Dear Declaration,

I saw something the other day that really irked me. Some over-eager chalkers had sketched an ad for the First Year Semi-Formal on an exterior wall of the Comm. School. I realize that it's not quite graffiti, but what were you people thinking? Keep the chalk on the sidewalk, folks. Don't disrespect the Grounds.

Dave Abney

Fellow peddlers,

The U.Va. community needs to be more active in addressing the needs of cyclists. While many students realize the benefits of whisking to class on two wheels, and some bike to work or off-road down Observatory Hill, few participate in any organized riding activity or activism. Charlottesville is making great strides to open the downtown to bicylcle traffic, but the roads on and around grounds are still narrow, congested, and (as in the case of the blind bend on Emmet Street) potential deathtraps. How often have you seen pedestrians forced off the sidewalk, bikes, and UTS behemoths contending for the same ribbon of pavement on the way to class? On the flip side of the coin, every other cyclist seems to be on the wrong side of the road, helmetless, and without compassion to the bipedal and accelerator pedal moted alike.

There has to be a middle ground, and I feel this could best be accomplished by an inclusive biking organization that, unlike the mountain biking club or the loosley university affiliated CHABA (Charlottesville Albermarle Bicycling Association), or the purely trip oriented Outing Club, addresses concerns of the typical university bicyclist.

Charles Spurlock