Students Revitalize Campus Transportation Scooters Become Preferred Means of Travel
By Sam Pape '08
News Staff Reporter
Suddenly, Choate is a whirl of wheeled transportation. With the arrival of fall, Choate students have taken to using diverse means of transportation as they cross the verdant campus on the way to class. Students on scooters, bikes, and skateboards have taken to competing with others who take the traditional pedestrian route.
Students have resorted to these new modes of transportation for a variety of reasons. Eliza Robie ’07, who own a Razor scooter, says, “Scootering is a safe, effective way of journeying through campus.” Many times, scooters and other forms of transportation make monotonous walks around campus a little more exciting. Scooters can also provide relief when one is running late, allowing them to get to class on time and in style. Ilias Tsangaris ’08 cites scootering as his method of avoiding tardiness: “ I can wake up five minutes before class starts and still get there on time,” he says.
However, with the increased scooter presence comes several inherent dangers, namely theft and injury. Injury is also a problem many are facing, and only time will tell if the Infirmary will experience an influx in patients. Lily Haydock ’07, who travels on a skateboard, says, “I have sprained my ankle and cut my hand, but it is completely worth it.” While most doctors recommend using helmets, pads, and other protective devices, many Choate students neglect these warnings and ride without anything other than their backpacks.
As brand conscious Choaties, the preferred scooter retailer is Razor. Razor is perhaps the oldest maker of the “trendy’ scooter, originally selling them in 1999, which resulted in a buying frenzy, before the trend died down. According to Skates.com, students seem to prefer Razors because of they fold down, making it easy for storage during class, their lightweight, aircraft-grade aluminum composition, high-quality durable wheels, and shock absorbing system. Students have taken to embellishing their scooters, adding lights that flash at night and buying scooters in different colors like gunmetal black, in addition to the requisite silver.
The resurgence of scooters is one not exclusive to Choate’s Wallingford campus: Google’s Manhattan office, visitors are welcomed to take a Razor scooter and get from place to place within the office with ease
Despite the scooter’s success, many wonder if the onset of winter will cool the craze. Students may take to investing in the Ski-Scoot (available for purchase online at the Sports Authority website), which is a line of scooters specially made to function in the snow. Also available is an attachment that turns a regular scooter into one that can work into the snow.
The transportation trend on campus is not exclusive to the ubiquitous Razor, however. Bikes and skateboards have cropped up all over campus as an answer to the scooter’s popularity. Chris Krokus ’08 can be seen riding a mountain bike, of which he said “It has zero braking power whatsoever and although it appears to be a mountain bike, it cannot change gears. The hand grips fell off and it is sort of hard to ride.” More fun to ride, according to Krokus, is the Sector-Nine long board he purchased on eBay. One downfall of using a bike is that while scooters and long boards can be brought to class, a bike must be locked.
An unusual mode of transportation that has spread across campus is the motor scooter. Since Ned Gallagher’s purchase of one last year, Sarah Nutting and Headmaster Shanahan have been seen on them. Ned says “For me, riding a motor scooter around Wallingford is great because it’s both fun to ride and it’s far less damaging to the environment than an automobile. I fill up my tank once a month for a bit more than three dollars.” As any members of the Boy’s Cross Country team know, Ned’s motor scooter also helps him check up on runners during strenuous practices on the roads surrounding campus. Ms. Cynthia Hill, a Science teacher and ’95 graduate, said that during her time at Choate, rollerblades and mountain bikes were the favored methods of transportation on campus. Perhaps the scooter and skateboard will be the millennium era equivalents of the mountain bike and roller blade set.
As any Choate student knows, trends of campus are fleeting, spreading like wildfire one minute and being classified as passé the next. The question on everyone’s lips seems to be “Will these modes of transportation withstand the trend and live on into spring term?” Hilary Copp ’07, a resident of Walsh Dorm, whose residents are credited by some for the scooter craze, says, “Unfortunately I believe [scooters] are going out of style-when things grow this quickly if you started the trend you must move on to a new one, so we are in the process of setting a new trend.” If Copp’s response is any indicator, then the Choate campus may be flush with pogo sticks or unicycles come spring.
Students flaunt their Razor scooters on Memorial steps. These sophmore boys are just a glimpse into the revamped transportation craze.
