Central Florida Future, Vol. 25 No. 24, November 12, 1992

              OPINION P. 6
University President takes direct
Hitt on bike action
EB^
» H.WWWWM.W.'ri
FEATURES p. F1
Theatre Downtown
snows %rteftTOeoic s
America in 'Grapes'
Voiieyballteamwins
two in a row before
conference tourney
Central Florida Future
Vol. 25, No. 24
Serving The University of Central Florida Since 1968
THURSDAY November 12, 1992
12 Pages
Bicycle ban sparks dissent
Students disagreed with the proposal at a hearing Monday.
If the proposal is approved, students will no longer
be able to ride bicycles to classes. (otHoog/FuruRE)
Vet's spouse
speaks for
war prisoners
by Jason Lesko
STAFF REPORTER
The attorney's office held a public hearing Monday to discuss a ban on the use of vehicles such as
bicycles, skateboards, golf carts and possibly roller
blades near academic buildings at the UCFs main
campus.
The UCF Sidewalk Safety Committee, who initiated the proposal, failed to notify Student Government of the hearing, according to Student Body
President Jason Dibona and Chris Marlin of SG
Public Relations. In addition, arepresentative of the
UCFPoKceDepartmentsaid the departmentdidnot
know about the hearing until Monday morning.
Students were not notified of the proposal, either. As
a result, seven students attended the hearing.
Sidewalk Safety Committee member Dick Paradise represented the committee.
Ashmun Brown, General Counsel for the university, said the committee is concerned that there are
too many vehicles in a confined space. The safety of
the students motivated the committee to initiate the
proposal, he said.
The committee's job is to reduce the conflict
between pedestrian and vehicle traffic," Paradise
said.
There have been no serious accidents between
pedestrians and bikes on record, but the Sidewalk
Safety Committee is worried about the potential.
"We try and be ahead of the problem. We aren't
going to wait for a major disaster," Brown said,
Thehearinggave students an opportunity to voice
their opinions. Arecord of the students' reactions will
be brought up at the next committee meeting.
"For a meeting that had this much effect on
students, I'm surprised they didn't let students know
that there were plans to incorporate a rule like this,"
student Kerstin Conners said. "I think if shorrible on
the part of the university that they didn't advertise to
students that there would be a meeting."
Police officers expressed their concern for the
convenience and availability of transportation to
students.
"We promote bikes on campus. Parkingis limited
and it is more convenient to have a bike then a car,"
said UCF police officer Kevin Schwebs.
UCFpoliceofficerSteveCarmagnolasaid, There
are more cars then bikes getting in accidents."
The students at the meeting unanimously objected to the proposal.
"I have been riding my bike back and forth on
campus since Igothere," said studentSteveThomas.
"It's shorter for me to ride my bike because I live
across ihe street from the campus."
BAN continued page 3
by Zuaelie Ahmed
CENTRAL FLORIDA FUTURE
As part of Veteran's Day activities, the
spouse of a deceased Vietnam veteran,
Barbara Smith, spoke before the Vietnam
Veteran Tree Dedication on the issue of
soldiers who were listed as Prisoners ofWar
or Missing in Action during the Vietnam
War.
"America has a very disgraceful background when it comes to POWs and MIAs.
Itfsoneofthethingsthatmakeme ashamed,
not of America but of some of the things our
government has done," Smith said.
For example, she said in the Korean
War, 8,177 men were left behind In Vietnam, the United Stated left more than
2,331 soldiers,
Accordingto Smith, In World War II, the
government left 78,751 men. In the same
war, 1,600 men were held alive in a POW
camp in Russia
"We knew they were alive because we
were told they were alive and would be
turned over to the American Navy. They
never came," Smith said.
The U.S. government said it didn't pur-
VETS continued page 3
Irv Fishman, left, and Charles Glass of the Jewish war Veterans of Orlando salute the American flag
at the ROTC Vietnam VeteranTree Dedication Monday. Other activities in honor of Memorial Day
included a mock POW presentation and additional speakers Wednesday evening. (DeHoog/FUTURE)
CLASSIFIEDS page 5