Collaboration Between Bike Co-op and Physics Department Picks Up Speed by Lauren Matus
Back to the Main Story		An Earn-A-Bike program participant works on the contraption for the physics depatment. AUGUST 19, 2002--The Oberlin Bike Co-op truly exemplifies the idea of cooperation. Founded by Oberlin College students in 1989 as a "cooperatively run bicycle repair, rental, and education center," the Bike Co-op has found many ways to reach out to the College and the community at-large. This summer, 11 local children have signed up for the Earn-A-Bike program. In exchange for eight hours of work in the shop during the summer months, the kids pick bike frames and build their own bikes. A similar program has been set up through Oberlin College's English as a Second Language (ESL) program. Several Spanish-speaking workers from Lorain County come by the shop to repair bikes and work on their language skills with members of the co-op. After volunteering for eight hours, they too can pick out frames and build their own bikes. The co-op sponsors Bike-In Movies on Tappan Square during the summer months. The movies, free and open to the public, mimic drive-in movies, with movie-goers pedaling in on their bikes. In addition to these events, the co-op offers Saturday morning bike rides from Oberlin to the local Metroparks for lunch.
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