Campus  group  has a  knack  for  knitting Page  8
October  2,  2013
Students  able  to  scope  out  jobs,  internships  at  Hawk  Career  Fair  Page  5
www.RoyalPurpleNews.com
Â
  Established  1901
The cycle of stealing Bike  thefts  decrease 70%  in  last  three  years By Michael Riley News  Editor
Michael Riley photo/5LOH\03 #XZZ HGX
Students who ride their bikes to Hyland Hall and Upham Hall can feel more secure leaving their bikes on campus. Due new technology including a tracking system for ‘bait bikes,’ bike theft is down almost 70 percent.
Every  day  in  2010,  Cameron  Barker  would  ride  home  from  class  to  Benson  Hall  where  he  would  secure  his  new  $1,500  bicycle  in  the  bike  locker  he  had  purchased  at  the  beginning  of  year.   One  night  he  Barker broke  the  rou- tine:  Barker  locked  his  bike  out- side  on  a  bike  rack  with  a  chain  combo  lock.   The  next  morning,  he  walked  outside  and  found  his  bike  was  stolen. “I  remember  every  time  I  told  someone  about  my  bike  being  stolen,  they  would  always  have  a  similar  story  to  tell  me  about  their  own  bike  being  stolen  or  someone  that  they  knew,â€?  Barker  said.  “It  was  happening  all  the  time.â€?  Even  though  Barker  had  reg- istered  his  bike  with  the  campus  police,  at  that  point  there  was  not  much  he  could  do  except  hope  that  the  police  recovered  it.   Three  years  later,  now  a  resi- dent  assistant,  Barker  said  his  residents  and  all  students  can  feel  safer  about  the  being  able  to  leave  their  locked  bikes  on  campus. Â
The  added  peace  of  mind  pelding  who  rides  his  bike  to  comes  from  the  success  of  Bait  Upham  Hall  every  day  said  he  Bike,  a  program  started  by  the  did  not  even  know  the  technol- university  to  combat  bike  theft  ogy  had  been  up  and  running  for  started  more  than  two  years  ago.   a  while  now. Chief  of  Police  Matthew  Kie- “I  live  off  campus,  so  riding  derlen  said  the  new  technology  gets  me  to  class  faster,â€?  Erpelding  has  completely  reversed  the  bike  said.   “I  have  noticed  unlocked  theft  trend  on  campus.   bikes  around  campus,  but  I  didn’t  “In  the  2010- know  it  was  it  a  11  school  year,  part  of  a  real  pro- we  had  37  bikes  gram.   I  have  a  reported  taken,â€?  pretty  good  lock,  Kiederlen  said.  so  I  wasn’t  really  “Last  year,  we  worried,  but  I  am  had  a  total  of  14.   glad  that  my  bike  So  far  this  se- isn’t  at  risk.â€? Kiederlen Erpelding mester,  two  have  The  key  been  reported.â€?  to  success  has  been  the  bait  Through  grants  and  a  dona- bikes  themselves  and  the  edu- tion  from  Residence  Hall  Associ- FDWLRQ VDLG 2IÂż FHU 6WHSKHQ - ation,  the  UW-ÂWhitewater  Police  See  Bike  Page  4 Department  purchased  a  tracking  system  and  installed  it  on  several  bikes.   It  cost  about  $4,000.  Campus  police  are  us- ing  a  combination  of  GPS  reported  stolen and  radio  frequency  tech- to  Campus  Police nologies  to  track  a  “Bait  Bikeâ€?  set  up  to  be  stolen.  2010-Â11           If  the  bike  is  stolen,  po- 37  bikes lice  can  then  track  it  using  2011-Â12           cell  phones,  tablets  or  any  14  bikes number  of  devices. They  would  then  use  a  2012-Â13           set  of  antennas  on  top  of  a  2  bikes squad  car  or  other  vehicle  to  triangulate  the  position  of  the  “stolenâ€?  bike. Sophomore  Ryan  Er-Â
#  of  Bikes
Rezoning causes student housing changes By Lucas Wimmer Assistant  News  Editor
UW-ÂWhitewater  students  will  experi- ence  some  changes  involving  where  they  can  live  off  campus  after  the  Whitewater  Common  Council  completes  zoning  re- writes.  The  zoning  rewrites  have  been  in  the  works  for  the  last  two  years.  The  Common  &RXQFLO KRSHV WR Âż QLVK them  by  the  end  of  this  year.  Common  Council  President  Patrick  Singer  said  the  changes  may  make  less  rentals  avail- able  for  students,  which  Singer could  drive  prices  up  slightly  due  to  supply  and  demand. These  rewrites  take  place  during Â
Whitewater  Common  Council  meetings,  which  are  open  to  the  public  and  allow  for  discussion  of  topics  listed  on  each  meet- ing’s  agenda.  Meeting  schedules  are  post- ed  on  the  City  of  Whitewater  website. One  of  the  main  issues  in  the  zoning  rewrites  that  relates  to  student  housing  on  North  Fremont  Street  between  Starin  Road  and  Main  Street,  where  an  overlay  occurs  between  single-Âfamily  owner-Âoccupied  housing  and  rental  properties. A  group  of  Starin  Park  neighborhood  residents  who  would  like  to  keep  the  whole  area  zoned  as  single-Âfamily  own- er-Âoccupied  housing  recently  presented  a  petition  and  will  continue  to  make  their  case  to  the  Common  Council  at  upcoming  meetings. Complaints  have  come  in  from  this  area  of  large  parties  and  some  vandalism,  Singer  said.
“It’s  unfortunate  that  students  some- times  get  maligned  through  the  acts  of  a  few,â€?  Singer  said.  “Not  all  people  in  this  community,  whether  they  are  65  or  21,  be- have  properly.â€? There  are  currently  some  rental  proper- ties  on  Fremont  Street,  and  that  is  where  the  Common  Council  is  seeing  a  little  pushback  from  rental  property  owners,  Singer  said. “The  change  would  not  prevent  them  from  renting,  but  it  would  only  allow  for  two  unrelated  people  in  one  house,â€?  Sing- er  said. The  change  could  not,  by  law,  pre- vent  the  landlords  from  renting  because  they  would  be  grandfathered  into  the  new  zones.  Landlords  could  continue  to  rent  to  the  current  number  of  parties  they  rent  to  as  long  as  they  continue  renting,  but  if  they  changed  their  property  from  a  rental Â
Student-ÂRun  Weekly  Newspaper  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin-ÂWhitewater
to  any  other  status,  they  would  stop  being  grandfathered  in. The  second  part  of  the  zoning  rewrite  that  relates  most  to  student  housing  is  two  parts  of  the  current  draft  that  aim  to  con- dense  student  housing  on  the  east  and  west  sides  of  the  city.  “The  purpose  and  intent  of  the  uni- versity  residential  density  west  (and  east)  overlay  district  is  to  allow  increased  den- sity  for  new  housing  in  a  focused  area  near  campus,  and  therefore  reduce  the  impact  of  student  housing  on  lower  density  neigh- borhoods,â€?  according  to  Page  55  of  the  current  draft  of  the  zoning  rewrite,  posted  on  the  City  of  Whitewater  webpage. Singer  said  students  are  not  necessar- ily  being  corralled  into  certain  areas  but  instead  are  being  placed  in  areas  where Â
See  Zoning  Page  4