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Photo by Orkhan Rzayev

Arrived — Monticello Police Lt. Eddy Deaton (right) and Ronald Sitton, assistant professor of journalism, unload bicycles to be used for the Wandering Weevil Wheels program. The bicycles will reside in Jeter Hall Room 104, where they will be repaired and painted.

   The University of Arkansas at Monticello recently received 10 bicycles that will be known around campus as the Wandering Weevil Wheels. The city of Monticello donated six of the bicycles while UAM faculty and staff donated the other four.

   “These are bikes we just accumulated on the streets and were unclaimed,” said Chief Tommy Free of the Monticello Police Department. “When UAM contacted us, we donated. We were glad to provide a service to the community.”

   Campus organizations will be encouraged to adopt a bicycle, which entails volunteering to help fix-up and paint it in distinctive Weevil colors. The Student Activities Board provided a couple of hundred dollars for tools and paint, and Clay Brown, vice chancellor of Student Affairs, supplied Jeter Hall Room 104 as a repair room.

   Though there will be a sense of ownership among the organizations that choose to adopt a bicycle, it will not be for their use exclusively. The bicycles will be placed around campus so no one person will own them. 

   “It sounded really neat and exciting for the students,” Brown said. “I think it will be a tremendous benefit with gas prices and the large book loads students have to carry. They will no longer have to walk across campus; they can just hop on a bike.” 

   During the initial pick-up of the bicycles, Buren “Buck” DeFee, an assistant professor of spatial information systems, determined which ones could be repaired and which ones would be cost-prohibitive. Due to his experience in building and repairing bicycles, he will be responsible for their maintenance.

   Gary Marshall, professor of speech communication, and his wife had entertained the concept of the Wandering Weevil Wheels for a while, but past administrations did not support it. However, the current one does. Marshall said when Ronald Sitton, assistant professor of journalism, mentioned it to him, it sparked an old idea.

   “The most efficient form of transportation is a condor flying,” Marshall said. “Second is a human being on a bicycle.”

   Shannon Stivison, a non-traditional first-year student and member of the Creative Society, gave her input at a Creative Society meeting, and her involvement in the Wandering Weevil Wheels program started from there. 

   “I think that the Wandering Weevil Wheels will benefit the campus by giving it something new, festive and fun,” she said. “I really want our UAM organizations to get enthusiastic about the Wandering Weevil Wheels program and be involved. The more people involved, the more pride we can take in our Wandering Weevil Wheels.”

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