Posted on February 10 at 1:53 p.m.Suggest removal

I would like to point out that it is against the law to ride a bicycle in a pedestrian area. I am always upset by how often cyclists are treated as an invalid form of transportation, but some of the problem stems from cyclists themselves. This is due to a lack of education on our part.

Most cyclists do not know their place in traffic, and according to the uniform vehicle code and the laws of the state of oklahoma, we are considered vehicles and are to act accordingly. This means that bicycles are legally required and obligated to ride in the road, stop at signs and lights, and signal to turn. The uniform vehicle code states that bicycles should travel "as close to the right as practicable" and oklahoma state law allows groups of cyclists to travel two abreast, taking a lane if there is room.

Although Norman is practically devoid of bike lanes and paths, these laws give cyclists adequate protection and consideration in order to get anywhere they need to. Conversly, there is no place for cyclists on sidewalks. Bicycles move so quickly that they can pose a serious threat pedistrians. The density of pedistrian traffic on campus magnifies this problem.

I have my own complaints about the quality of the bike lane on the south oval, but if cyclists are to be taken seriously, we must be accountable to the laws which were designed to protect our rights (and pedestrian's). Pedestrians do not move very quickly. This means that they are not endangered by the cherrypicker parked the clocktower. It also means that you are endangering them by riding around it and consequently, your argument is not sound.

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Posted on February 5 at 4:38 p.m.Suggest removal

I'm sorry but English is not in trouble. The first thing you will have to know about language is that it is a living thing; constantly picking up new habits and ideas. English in fact is such a borrowed language that it would be foolish to make an argument that any version would be "proper." Writing does help to solidify language, but language doesn't want to be solid. Even with a formalized system, but there will always be vicissitudes of dialect. In fact writing does not keep language alive. Since we have hundreds of written artifacts in multiple languages with no way of reading them; only the speakers of a language keep it living. When they die, so much is lost in history, culture, and world perspective. I applaud the work OU is doing in preserving native american languages, and I hope people will notice our unique geographic advantage and help us empower that work. It is sad to see such ignorant elitism in the wake of the silencing of tens of thousands of years of another language.

On