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The Rice Thresher
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by Mark Berenson Thresher Editorial Staff Large trucks are out and flatbed trailers are in for this year's Beer-Bike parade. The Beer-Bike coordinators unanimously approved changes to the Beer-Bike rules Sunday night. Each college will be limited to one flatbed trailer pulled by a tractor and one decorative vehicle in the parade. Rules regarding water balloons were not changed. Ten students will be allowed on each flatbed. Beer-Bike coordinators must submit the names of these students one week before the parade to the Beer-Bike co-chairs, Sid Richardson College senior Daniel Attaway and Hanszen College junior Merritt McAlister. Students who ride on the flatbed will not be allowed to drink alcohol on the morning of the parade. Attaway said the primary responsibility of these students will be to hand out water balloons to members of their college. Attaway said the change to flatbeds was made to increase safety. One benefit of the tractor is that drivers will have much better visibility than they had with the trucks. In addition, Attaway said he thinks the flatbeds' height makes them safer. "The flatbeds are lower to the ground, and they don't have big wheels so that the most that you can possibly get run over is your foot," Attaway said. "A broken foot is much better than death." Attaway said the cost of renting a tractor and flatbed is comparable to the cost of renting a truck like those used in years past. The Beer-Bike coordinators agreed to make a more concerted effort to educate students, especially freshmen, about the dangers of the water balloon fight. These include getting hit with a water balloon that does not break, or getting hit in the eye. Penalty fines for misconduct with water balloons will work in much the same way as in years past. College governments will be fined, and colleges can then choose to pay the fines or pass them on to individuals in the college. Fines are assessed for hitting security volunteers, bikers and Beer-Bike personnel with water balloons during the parade and for having alcohol on the parade route. The fines are assessed by security volunteers based on the college shirt worn by the offender. This year, each college will be responsible for providing about 10 security personnel. Attaway believes this will lead to more accurate fining. "Hopefully, the people who are doing security will have a vested interest in getting it right," Attaway said. Coordinators also discussed allowing colleges to have their fines reduced or forgiven if they help clean up the Inner Loop after the parade. "It will hopefully cut down on the amount of unhappiness from the colleges every year from fines, and is also a nice goodwill gesture," Attaway said. Last year, colleges were fined between $600 and $1,100 each, although most fines were eventually reduced. In years past, Facilities and Engineering employees cleaned up the remnants of the 300,000 balloons used in the water balloon fight. The new rules will be presented at the next meeting of the college masters and presidents on Feb. 21. However, the rules approved by the Beer-Bike coordinators are final; masters and presidents may give advice, but they will not make changes, Hanszen College President and 2000 Beer-Bike Chair Lindsay Germano said. Attaway believes the new rules will make the parade safer. "I think they will work well," Attaway said. "It was a long painful process to get to them, so hopefully it is a compromise that does the greatest good for the greatest number of people." Not all students agreed. "It is a terrible idea. The whole idea of the trucks is that you can put lots on balloons and people on them," Hanszen senior Andrew Jones said. Beer-Bike is scheduled for March 31.
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