Police Crack Down on Cyclists in Yard, Claim Violators Are Causing Hazards

The University Police have taken the names of over 120 students in the past week in an effort to rid the Yard of bike riders.

The crackdown stemmed from complaints to the police and the Administration that bicycles were causing a hazard to blind and disabled students walking in the Yard. One student was hospitalized last week for injuries suffered in a bicycle accident.

Robert Tonis, chief of University Police, said yesterday that the move represented no change in policy but reflected a concentration of effort to enforce existing rules against bike riding.

The names of students stopped along with their bursar's numbers are being sent to Stephen S. J. Hall, vice president for Administration. Police took 73 names on Friday and over 50 yesterday.

Hall said yesterday that he had not decided how he would handle the problem of discipline. "We have considered sending out some sort of note explaining to the students what the situation is, but right now I don't think I will be sending out official Mass Hall letters," he said.

Hall and Tonis both emphasized that the problem lay in educating students to the dangers created by the bicycles. "I really wish there were some way to get this across without unnecessary difficulty. All we want to achieve is a situation of safety in the Yard," Hall said.

"The policeman who stopped me was wondering why with all the signs on the gates, people were still riding their bikes," Robert W. Tranchin '74, one of the students whose name was taken, said yesterday, "I didn't know what to say."