To the Editor:
While I appreciate The Herald’s article on bike thefts on campus, (“Five bikes stolen on Nov. 15 alone,” Nov. 29), the article should have included the many active initiatives on campus to reduce bicycle thefts.
Most glaringly, the article makes no mention of Campus Police Officer Kelly Mitchell’s tireless work on the issue, including frequent bike registration drives with free tune-ups and light giveaways, co-leading bike safety classes with Bikes at Brown and putting “U-Lock or You Lose” posters in every bike room and stickers on every bike rack. Additionally, the article failed to include any mention or information from the recently published Department of Public Safety report of bike thefts on campus, compiled by Kate Felder, or their recent hire of a student intern to study the issue.
And lastly, the article makes no reference to the campus’ Bike Advisory Task Force that has spent many hours discussing the issue and planning interdepartmental initiatives, like removing and donating abandoned bikes from bike racks, to discourage on campus theft. These efforts were one of many recent initiatives that led Brown to recently be awarded a Bike Friendly University designation from the League of American Bicyclists.
Harry August ’19
Co-President, Bikes at Brown
Sustainable Transportation Intern, Office of Energy and Environment
