Proposed Beer Bike parade changes fail
Seth Brown
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: News
Come March 20, students sober and inebriated alike will accompany a caravan of trucks around the Inner Loop toward the Beer Bike track, water balloons at the ready. Because recent changes proposed to the parade route were voted down, most of the participants will be familiar with the route, as this year's Beer Bike parade will hold the same format as last year's.
The college Beer Bike coordinators voted Monday against the proposed changes, the majority electing to maintain the current parade format. The result of the vote matched the results from a recent poll conducted by the Student Association, which showed student support for maintaining the parade's current format.
The college vote, held by secret ballot among the Beer Bike coordinators, yielded a 10-1 majority to keep the current format of the parade. A second vote to research alternatives for the future produced a 7-2 majority, with two abstentions.
While some colleges saw differing degrees of merit in the proposals, others were staunchly opposed to altering the current format.
"People were overwhelmingly against the changes - Sid was definitely very against," said Sid Richardson College Beer Bike Coordinator Chris McClure.
The changes would have reverted the parade to a format similar to that of the late 1970s and the 1980s, with various floats for each college, and moved the water balloon fight to the football practice field. The parade first began to include water balloons in 1991, while earlier parades focused on making the most impressive or bizarre entry to the race, according to the Rice Program Council Web site.
Campus-wide Beer Bike Coordinator Brian Henderson said he was not surprised by the results, though he had hoped for the proposed changes to succeed.
"It's encouraging that people have said they will consider future plans," Henderson, a Jones College senior, said.
He noted that although previous coordinators had discussed changes, they had never made any concrete proposals.
The college Beer Bike coordinators voted Monday against the proposed changes, the majority electing to maintain the current parade format. The result of the vote matched the results from a recent poll conducted by the Student Association, which showed student support for maintaining the parade's current format.
The college vote, held by secret ballot among the Beer Bike coordinators, yielded a 10-1 majority to keep the current format of the parade. A second vote to research alternatives for the future produced a 7-2 majority, with two abstentions.
While some colleges saw differing degrees of merit in the proposals, others were staunchly opposed to altering the current format.
"People were overwhelmingly against the changes - Sid was definitely very against," said Sid Richardson College Beer Bike Coordinator Chris McClure.
The changes would have reverted the parade to a format similar to that of the late 1970s and the 1980s, with various floats for each college, and moved the water balloon fight to the football practice field. The parade first began to include water balloons in 1991, while earlier parades focused on making the most impressive or bizarre entry to the race, according to the Rice Program Council Web site.
Campus-wide Beer Bike Coordinator Brian Henderson said he was not surprised by the results, though he had hoped for the proposed changes to succeed.
"It's encouraging that people have said they will consider future plans," Henderson, a Jones College senior, said.
He noted that although previous coordinators had discussed changes, they had never made any concrete proposals.
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Kevin Schell
posted 2/06/10 @ 9:40 AM CST
Brown College was significantly opposed to the proposed Beer Bike parade modifications, and I am personally happy with the results of last week's votes. (Continued…)
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