Undie Run fun, but changes are needed
I have to agree with many of the arguments students have
regarding UCLA’s Undie Run tradition. I think that the
tradition is very unique to UCLA students because of its organic
origins.
Those of us who have participated in the Undie Run do it because
it’s fun.
However, I am forced to side with the school’s
administration (and the university police) when they share their
various concerns for student safety and well-being.
As an elected student leader, I want students to know that the
administration has been willing to listen to students and hear
concerns relating to the Undie Run.
For students, the tradition seems like a fun way to release the
stress of finals week in a way that is unique and enjoyable. I am a
participant of the tradition myself, and think it’s one of
the few expressions of campus spirit specific to UCLA.
But the administration has a right to be concerned. I do not
know how I would react if one of my close college friends were
hurt, injured or (God forbid) killed accidentally due to the Undie
Run stampedes.
Furthermore the university’s administration and university
police are the ones who are forced to deal with the consequences of
an accident, should one happen, to a UCLA student or a friend of a
UCLA student.
Please think of the worst-case scenarios and negative
consequences ““ more gropings, possible arrests, injuries,
riots or even death. It’s just not worth it.
Let me assure you that the administration does not want to shut
down the tradition or make it any less entertaining.
It’s not the administration we should be afraid of, but
instead the possibility of one of our fellow students angering a
police officer and something worse ensuing.
Let’s be honest. The tradition grows each quarter, and
with more and more participation, so does the potential for
accidents.
So what if the route undergoes a minor change? If it is to
ensure that the run is safe for all the participants and on the
property of the university, then I am all for it.
I will still be there in my Spiderman skivvies.
Ryan Smeets USAC Financial Supports
commissioner
New route’s dangers trump old worries
The convoluted logic used by the administration to attempt to
bring the Undie Run to campus shows just how out of touch they are
regarding the actual logistics of the event.
Assistant Vice Chancellor Bob Naples trumpets the horn of safety
as a reason for moving the Undie Run to campus, but fails to
realize that the proposed new route is actually more dangerous than
the current route.
Landfair and Glenrock avenues are already cordoned off quite
successfully by university police during the Undie Run. Gayley
Avenue, however, is a collector street ““ a street designed to
distribute traffic away from neighborhoods to major roads and
freeways.
Blocking off Gayley would be more disruptive to traffic and more
dangerous to students, as detour traffic would cut through the
North Village, where students are walking to the Undie Run assembly
site.
The threat of sexual violence is also greater with the new
route. As Internal Vice President Kristina Doan said in the Daily
Bruin, “When you’re down by the bear, and it’s
pretty isolated and it’s cold, it’s time to go
home.”
So instead of having students disperse from where their homes
are, under the watchful eyes of apartment dwellers surveying the
streets, our IVP agrees with students walking home from an isolated
area with many nooks and alcoves among empty buildings.
Another supposed “threat” to student health are
projectiles tossed at students ““ which are, in fact, harmless
water balloons.
The current incarnation of the Undie Run is safe because the
streets are lined with watchful pedestrians and university police
block vehicular traffic and ensures dispersal. The new route will
have no spectators, more dangerous streets to run down, and an
isolated dispersal point.
Perhaps if Naples attended the event, he could see the fallacies
of his arguments.
Paul Philley Graduate student, urban
planning