THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2011
PAGE7
people who try to assert themselves on the road but it just doesn't work. Don't assert yourself. You're at the mercy of huge, slower stopping vehicles around you."
The city requires cyclists to obey all traffic laws. Cyclists can ride on either the street or the sidewalk, except for Massachusetts Street where bikes are not allowed on sidewalks.
Lawrence has a few bike trails, but most are not helpful to commuters. However, cyclists can plan a route using a city bike map, which gives information on traffic flow and speed. Maps can be found online or at any bike shop.
The two main pitfalls of riding to work are bad weather and transporting materials.
Most bikes have rack components, which can hold a variety of different sized bags. It might not even be a bad idea to stash a rain jacket in there just in case.
According to Trek bicycle manufacturer, 40 percent of trips are within two miles of the home and
25 percent are within one mile. Depending on the route, it might take a little longer to reach a destination by bike than by car but in some cases it can actually be quicker.
"You can skip the delays, that's what I like about bikes." Hess said. "You are never sitting behind somebody waiting on somebody else, you can go your own way."
While biking might require some extra effort, the benefits quickly add up. Switching from a four-mile car commute to bicycle will save about 66 gallons of gas per year, keep 51 pounds of carbon monoxide out of the air, and burn 36,000 calories over the course of a year, the equivalent of 10 pounds in fat, according to the Trek website.
"We are a society build on cars not bicycles," Hess said. "But the more people we can get riding bikes,the more positive effects we will see as far as people buying things locally and urban areas becoming smaller, more village-like."
With high prices to keep cars fueled and maintained, bicycling is becoming a much cheaper investment for transportation. Chris Bronson/KANSAI
CAMPUS
Untrue ideas about buildings abound
BY MONISHA BRUNER editor@kansan.com
Are you scared to walk through the Campanile? Are you convinced that Wescoe Hall was meant to be a parking garage? Do you tell people that Strong Hall was built backwards? If so, you are an enabler of campus myths.
Several false and misunderstood myths are spread throughout campus, but here's a guide to several to help separate fact from fiction.
MYTH 1: If you walk under the Campanile before you graduate, you won't get that diploma.
Who can honestly say if this myth is true or false? According to carillon.ku.edu the Campanile was built in 1950 as a memorial to KU students' families who died in World War II. Some students believe if you enter into the Campanile before you graduate, you will not graduate. One brave soul, Ariana Olivas, a senior from Andrews, Texas, dared to test this myth. Olivas said she just wanted to go look inside of the Campanile. Later, a friend said, "You can't do that, you won't graduate." Her friend said she was told about the myth by a guide while on a campus visit. Olivas said she 'is nervous about the experience, "I kind of don't believe it, but I already walked through it, so I hope it's not true."
MYTH 2: Wescoe Hall was designed to be a parking garage.
This myth is misunderstood. According to the 1966 University of Kansas application for a construction grant, Wescoe Hall was designed to be a building for the Humanities Department. In 1966, the University applied for a construction grant to build the department. This building was needed to give academic space to free the graduate programs from the buildings they were in. The application for the grant said there would be "two five-story classroom buildings, a high-rise office administration building, and a concourse connecting the first five levels of the building."
According to documents in the Spencer Research Library, later in 1967, then-Chancellor W. Clarke Wescoe said the building would now be 25-stories and the lower five-story wings would have many windows and be a comparable size to Strong Hall. In late November architects added an underground parking garage to accommodate 150 cars, a student mail center, and a 300-student electronic classroom lab.
In March 1968, the building was cut from 25 stories to 15. Keith Lawton, vice-chancellor at the time, said with limited funding available they questioned if the original plans were realistic. After several redesigns of the building, the state paid the architects for
SEE MYTHS 18
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