Clean Commute 'pimps' bikes to UMKC
Tara Kloeppel
Issue date: 2/2/09 Section: Culture
Sometimes cleaning up the environment means pimping bikes and showing films.
UMKC Clean Commute premiered its film series this past Wednesday to a handful of people dedicated to film and, more importantly, to bikes.
Clean Commute is a program established in conjunction with Bridging the Gap to encourage the UMKC community to consider different means of transportation, including bicycles.
"UMKC became the focus after receiving funding from MODOT [Missouri Department of Transportation]," said Beau Baker, program manager of Bridging the Gap. "Bike loan programs exist throughout the country, but nowhere in the Midwest. UMKC seemed like a natural partner for Bridging the Gap."
Baker hopes the UMKC Clean Commute program will shed light on some of the environmental issues currently facing the city.
"My goal is not only to create awareness of the UMKC Clean Commute program, but of bicycles in general," he said. "Kansas City is not a particularly bike-friendly town and I want to work on changing that."
Part of that change will be accomplished by the Clean Commute film series.
"Film is a powerful medium," said Baker. "I picked these particular films for their power to affect emotions. As a lover of films (and bicycles as well), I just got excited at the opportunity to bring the two together."
And come together they did. For the premiere of the film series, Baker selected "The Bicycle Thief," an Italian 1948 neorealist classic depicting one man's reliance on a bicycle as his only means of survival. The film brought to the audience's attention not only the importance of one man's bike, but the desolate reality of post-World War II in Italy.
However, not all of the films included in the series will be as somber. Other films Baker has chosen for the series include "Breaking Away," "Triplets of Belleville," and "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure."
The film series will run over the course of the semester concluding with a "bike-in" movie on April 22 to celebrate Earth Day.
UMKC Clean Commute premiered its film series this past Wednesday to a handful of people dedicated to film and, more importantly, to bikes.
Clean Commute is a program established in conjunction with Bridging the Gap to encourage the UMKC community to consider different means of transportation, including bicycles.
"UMKC became the focus after receiving funding from MODOT [Missouri Department of Transportation]," said Beau Baker, program manager of Bridging the Gap. "Bike loan programs exist throughout the country, but nowhere in the Midwest. UMKC seemed like a natural partner for Bridging the Gap."
Baker hopes the UMKC Clean Commute program will shed light on some of the environmental issues currently facing the city.
"My goal is not only to create awareness of the UMKC Clean Commute program, but of bicycles in general," he said. "Kansas City is not a particularly bike-friendly town and I want to work on changing that."
Part of that change will be accomplished by the Clean Commute film series.
"Film is a powerful medium," said Baker. "I picked these particular films for their power to affect emotions. As a lover of films (and bicycles as well), I just got excited at the opportunity to bring the two together."
And come together they did. For the premiere of the film series, Baker selected "The Bicycle Thief," an Italian 1948 neorealist classic depicting one man's reliance on a bicycle as his only means of survival. The film brought to the audience's attention not only the importance of one man's bike, but the desolate reality of post-World War II in Italy.
However, not all of the films included in the series will be as somber. Other films Baker has chosen for the series include "Breaking Away," "Triplets of Belleville," and "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure."
The film series will run over the course of the semester concluding with a "bike-in" movie on April 22 to celebrate Earth Day.
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