Parade Proposal Strong
As we prepare for Beer Bike 2011, it would be simply imprudent to ignore the lessons of past Beer Bikes. In order to assure the continued success of our most beloved tradition, it must evolve in some capacity.One of the growing problems that Beer Bike coordinators face is the increasing difficulty to acquire rental trucks for the parade. Local establishments have grown wiser in past years, realizing that their property faces great liability when rented to drunk college students holding a 4,000-person water balloon fight. Furthermore, the mixture of trucks and drunk students is a less than palatable combination from a safety perspective. While any major injuries have yet to occur as a result of the trucks on the route, one has to assume that it is only a matter of time.
Furthermore, the event has been steadily increasing in price every year. Security costs, property damage and college fines accumulate to make the event, run as it is, a financial liability.
These issues ultimately need to be resolved while maintaining the integrity, essence and tradition of Beer Bike, and thus a difficult decision awaits the student body as it determines the line between culture and change. There are three possible plans to replace the current parade route, which starts at Founder's Court and proceeds in the direction of traffic flow past Keck Hall toward Rice Stadium.
One of the plans entirely rids the parade of any semblance. This plan would have students meet in the Academic Quad, participate in a cheer battle, then proceed to the IM fields for a water balloon fight.
The selection of this plan would be a devastating change for the tradition of Beer Bike. While adding a cheer battle and enjoying the benefits of decreased security costs along a parade route would be wonderful, this plan is a cosmic shift in what Beer Bike has been for so long. Without a parade or organized procession toward the stadium, it seems more likely than not that the disheveled crowd of inebriated college students would sacrifice more safety that it would salvage. The Thresher feels strongly the selection of this plan would be a loss for all parties involved with Beer Bike.
Another proposed option salvages the parade of students along the Inner Loop; however, students would not have the access to the trucks. The students would parade along one side of the Inner Loop while the trucks utilize an alternate path on the opposite side of the Inner Loop. The trucks and students would converge at the IM fields for the balloon fight.
This plan certainly seems to salvage the essential tradition of parade while negating the safety concerns of the trucks near the students. However, the loss of balloon fighting along the parade route should not be underestimated. Since security would be attempting to control the crowd, the parade would not be swift. With this plan, students would be subject to a very slow moving student procession that would likely become very boring very quickly. This would negate what is usually an epic buildup to a final balloon battle; this plan essentially deflates the balloon of enthusiasm.
The final plan is clearly the best alternative: It provides a good balance of tradition preservation and minor adjustments for security. The plan would allow students to travel alongside their colleges' trucks as has been the case in the past. Fighting would happen at stops upon the route and the final fight would take place in the IM fields.
While the concern of trucks near the students is a serious one, the university has done a good job of placing a priority on safety and as protocol is improved from year to year, there is reason to believe that RUPD knows exactly what it needs to do to keep students safe in what is admittedly a relatively precarious situation. Furthermore, the enhanced safety of the previous two plans may be over-hyped. While students are able to let out some excitement with preliminary balloon fights in this last plan, if there is no fighting along the route, it seems a likely possibility that students will approach the final fight with too much zeal, a situation which could create more balloon fight injuries. Furthermore, the new path passes fewer major buildings which will result in a decrease of damage costs.
Ultimately none of these propositions are perfect, and none address the issue of the difficulty around truck acquisition since all three plans require colleges to still rent trucks. Furthermore this final plan will likely require require further adjusting in the future; it is certainly not a long-term answer. However, for the time being, it is necessary to balance evolving security needs with maintaining the essence of Beer Bike, which is what the final plan accomplishes. The Thresher encourages all students to vote for their parade-route preferences at http://bit.ly/beerbikesurvey.
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