Bike registrationto be held today

The University Police Department and the Undergraduate Assembly are holding a free bike registration outside the Bookstore on Locust Walk today from noon to 4 p.m. Student volunteers from Escort Services and the UA registered over 70 bicycles in the two days since the registration drive began and expect more students to come today, College senior Lisa Kolitch said yesterday, as she helped students fill out registration forms. "Our hope is to get as many people registered as possible," College junior Mark Frederick, chairperson of the UA safety and security committee, said this week. He added that many students think registering their bikes is a "long, drawn-out process" but that it "literally takes five minutes." Frederick said all students should register their bikes if they want to have any hope of recovering their bikes if they are stolen. "The sticker and engraving won't prevent someone from breaking a lock and stealing it, but [registration] will trace your bike," he said. Frederick said Victim Support and Special Services holds bicycle registration during new student orientation and again some time in the spring. He said he thought, however, it would be a good idea to have a registration drive now, before the holidays when many students leave campus and theft increases. "It's really an awareness thing," Frederick said. "With Thanksgiving coming up -- it's a time when there are more thefts than usual." Rose Hooks, Victim Support administrative assistant, said yesterday that she encourages all students to register their bikes with University Police. "We find registration very effective in deterring crime," Hooks said. "When criminals see the [registration] stickers they usally leave those bikes alone. We've had very few registered bikes stolen." "Of course it doesn't negate the fact that bike parts can be stolen," Hooks added. "But we do encourage students to register [their bicycles]." Engineering sophomore Denise Lo registered her bicycle yesterday afternoon and said parts of her bike had been stolen before. "I've always meant to [register], but I never really knew where to get it done," Lo said. "I got my back wheel stolen two weeks ago. It cost me $150 and really pissed me off. I figure [registering my bike] can't hurt." College sophomore Heather Woods also registered her bike yesterday afternoon. She said that it is a "nice precaution" and that she is glad that "Penn is doing something."