Letter to the editor

3/20/08 7:00pm

Campus coordinators show appreciationTo the editor:

The weather was beautiful and the competition was fierce: in practically every respect, Beer-Bike 2008 was a tremendous success. We thank the entire Rice student body, undergraduate and graduate, whose vigorous enthusiasm for the college system and the university as a whole transforms Beer-Bike from a simple bike race to what is, next to Orientation Week, the greatest manifestation of Rice spirit year after year. We would like to take some time to recognize some extremely capable individuals without whom the event could not have occurred.

First, thanks to each of the Beer-Bike college coordinators, who prepared their colleges for Beer-Bike the best they could and whose flexibility allowed campus-wide success.

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Nothing on Saturday could have gone correctly without the efforts of our 11 Area coordinators who were responsible for crucial aspects of the event. JD Leonard, technology coordinator, updated the Beer-Bike Web site and Larissa Charnsangavej, our track coordinator, gave all teams ample practice time and kept the track safe and clear during the races. Teddy Bucher and Sanya Desai, last year's campus-wide coordinators, offered invaluable advice as we prepared for Beer-Bike 2008. Because one Beer-Bike isn't enough, Teddy served as our publicity coordinator while Sanya and Amy McNair recruited over forty faculty and staff members to serve as judges. Gillian Smith and Claire Hein grappled with scheduling and the budget to secure the concessions and set up sponsorships that should feed us every year well into the future. Thanks also to Stephen Rooke, our emcee, who volunteered to watch Beer-Bike from the terrifying top of a lonely tower instead of from the bleachers with his college and Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman and head football coach David Bailiff, who started the alumni and women's races.

Easily the most stressful jobs of the day were those of Adnan Poonawala and Katie Ortbahn, parade coordinators, and Brian Henderson and Ricky Mercado, security coordinators. Their commitment to managing a riotous water balloon fight helped us come out of the parade smoothly, with few injuries and no major snafus.

The biggest thanks of the day, however, goes to Heather Masden, director of student activities. She knows exactly how to plan every student event Rice will ever have, and remained entirely unfazed throughout the entire planning process, regardless of what obstacles were thrown at us. Without her, Beer-Bike would have turned into a harrowing process of trial-and-error.

Here's to Beer-Bike 2009!

Timothy Faust

Brown sophomore

Campus-wide Coordinaor

Bhavika Kaul

Brown junior

Campus-wide Coordinator

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