The ultimate trip

The Scarlet a} Black, Sept. 1, i978’7page 3

Student sees America from a new perspective

by Seth llollantlt‘r

Last summer thousands of
touring bikers took to the roads of
America. carrying all their gear
with them.

Some went on short weekend or
weekrlong trips, but others, like
myself, went on one of the ultimate
hike trips; a cross~country ex-
cursion.

A hikcccntennial rider makes a pit-stop in Scott cit

cross-country trek.

The trip began lll Eugene.
Oregon. on the Bikecentcnnial
trail. This trail. which crosses lhe
entire country, has deSigned try a
non-profit organization in
luissoiita. Montana, lt goes
through hack roads and rural
areas, and is somctsoo miles long,
I took the route for part or my trip
from Oregon to New York,

I FUI LOWE!) TIIE Blkecelr
tennial ti all along it llh many other
bikers as it wound its nay through
Oregon lt times running parallel
to the historic Oregon trail. We
climbed over the (‘aSdee
mountain range. only to tlntl a
desert on the other Side, After the
desert, we encountered the
beginnings or the Rocky Mountains
In eastern Oregon, The trail went
over several mountain passes. and
then descended into the Snake

FALL]

River canyon and ldaho We went
through much oi the virgin
mountain wilderness that Lewis
and Clark traversed on their
journeys in 1805 and 1806

My route then took inc through
Yellowstone National Park and on
to the Bighorn Mountains The dry.
harsh plains and badlands organ
where the mountains ended The

r, ..
w: ’i‘~
Wattle

’ Mgr lean/[c

Kansas. on his

hadlands are aptly namcd, there
was one stretch oi road between
Butlalo and Gillette, Wyoming,
that was 57 miles oi notllingvlio
tood. no towns, no water, and
barely any shadc 'l‘he plains
continued through much oi South
Dakota. although their monotony
was broken by the Black Hills, the
Badlands monument. and Wall
Drug. a large tourist attraction

THE PEOPLE IN sourll
Dakota also broke the monotony ot
the plains. ln one town by the name
oi Bonesteel tpop. 500) we stopped
at a grocery store to buy lunch. The
clerk there was so fascinated by
our trip that she called the town
reporter, and we were written
about in the town’s newspaper
Judging lrom the newspaper. our
visit was probably the most c><r
citemcnt this town had C»

AND

CHRISTMAS BREAK

Reservations for excurs on fares
require very early booking.

Contact

GRINNEll TRAVEL CENTER

for more information.

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ﬁSE enema EAﬂBﬂitbﬁ

g® :osmeemsssn d; éﬁ?

393? EBBQAE

33%“ 611-179

Monday—Friday 7 a.m.—9 p.m.

Saturday 9 a.m.—6 p.m.

Sunday 10 p.m.—3 mm.

Deliveries Aveileb'e

perienccd since lhey got the news
of Cilster'. Lust Stand.

We traveled interstate 90 for
about 400 miles in Wyoming
and South Dakota Although some
maythinkthis acra 'thingtodt)
on a bike, the into to “its £10
tually saier than many smaller
roads because it had widc paved
shoulders Traffic was much
lighter than back east, and there
were even numerous pronghorn
antelope along the road, lt was
retreshing to be near civilization
for awhile,

CIVILIZATION IitlEs have its
drawbacks, however. as l
discovered when I reached the
Midwest l IJikctl l0 Milnilukee to
take the Chesapeake and (Him
terry to Ludingtoii. Michigan
While there l was ouitklv
reminded that l “its lillck cast m :i
mayor urban area. Stinlconc
zilmtist nlzlde t)1t Willi lhc contents
or my lit, 19 hag ithilc l was
standing tnily 5U lcet .lttay.

l traveled further cast,
across Ontario to hiagarn lrulls ln
southwestern tuit ‘lU thc
grasslands gradually gztxc may
to the thick. lubll luresl. which
continued all through New \oi-k
Whileln New \'nrk [ l'odct’llnng the
old Erie barge canal and the
Mohawk t‘ivCI‘ alloy

ONE OF THE MOST rewarding

experiences oi the trippccurred in
Hamilton, New York, home ol
Colgate University 1 rode into
town and stopped at the town
square to ask tor directions to the
university oiic ot Ihc people 1
asked looked suspiciously
lamiliai‘: he turned nut to he ll
biker whom l had met brielly in
Mitchell. Oregon. [no tiltinlhs
eal'licl'

i ended my trip in New
Faltz. New York, tlltvl‘ t-orci-ing
some mutt mil ‘in nmt‘ weeks

AS WlTll i\.\‘Y BIKE trip there
are hardships as well as good
times, Fierce headwinds, snow
storms. and rain are not uncum~
mon while crossing the country, I
hiked through a snow storm in
Yellowstone inadequately tlothcti
l héiltlt‘tl hczld ltllltlx ll’l llontztnu,
South Dakota. and Nebraska,
occasionally finding reliei by
windbreaking or draiting with
other bikers Being attacked by
hordes oi mosquitoes at night,
going without a shower lor three or
four days. dealing with bike
problems. and coping with the
sight and smell oi countless dead
animals along the road also caused
some unpleasantness. And there
were always obnoxious car and
truck drivers

