Bike program good idea for a greener campusIn Monday’s The New York Times featured an article about bikes on campus. At the University of New England they have implemented a new  bike program for incoming freshmen. The University is giving new bikes to incoming freshmen in exchange for students leaving their cars at home. It is voluntary, but those who sign up receive a brand new, $480 bike when they get to campus their first semester. This is a great way to reduce the number of cars on and around campus. The University of New England reported only 25 percent of incoming freshmen brought cars this semester as compared with the 75 percent from the previous year. With LSU trying to make the move to a greener campus, school officials should consider a program similar to the University of New England. Bikes are one of the easiest ways to be green because they don’t need gas, or the kind of maintenance that a car requires, and they allow for easy exercise instead of sitting, barely moving, as you drive from point A to point B. Giving someone his or her own bike, instead of renting, would also reduce the worry of vandalism or theft. It’s a known fact that people take better care of their own personal things than a public rental. As someone who rides a bike to campus on a regular basis, I would love to see more bikes around LSU’s campus, not only for the green factor but also because riding a bike is actually fun, and trying out something similar to other campuses like University of New England’s seems like the best start. Go green!!Cassidy Sillarschemical engineering juniorGumbo can’t make everyone happyAs a recent alum of LSU, I still find it difficult to comprehend the lack of acceptance of ideas beyond that of our personal ones. Open-minded isn’t the same thing as accepting every idea that walks into that space between your ears. You don’t have to be liberal to understand someones point of view.People have complained and griped, back and forth, over the semantics of this year’s Gumbo (i.e. Tiger Band having over 200 members vs. Tiger Band’s actual count of 325) and even the choice of content, but how many have tried to satisfy over 20,000 students (or should I say over 25000, or maybe 28,019 if that will make everyone happy) from every walk of life, religion and view point imaginable?Leave it to those ready to cast the first stone to quickly point out the profanity in pictures and captions. Yet which school was asked by their own football team members and coaches to avoid profane language at football games? Can you refresh my memory — which school’s band was forced to cut out pre-game songs in order to quell taboo words flowing like water from the mouths of its faithful fans? I ask not to condemn but to remind people that perception is often, but not always, reality.If the Gumbo’s job is to portray every positive facet of LSU, this copy probably didn’t do too well. If its purpose was to paint a picture of LSU representative of its individual parts, I think it did a fine job. Carlotta Street, passionate body painting for sporting events, etc. are all part of what make LSU unique. No where will the passion of the student body be more obvious than here. I believe that and am willing to stake my diploma on it.David DinhUniversity alumnus—-Contact The Daily Reveille’s opinion staff at [email protected]