allow some pets," said Libby, whose school was founded in 1833 as a women's college (it is now coed, but most students are female).
Stephens didn't jump into its pet-friendly experiment haphardly, said Wendy Libby, who became president last year.
Stephens has lots of rules. Dogs must be 40 pounds or less. All pets must be kept in crates or cages when the student is out of the room. A fenced dog run has been built
outside Prunty. The program will be evaluated constantly, including whether pet noise is below an acceptable level.
They're starting small: five students are sharing space with pets in the new semester: two dogs, two cats and two rabbits. Stephens is also working with a local animal shelter to link select students with homeless pets.
"My mom was like, 'Are you sure you want to do this?' But it is very well thought out and I'm going to work to make it a success," said Bethany Dean,
19, a junior from Dallas who adopted a female Himalayan cat named Fluffy.
The cat tilted its head in curiosity, then went back to snuggle her owner as Danielle Gibbs, 19, a sophomore from Overland Park, Kan., walked by with her two rabbits, Fleur and Elphie.
"I'm excited to have the rabbits here. I am one of those people, when I'm upset, I tend to hold it back and hold it in, but I can just hold my rabbits and its calms me down," Gibbs said.
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