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The Rice Thresher
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Water balloons will be carried by flatbed trailers pulled by pickups by Olivia Allison Thresher editorial staff Beer-Bike coordinators approved event rules allowing each college to have a pickup truck pulling a flatbed trailer with side rails to carry water balloons. Last week, Beer-Bike Chair Daniel Attaway announced that the previously approved tractors would not be allowed in the parade because they were too tall. Attaway, a Sid Richardson College senior, said he expected the colleges would be able to use lawnmower-sized tractors. However, he said the tractors required to pull a flatbed carrying 10 students and 30 trash cans full of balloons were too large. The flatbed trailers that will be used are called "stake trailers" because they have side rails, which will make them look like the back part of the large trucks that were used in previous Beer-Bike parades, Attaway said. "They'll look like the back end of the cattle cars - they will be basically the exact same thing, except lower to the ground," he said. The beds of the pickup trucks will be covered, and no students will be allowed in them. Orange fencing will be used to keep people from going in the space between the flatbed and the truck. Coordinators met Sunday night to decide whether to adopt a set of rules about parade vehicles for every college. Attaway said the other option was to allow each college to choose its own vehicle plan to submit to the area Beer-Bike coordinators for approval. Coordinators said having a single policy governing all vehicles was safer than having multiple types of vehicles during the parade. "I'd prefer that everyone has a standardized plan because it's easier to implement safety policies if you have one plan rather than having eight different plans," Baker College Beer-Bike Coordinator Nick Spicer, a junior, said. However, Attaway said he thought most colleges would have chosen pickup trucks even if each college selected its own vehicle. "Overall there wasn't too much dissension," he said. "There were a couple other ideas, but basically everyone agreed that the trucks were the best way." Attaway said he will advise the colleges about prices of flatbed trailers and trucks, but each college's Beer-Bike coordinators will be responsible for renting their own vehicles. On proposal, made by Will Rice College Coordinators, was to use one or more U-Haul trucks to transport balloons. Will Rice coordinator Aryn Bryant said they planned to have some students inside the back of the trucks passing out balloons, with a gate to keep students and the water balloon trash cans from falling out. Bryant and Attaway said they decided this method was unsafe because too many students would crowd around the smaller area around the back of the truck to get balloons. Attaway said that although this year's Beer-Bike coordinators have encountered planning difficulties, they have been very receptive to changing the vehicles because of safety reasons. "I love all of the college coordinators," Attaway said. "They've all been really good. It's been a long and stressful process for everyone, but they've all been constructive and wonderful." Attaway said the rules are final and will not need approval from the college masters. "They told us they trusted us and they would go along with whatever we decided," he said. Attaway does not anticipate much dissent from students about the new parade rules. "As long as there are water balloons, I think people are going to be OK," he said. Bryant agreed, saying that although she didn't think the cattle cars of years past were a serious threat to student safety, the trucks are a good solution. "I think if something had to be changed, this is the best solution," she said. "These flatbeds can carry about the same number of water balloons, but we won't have the problem of people jumping on the trucks, so it's safer. It's the best solution we can come up with at this time."
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