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The Rice Thresher
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by Olivia Allison Thresher editorial staff
This year, 30 injuries from Beer-Bike events were reported to Emergency Medical Services, compared with 23 last year, 25 in 1999 and 13 in 1998. EMT Coordinator Noah Reiter said the number of bike accidents this year caused most of the increase. Four students fell during the races: Hanszen College juniors Shannon Scott and Beth Williams , Jones College senior Natalia Ksiezyk and Wiess College freshman Mark Berenson. Williams and Scott sustained only minor injuries, and Scott said injuries during the race should be expected. "There are going to be falls no matter what we do," she said. "The problem is that we're not bike racers and we don't do this all the time." Berenson was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital by a Houston Fire Department ambulance and treated for broken ribs, a bruised kidney and a bruised hip. Berenson said he plans to bike in next year's Beer-Bike race. "Accidents happen," Berenson, a Thresher assistant news editor, said. "My parents aren't OK with it, but I'm looking forward to being a part of the inaugural Martel Beer-Bike team." After a year-long controversy about increasing parade safety by eliminating the large trucks that carried water balloons and students, organizers found different problems with the new, shorter trailers. Two Brown College students each reported that their foot had been run over by a trailer carrying water balloons and students. Police Chief Bill Taylor said these injuries have not been a problem in the past. "The idea of using low trailers instead of trucks was good, but on those types of trailers, the tires and wheels were out wider than the bed, so that's something we have to rethink," Taylor said. Taylor said another problem with the smaller trailers was the stipulation that only 10 students could be on the trailer with the water balloons, resulting in more students running alongside the vehicles. Taylor said this caused more confrontations between students. "Because there wasn't as much room on the trailers, there were more people on the ground running around, so there were more individual confrontations," Taylor said. Taylor said he thought organizers should reconsider using trailers in the future. "I think they need to rethink it as far as what balance they want to achieve," he said. Parade Coordinator Lindsey O'Neal agreed, saying in her opinion the changes did not improve the safety of the race. "I think we need to sit down and talk about the effectiveness of the changes," O'Neal, a Jones College senior, said. "I feel the limitations placed on [the number of students in trucks] was slightly more dangerous simply because it resulted in a lot more crowding around individual vehicles." O'Neal also said she thought the lower trailers posed additional dangers. "I was a little bit uncomfortable with having the lower vehicles, personally," she said. "I felt that it was a little more dangerous because students were able to reach in while the vehicle was moving, and too many were getting stuck between the trailer and the truck." Beer-Bike coordinators had planned to place temporary fencing between the truck and the trailer, but it was not done on all the vehicles. However, Reiter said he thought the new trailers increased students' potential safety, even though the number of injuries increased. He said the injuries he and other emergency medical technicians treated from the parade were consistent with past injuries. "I think the smaller trailers reduced the potential for serious injuries," Reiter said. "In terms of our call volume and the types of injuries we treated, there was no change. ... But it reduced the potential for more serious injuries, which is a good thing." Baker College Coordinator Nick Spicer said he thought the parade was safer this year, although he said he did not know about problems in other parts of the parade because he was with his college at the front. "I think, from what I saw, it seemed more safe," Spicer, a Baker junior, said. "The people on the trailers were supposed to be sober - and at least on the truck I was assigned to they were all sober - and I think that helped a lot." Scott said most of the injuries during the parade cannot be avoided. "No matter how you do it you're going to have some injuries," she said. "It's the nature of the event. You're still going to have people getting hurt even if you take out the trucks. Someone would then slip on the wet sidewalk." Campus-wide Beer-Bike Coordinator Daniel Attaway said he thought Beer-Bike went well, and that the tradition was preserved in spite of the many changes to the parade. "No matter what you do, you can't ruin something that's lasted 45 years," he said. "People love Beer-Bike and really, on the day of Beer-Bike, the event runs itself." Overall, coordinators and police said they were pleased with the way the events turned out, especially because all events occurred at their scheduled times. "The event itself was very well-organized this year," Taylor said. "The committee did a fantastic job of keeping things moving. It seemed to flow really well, there didn't seem to be a lot of wrinkles, everything seemed to move really effectively." Taylor said one female alumna was hit just north of campus by a sports-utility vehicle after the Beer-Bike races and was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hermann Hospital. She was treated for abrasions, puncture wounds, bruises and a possible cracked ankle, he said. The driver of the vehicle, who is not affiliated with Rice, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. "She had tread marks going over her legs and we were concerned it would be more serious than it was," Taylor said. Fines were released to the colleges Wednesday. A list of fines was unavailable at press time because some fines were being contested, Attaway said.
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