THERE IS A CERTAIN mystery
about where a biker on a budget IS

going to spend the night. On the
iBikecentennial trail and in the
lwest this was not a major problem
lsmce much of the land was public.
and camping was allowed.
i As I travelled east, public
campgrounds became more
scarce. and one had lcutr options
tor the night Sttmc nights i stayed
in pl'lvzilc tiiipgrtluntls that
charged him to six dollars it night
tor two people mil-ii the weather
was inclement. | stttyctl In hutcl' l\
tew nights l could not tind a pl e.
so I either slept hy llu‘ side in the
road. 01‘ clst' l hiltlckctl ttn
somvtmc's tlotlr .lntt :tslwtl ll 1 could
camp in their yard.
SOMETIMES l GOT lucky, and
people invited me to their house tor
the night Once. in Gillette. \ .
mtng. I was swimming tn a pool
with [ellow hikers when we
heard a tornado iiariiiiigsirtn 'l‘lio
liicguai-d at tho pool iiiiitcd us to
stay at her house tor the night!
In retrospect. the trip was
well worth ll 1 not will crossed the
hr ndthot'tlict-utinli-y. but [ gained’
an iii—depth t ion til the tliaructer ot
America liy iiicetinguntl talking to
pen it: l nit-t tclltiw hikers.
tour ts. antl tti\\‘nspetiplc Some
thought l was t-i . others were
timer/tut .\|| \\t‘rt‘ t'ul‘mus \ihcn the
touring bicyclist rodc into town

Sweeping changes in food service

tcontinuctt irom page it

point where every penny makes a
dillerence to us, The computer
Isn‘t a heal] and end-all. bilt it's a
nice tool to have as you try to deal
with inflation and the minimization
of waste," he said.

McConnell denied a rumor that
last year's iood service operation
lost signiiicant amounts oi money.
explaining that to compensate [of
rising inflation, lunds were taken
out oi the capital reserve budget
instead oi raising board rates. as
was the pattern with the SAGA
iood service ot past years

THE FOOD SERVICE is un-
dergoing other changes besides the
Installation of mechanized iden-
til'ication. Foods low in nutrition
and high in cost, including potato
chips, ice cream cones, chocolate
milk. and sugar~coated cereals
have been phased out, There will
be an increase in vegetarian en-
trees and lighter lunches are being
initiated, Because meat prices
have risen by st per cent since last
year, steak will be Served twice per
month instead of the three times
per month of last year and [our
times per month in previous years.

McConnell Said that the
decisions made about going to the
new computer system and drop-
ping ccrtain iood items irom the
menu were his own, made Without
the permission or approval or any
student or administrative body.

"ALMOST" ALL DECISIONS
made concerning the operation oi
the Food Service are up to the
discretion of the director The Food
Service Subcommittee is an ad
visory committee dealing almost
solely wuh the menu ,the
ultimate decisions are my own “

When asked whether he con
sidered holding a student
referendum on the popularity oi

 

specillc foods. McConnell said that
he had not and added that “we‘re
not going to put decisions like that
to a t-etcrendum. We look at things
irom an economic viewpoint and
decide what is expendable and
what is not.”

McCtiMx’Eu, EMPIMSIZED
that one or his main considerations
“1 banning ice cream Cones was
that they encourage students lo
Illegally carry food out of the
cateteria. He cited examples oi
several sandwiches and handfuls
oi cookies leaving the caieteria,

 

and said that if students exert

Cowles patrons wait while the computer does its thing.

Karl Dukstein)

enough peer pressure on each
other to end such practices, he will
reinstate cones.

“I'm not out to change things
just tor the sake oi change; in tact,
I’m just going back to the old ways.
li you go back three years. you'll
find that there never were cones

THE HEADQUARTERS

HAIRSTYLING Fol! MEN & WOM

804 - 4th Avenue
:,Grinnell, Iowa .'

Appts. Only
236-7005

hetorc i came here." he said

"PEOPLE ARE over-
reacting to everythlng.
There are a lot oi changes. and
everyone wants to blame
something ior long lines and
missing foods.”

McConnell plans to Initiate mlﬂi'
workshops in various dorms in
order to introduce himselt and
explain aspects oi the iood service
to students. lle will continue to hold
semlrregular open iorums “as long
as there’s interest"

[1' APPE.‘ {5 THAT due
student demand, hours at Quad

tPhoto by

and Cowles will be lengthened
slightly, According to McConnell.
long lines at Cowles are not the
tault oi the computer system, but
that they etht because ap-
proximately 2otl more people live
on North Campus than live on
South, including those people who
are waiting for James Hallto finish
being renovated In addition, new
students are Stilllearning cafeteria
procedures, which adds to the
lengthy wait.

DEALING WITH skyrocketing
costsandstudent demands or high
priced and often nutritionally
bankrupt ioods presents Me-
Connell with a challenge he doesn‘t
underestimate,

“Frankly. I expect it to be a very
difficult year tor us, We'll just play
it by ear and do the best job we
can." he said

 

