Changes made to Beer-Bike

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by Anita Raman

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The Rice Program Coucil has approved several changes in the Beer-Bike laws to promote safety. In addition, the track has been resurfaced to make the race safer for the bike teams.

Resurfacing the track had been a priority since last year's Beer-Bike in which the uneven surface made riding unnecessarily difficult and hazardous.

Funds were raised for the project by Vice President for Student Activities Zenaido Camacho and several of the department heads. The holes in the track were filled and the surface brushed for additional safety.

RPC President Ryan Levy said, "From what I've seen, the college coordinators are really dedicated to safety and were really instrumental in making sure that the track got repaired ... After almost a year of negotiations, the college coordinators were able to convince the administration that it was dangerous, something needed to be done, and they fixed the track."

Changes to the Beer-Bike laws included allowing faculty and staff associated with a college to ride, adding bike racks for greater pit safety, allowing plastic cup chugs and banning Gatorade chugs.

The RPC has also organized activities to promote Beer-Bike for March 25-30, culminating in Beer-Bike itself and Rondelet.

Beer-Bike co-chairpersons Christy Hard and Caroline Schaeffer coordinated and envisioned Geek Week, a Rice take on state universities' Greek Week.

According to Levy, the week was designed as "a spirit and morale week similar to those sponsored by Greek associations, but with a definite Rice twist."

Geek Week kicks off Monday with International Beer Night, a beer sampling event with beers from around the world, 7-10 p.m. at Willy's Pub.

Tuesday will feature the Pub Challenge, 9 p.m.-2a.m. at the Pub, a decathlon of events such as Mortal Kombat and pool.

On Wednesday will be the Kool-Aid trike TG, 4-6 p.m. in the Ray Courtyard, a mock Beer-Bike race and chug practice with tricycles and purple Kool-Aid.

An All-Campus Picnic will be held Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Ray Courtyard with intercollegiate competitions and games. The picnic will be followed by Alumni Pub Night.

Friday will feature Drive-In Movie Night with "Revenge of the Nerds" playing on a 60' x 90' screen with surround sound. The movie begins at 10 p.m. in the field between the Student Center and Herring Hall.

Sign-in sheets will be posted at all Pub events, and prizes will be given to the college with the highest attendance. Free T-shirts, cups and Rondelet tickets will be given out throughout the week, and an electric bike will be raffled.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday events will be accompanied by free beer, soda and snacks. Concession stands will be selling food from ZuZu's Mexican Restaurant, bagels from Bruegger's Bagel Bakery and pizza from Papa John's.

Schaeffer emphasized the importance of safety throughout the course of the week. Schaeffer said, "We want to encourage people to be safe during the event ... A lot of times people consume dangerous amounts of alcohol at Beer-Bike, and we want to stress that the event itself isn't fun for anyone if people are putting themselves in danger."

This item appeared in the News section of the March 22, 1996 issue.

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