kind of depressing the author didn't google "bicycle" and "pittsburgh" in the same go.
Good intentions, poor execution
Saw this piece in the Tartan http://thetartan.org/2012/3/26/pillbox/biking
I was dismayed to see that they basically advocated riding on the sidewalk (not even mentioning that it is illegal in business districts), and didn't highlight the superiority of u-locks over cable locks. Time for a visit from the Bike PGH Truth Squad (or, you know, a gently worded email with a link to the commuter guide).
journalism. they arent doing it.
Maybe they are trying to build up a journalism portfolio to apply to Fox News?
Just means the next wave of "journalists" will be just as useless as the current wave.
I hope those Tartans are being a little more rigorous with the way in which they are wording their Robotic Prime Directives.
hey now, she's a student. Likely doing this in her spare time while attempting to do a hundred other things. that school doesn't sleep. Disappointing, yes, but no need to be harsh.
I saw a comments section below the article but didn't try - anybody try to leave a link to bpgh?
@ejwme - that's a good suggestion, and I did just that. I think this is a good illustration of why Bike PGH's engagement with the colleges is so important. Also, I still think there should be a Truth Squad. Picture Bike PGH staff in sharp black suits, sunglasses and chromed out black bikes. Safety through intimidation - that's the ticket
with bike helmets that look like fedoras. those exist. they are awesome.
@Markol82 Maybe they are trying to build up a journalism portfolio to apply to Fox News?
Maybe. Did they mention that Colorado Republican candidate for Governor Dan Maes has shown that bicycle policies are dictated to us by the UN as part of a socialist plot? That would be the "Fair and Balanced" approach to this issue, after all. Wouldn't it?
Someone whould point the chief editor (or their faculty advisor) to this thread.
My interactions with CMU kids is leads me
to believe that they know everything, so
maybe we are all off base?
hey now, I used to resemble that remark.
They've just been told they're in the top 1% of smarts, and didn't do the rest of the math (indicating that these little fish have 70 million peers in the pond). And they really are sleep deprived.
When I was 19, I knew everything.
I seem to have forgotten a lot since then.
I wouldn't beat on her too much. She did, after all, at least mention Bike-Pgh. I'm sensing she simply got assigned to write a story about biking, but doesn't ride all that much herself.
Let's invite her to join a ride with us, have her get to know what we know. Viking Ride this weekend would be a good start, or maybe a Flock All Night or some such.
i just wish people would stop calling the junction hollow trail the "panther hollow trail".
also, about 75% of the bikes i see in the vicinity of cmu are on the sidewalk (that's only counting sidewalks adjacent to streets, not in the middle of campus).
also also: there were weeks when i was an undergrad here where i would get a total of about 10 hours of sleep. i'm not sure sleep-deprived really even does it justice.
Sleep-deprivation is not a good excuse. If you aren't well-rested enough to be doing everything you're doing, you need to realize that and either cut something out or accept subpar work. I can recognize the dedication and respect the workload of someone running on 10 hours of sleep a week, but it's still a choice that doesn't exempt you from responsibility. Learning to stay healthy and manage your personal life is just as important a life skill as learning to handle a heavy workload.
Faulty analogy, but... What if a driver in Oakland struck and killed someone, and used the defense "sorry I fell asleep at the wheel, I'm a CMU undergrad and have only slept 10 hours this week." ?
CMU is a technical school.
I always found there was a point where sleep helps performance on exams more than studying. With no sleep for days and no studying, for any math or physics test, I'd be better off with sleep than with knowledge.
@Mick, i have also found that to be the case. i usually stopped studying when i realized i was no longer absorbing it. the week that i'm specifically remembering was the last week of my hardest semester, and i had probably three projects that should have taken a month each, and for which we were given two weeks. and everyone of course gave themselves one week. it was not my best work, surely, but it wasn't about absorbing, it was about getting things done. and i obviously didn't let myself near a car.
i didn't mean to derail the (obviously important!) thread! i was just making an offhand comment.
CMU doesn't have roads within the campus. If you need to get from building to building, you don't ride around the perimeter of the campus, you ride, on the sidewalks, through campus. I don't know anybody who does otherwise.
Maybe it sets a bad precedent for the "real" world, but it is what it is.
"I'd be better off with sleep than with knowledge."
Some days I wish I knew less and slept more.
CMU campus and surrounds are the epicenter of bad driving and pedestrian habits for this city. most of the habits/infractions are committed by students.
I live a couple hundred yards off campus and am continually appalled by what I see.
I'm sensing she simply got assigned to write a story about biking, but doesn't ride all that much herself.
Sounds about right.
Biking on the sidewalk is a good way to gain confidence as a new biker. In fact, 31 percent of survey respondents said that they bike primarily on the sidewalk. Riding on the road requires you to be more alert to your surroundings, since other motorists, like cars and buses, are more unpredictable than pedestrians and often don’t communicate their actions with appropriate turn signals.
CITATION FUCKING NEEDED
"In a survey of 106 Carnegie Mellon students who bike, the majority said they feel moderately safe while biking in Pittsburgh, but a significant portion feel moderately unsafe."
Then it's not her case we need to get on, but almost 1/3 of college students.
What I see isn't even CMU, but society. We have raised the current set of 15-40 year olds to think of bicycles as toys. No training, no guidance, not even allowed to ride anywhere useful. If anyone dares to ride as an adult -- and college is where they'd have their first chance -- they become the free-range idiots we see so frequently.
So, she's simply doing her job, reporting the news. Don't shoot the messenger. Let's find this girl and get her on a few rides with us.