Although it was substantial that BEAST appeared in the current issue of the St. Thomas magazine, BEAST feels like it must respond to the cut-and-paste job done by the editors. Some of us put valuable time into writing a great condensed article about our history and current activities for the magazine. It appears that it is too much to ask to put the article in the magazine word for word. We would like to correct a few things and post the actual article that was sent to the editors. We feel that it is important for those of you who don't know the true history of BEAST to be able to get the facts.
On this note, we encourage you to support independent media, and make your voice known in ways other than the usual corporate model. You can see what happens when we try to participate in this system. We hope this inspires you to seek out and support media that is democratic and accurate such as zines or independent publishing.
Peace and alternative media grease
Here is the original article!
BEAST's Share!
When Dan Thiede, B.A. Geography/English, first heard about MACbike's program, of Macalester, of lending out bikes he was enthused. He had been with Bicycle Enthusiasts at Saint Thomas (BEAST) making efforts to connect with other student organizations. The two groups met a few times during the year to exchange ideas and partner for group rides and events like the 1st Annual Taxman Cometh Alleycat on April 13th, 2007. "[That] was a great time, we just put the word out on mplsbikelove[.com] and before we knew it over fifty people showed up", BEAST co-founder Connor Ryan, B.A. English, recalled.
Later that summer Julie Bernhardt, B.A. Community Health, was done with work at the campus post office and unlocking her bike and putting on her helmet outside of MHC when Khalid, friend and foriegn student from Saudi Arabia came by asking about a bike to use and get around on while here in the states. Julie, who had attended a MACbike/BEAST meeting to work on stencil t-shirt designs, told Khalid about BEAST and worked on making a bike available. "There's so much to see and go to once your on a bike, a much larger community is accessible and your free to belong to it." BEAST wants "to help build and promote a more sustainable community" here, current BEAST co-president Joe Dietel confides. We're not trying to create the largest club on campus requiring members to attend every meeting, we just want BEAST "[p]roviding free transportation" for people to be able to get to class on time without clogging up the neighborhood streets and avenues searching for parking.
BEAST bikeshare program has been in its test phase since early June and bikes/service are available. This includes those who live in the neighborhood as well as faculty, staff, and students. Also check out BEAST's bike cart for your hauling needs!
As you will see it is much different than the piece in the magazine, http://www.stthomas.edu/magazine/2008/Fall/SustainableU.html .
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