Students, staff two-wheel it to campus
Anna Altwies, ESU Media Relations
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Throughout the campus, Emporia State University’s bike racks have seen a lot more traffic this fall.
In order to save gas and money, more ESU staff and students have been riding their bikes to campus. With the rise in gas prices, many people across the nation have started to bike or walk to work or school.
Dylan Lewis, sophomore theatre major from Wichita, started riding his bike to campus this semester and said he does it whenever he can.
“Gas is expensive, and although I don’t consider myself an environmentalist, I feel like I am doing something by riding my bike,” he said.
Students aren’t the only campus inhabitants who are trying to save money and help the environment a little at the same time. Jim Bartruff, director of theatre, has been riding his bike to the ESU campus for the past three years.
Bartruff said he thinks Emporia is a great place for bikers.
“This is really a pretty ideal biking community. Not too hilly, and not a lot of traffic,” he said. “However, at certain times of the day, it is pretty hazardous. Lots of people don’t pay attention to bikers.”
Both Bartruff and Lewis agree that riding their bikes to campus saves them a great deal of money on gas each month. Bartruff said he thinks he saves about three to four full tanks a year, while Lewis said he saves even more than that.
“I grew up in Wichita,” Lewis said. “When I lived there I would go through about a tank of gas a week. Here I go about a tank a month, so I’m saving a lot with riding my bike.”
Along with saving money, saving gas and helping—at least in some small way—to save the environment, another benefit of riding a bike to campus is physical fitness. Riding instead of driving provides exercise.
“I would suggest biking to campus because I feel better riding my bike,” Lewis said. “It may not be a lot of exercise, but it’s some, and it’s pretty convenient.”