Student newspaper of Illinois Institute of Technology since 1928

B-Cycle brings bike sharing to "T

 

 

By Stacy Economy
TECHN EWS WRITER

llT has been given the opportunity to be
the first university in the City of Chicago to
have a B7Cycle station on its campus Chicago
B7cycle is the first in7city bike sharing program
where self7service bike rental stations, or B7
stations, are located throughout various neigh7
borhoodsl Users are able to pick up one ofthe
bikes at any B7station in the city and drop it
off at any other (or the same) B7stationl The B7
cycle bike is specially designed to fit all types
of people, short and tall, with an easy7to7use
adjustable seat post There is also a basket on
the front to store your belongings while riding
Fenders, skirt guards, and chain guards are all
designed to keep your clothes clean, along with
automatic lights for safe riding at night

Biking in Chicago has greatly increased
in the past few years Around the HT campus
there are more bikes than there are spaces in
bike racks There are still, however, many stu7
dents wary of bringing their bikes to school
because of past theft B7cycle provides a bike
free of worry; as soon as the bike is returned to
its B7station it is in the city’s possessions This
program allows students to take a ride to the
grocery store or along the lakefront for a few
hours, return the bike when finished, worry
freer

While B7cycle provides a sense of con7

[Photo by Andrew Duvall]

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venience, it also encourages sustainability
Two7wheeling ranks as the most energy efii7
cient form of travel and exercises Even walk7
ing spends about three times as much energy
per pound While the automobile has given
the twentieth7century humans unprecedented
mobility, it has come at a cost to the environ7
ment Today, cars dominate transportation
systems in North America, but their own use7
fulness has caused cars to crowd themselves to
a standstill Public transportation such as bus7
es and trains produce less pollution than solo
driving, but at the lack of door7to7door conve7
niencel Bicycles are by far not only one of the
most convenient forms of transportation, but
also the most sustainable

The implementation of B7cycle at IIT pres7
ents a great advantage and sustainable state7
ment for our campus With llT’s Sustainability
Plan underway, this bike7sharing program will
serve as a great step in making llT one of the
most sustainable campuses in the nations With
support from the student body, ganGreen,
Office of Campus Energy and Sustainability
(OCES), and Campus and Conference Cen7
ter (CCC) have brought this program to UT
There will be two stations of twenty7five bikes
each on campus in March for a one7year trial
period A highly subsidized annual fee with
unlimited rentals in two hour increments will
be available for llT students, faculty, and staff

For more information on B7cycle, please visit
www.chicago.bcycle.com. If you have any ques7
tions or concerns, please send an email to gan7
yeengoup®iit.edu

 

Mayoral candidates tackle women's, LGBT issues

By Karl Rybaltowski
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

On Tuesday, February 15, Chicago7Kent’s
Richard B Ogilvie Auditorium played host
to a mayoral forum on violence against wom7
en, girls and LGBTQ peoples Moderated by
WBEZ’s Alison Cuddy, and attended by four of
the six current mayoral candidates, the event
drew a sizable crowd and shed some light on
issues of sexual violence and domestic abuse
Though the candidates may not have seemed
entirely comfortable with some of the subject
matter, the forum nonetheless meant a wel7
come focus on these two groups

The mayoral forum was organized and
co7hosted by Rape Victim Advocates, Cen7
ter on Halsted, the Chicago Alliance Against
Sexual Exploitation, the Chicago Foundation
for Women, and the Chicago Metropolitan
Area Battered Women’s Network Four can7
didates were present: Carol Moseley Braun,

William Walls Ill, Patricia Van Pelt Watkins,
and Miguel del Valle Gery Chico and Rahm
Emanuel both cited prior commitments, with
Emanuel in the middle of his “50 wards in 50
hours" campaign events Prior to the debate,
questions for the candidates were accepted via
email 7 no live questions were allowed during
the debates

After opening comments from Dean Krentz
of Chicago7Kent, Alison Cuddy of WBEZ, and
one fo the representatives of the co7hosting
groups, the three initial candidates (del Valle
showed up a few minutes late) made their
opening statements and the debate began in
earnest While all of the candidates addressed
the issue of violence against women 7 whether
domestic or otherwise 7 more or less head7on,
only del Valle seemed to have any comfort di7
rectly discussing LGBTQ issuesl Race and class
fractures in Chicago were popular analogies
for the candidates when answering questions
on LGBTQ matters The debate not only cov7
ered the candidates’ law enforcement plans for

dealing with violence against women and LG7
BTQ people, but also addressed direct issues
of city programs and spending on preventing
such violence

One of the more lively moments of the de7
bate came when Walls, describing an action
plan for city government, used the term “un7
usual lifestyles" When pressed on the words
by the moderator, he explained the term as
applying to “people who don’t work standard
97to75 jobsm panhandlers, or squeegee guys
on the street" to dissatisfied groans from the
audiences

While the debate itself may not have been
conclusive for the candidates, it offered Chi7
cago7Kent the chance to showcase itself as in7
volved in contemporary social issues, as well
as the prestige of hosting a high7profile event
such as a mayoral forums

Clockwise from top left: Miguel del Valle, William
"Dock" Walls III, Patricia Van Pelt Watkins,

and Carol Moseley Braun.

[Photo courtesy ourmmpaignsflet]

 

 

 

Student Technology Survey: Win dinner and tickets to The Second City!

By Office of Technology Services

It’s that time of year again77the 7th Annual Student Technology Survey conducted by the Office of Technology Services (OTS) is here!
Your input is very important in shaping the priorities and direction of technology at IIT The results of last year’s survey helped OTS to prioritize improvements such as upgrading the wireless
network on llT’s Main Campus to Wireless N for enhanced speed and security, and transitioning llT email accounts to a Gmail platform to enhance storage and utility for students

Each person who completes the survey will be eligible to enter the prize drawing for a chance to win one of three prize packages consisting of 2 tickets to a show at The Second City and a $75
gift card for dinner at any Lettuce Entertain You restaurants
All individual responses will be kept confidential; however the collective results will be made public in a future TechNews article
Your participation in this survey is greatly appreciated If you have any questions or comments about the survey process, please direct them to techsurvey@iitledul