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<DIV>solidarity without leaders or with leaders is a form of advocacy, you don't
need a leader or be a group or and advocacy group. Are we on the roads to make a
statement or have fun? I say both.</DIV>
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<DIV>In a message dated 1/8/2008 11:33:17 AM Eastern Standard Time,
hyamada@MIT.EDU writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>I would
have to agree to Paul's sentiment -- Yea, it's a "Private <BR>institution,"
but it's also MIT. We're not exactly sipping tea with our <BR>pinky out, and
our students are known for the whackiest hijinx known to... <BR>well, at least
the east coast, if not most of the country. People <BR>routinely ride their
unicycle/scooter/what have you down the corridors, <BR>and for the most part
they are courteous about it and often get a laugh or <BR>smile, over an angry
response. Furthermore, the argument that "Bike ride <BR>behaves badly knowing
a journalist is in its midst" is going to lead to <BR>worsened images of CM is
a little off-point, imho. The fact that there's <BR>some tool newspaper writer
shouldn't limit or control our behavior in <BR>anyway -- for the worse or
better. We shouldn't act more brashly or rude, <BR>but on the flipside, we
also shouldn't try to pretty up the ride. We've <BR>all been there, when anger
and mob mentality takes the better part of the <BR>ride, and it would be vain
and silly to try and hide that aspect of the <BR>ride frm the media.<BR><BR>In
THIS particular case, with the infinite virtually empty (again, no
<BR>students) and the ride VERY small, I can't imagine there being any
<BR>problem. On any other day, with MIT's full student body using the infinite
<BR>and several hundred riders, that'd be an entirely different
issue.<BR><BR>And for reference, MIT's hallways are open to the public,
and most of <BR>them, or at <BR>least the stretch of the infinite, are open
24/7. We don't lock the doors <BR>or gates or anything fancy like
that.<BR><BR>As for bicycle advocacy, I stand with anyone who recognizes CM
for what it <BR>is -- an enjoyable and safe ride through an urban environment.
If you want <BR>to start tossing out mission statements and philosophies, you
will <BR>probably lose a lot of the ride's enthusiasm. There have historically
been <BR>no leaders and that alone rules out the typical definition of
an advocacy <BR>group.<BR><BR>Yes, we're riding bikes and "educating"
the city, but by a similar token, <BR>I educate the city and its drivers every
time I clip in, just on a smaller <BR>scale. Am I a bike advocate? Absolutely,
I read the riot act to anyone who <BR>complains about gas prices. Do I claim
to be running a 1-man advocacy <BR>group whenever I'm on wheels?
No.<BR><BR>Oh, and the argument that "you're being a leader, so how come you
won't <BR>lead" is fallacious. Just pointing out the lack of organization
isn't <BR>instituting it for oneself.<BR><BR>--Yuki</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Start the year off right. <A title="http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489" href="http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489" target="_blank">Easy ways to stay in shape</A> in the new year. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>