Kent State bikes across Portage County
September 7, 2011
While many Kent State students consider Kent a home away from home, they may not know about some of its best hidden locales. This year, Kent State’s Sustainability Collective is holding a bike photo contest to showcase the best Portage County attractions.
Karch Marhofer, senior general studies major, is encouraging student’s to get involved by taking pictures of their bikes in various sites throughout Portage County for a chance to win one of two bikes.
Why Should I Care?
Students should start to learn more about their surroundings and where they are living. Kent offers bookstores, coffee shops and vintage stores that are easily bike accessible.
Kent State Sustainability Collective is encouraging our population to support their local economy.
The first place winner will have a choice of a Vintage Cruiser Bike or a Mountain Bike. The Vintage Cruiser is from the 1950s and has a headlight. The second place winner receives whichever bike the first place winner doesn’t choose. All participants will receive 100 Flash Perk Points, which can be redeemed for a number of prizes.
All participating photos will be displayed in the library for other students to see new places in Kent.
“We want to encourage a zero-carbon mode of transportation and (have) students get to know their locality and get to know the Kent area,” Marhofer said.
Sometimes when students are driving from point A to point B, they don’t get to see all of their surroundings. Marhofer said if students participate in the photo contest, they will realize Kent State is very bike accessible and sometimes even quicker than driving.
“If you are on a bike you can zip along easily,” he said.
Marhofer said when students bike around town, they will notice sites such as the bookstores, coffee shops and vintage shops.
“We need to encourage our population to support their local economy because it is important to maintain the community you are living in,” Marhofer said.
The Sustainability Collective encourages students to get involved because bike riding can be a rewarding experience and students can save money and take care of their daily exercise.
The last day to enter photos for the biking contest is October 21 by 5 p.m. Entry forms can be picked up in the Undergraduate Student Government office.
“If students have never biked around campus, they will quickly learn there are a lot more benefits of biking than what they realized,” Marhofer said.
The Sustainability Collective group, which is in its second year of operation, will be posting new challenges around the end of September.
Contact Haley Phillippi at [email protected].
