[*BCM*] BU Removing Bicycles

[Eric A. Stratton]

This is from some information that was posted on BostonFixed.

Good afternoon:

Beginning on Monday, May 5, 2008, bicycles attached to anything other  
than an appropriate bike rack will be removed by the Commonwealth of  
Massachusetts. This includes trees, parking meters and benches. This  
action is being taken to prevent the destruction of the new plantings  
and items installed during the Commonwealth Avenue Beautification  
Project. Questions and concerns about this new policy can be forwarded  
to the Office of the Dean of Students at 617-353-4126 or dos at bu.edu.

Again, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Best regards,

Katherine Hasenauer

This is really outrageous.  I emailed the BU Dean of Students office  
about this, as I'm a graduate student there and never received any  
notice of this removal.  Here is their reply.

Eric,

Thank you for your email. The signs and messages you received from the  
university regarding bike removal were notifications we received from  
the City of Boston. The university was merely conveying a message sent  
to us from city officials, and we apologize for the confusion.  
Unfortunately, the university has no sway over city policy, including  
bicycle removal from city property. As for additional bike storage,  
working to provide more bike racks is part of our plans along  
Commonwealth Avenue.

Thank you for your email, and if you have any additional questions,  
please call our office at 617-353-4126.

Sincerely,

Ally
Student Manager
Office of the Dean of Students

As it was stated by one of my fellow bostonfixed members,  it's pretty  
disingenuous to suggest that BU has no influence over minor city  
enforcement on the Comm. Ave. project, in which BU has a more than  
significant interest.  My impression of the Dean of Students office  
was that they were there to assist the students and help advocate  
points in which the students have a significant interest.  There must  
be someone at BU who can negotiate on behalf of the student body if  
the Dean of Students office isn't up to it.

 From the reports I've received from other folks on the bostonfixed  
board, BU has been removing bicycles today by the truckload.  I've  
been holed up in my apartment as it is currently finals week @ BU,  
which seems rather convenient for the city and BU as students would be  
hard pressed to try and protest and study at the same time.

These are just some of my thoughts, but wanted to get this information  
out there for others incase they also weren't  made aware of the  
situation.

-E

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