Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Ohio U. to compensate bicycle owner after pipe bomb incident
By Kantele Franko
The Post (Ohio U.)
03/30/2006

(U-WIRE) ATHENS, Ohio — Ohio University will reimburse graduate student Patrick Hanlin for his 7-year-old bike, likely valued between $800 and $1300, which was dismantled during a March 5 bomb scare spurred by a decal on the bike, Nicolette Dioguardi, associate director of legal affairs, said yesterday.

University officials have not yet decided on a final reimbursement price for the Cannondale T700, which was disassembled by a Columbus bomb squad after an Ohio University police officer noticed the bike chained to The Oasis and bearing a sticker that read "This Bike is a Pipe Bomb." Police later confirmed that the message was the name of a Florida rock band and that the bike contained no explosives.

Hanlin, who came forward as the bike's owner during the incident, was charged with inducing panic, but the charges were later dropped.

In an e-mail sent March 11 to Terry Hogan, dean of students, and John Burns, director of legal affairs, Hanlin asked that the university "consider replacing the bike."

"It was a good bike ... that cost nearly $1,000 when I bought it in '99," Hanlin wrote, adding that the comparable T800 model costs nearly $1,400.

The T800 is the best and most comparable replacement for the bicycle because it would be difficult to find a bike in the same condition as Hanlin's, said Maxine Rantane, co-owner of the Cycle Path bike shop on West Union Street, the primary local dealer for Cannondales.

Insurance companies likely would use the $1,400 reimbursement price, Rantane said, but OU legal authorities still are working out a final number.

Research by the Legal Affairs staff shows that the T700, a touring bike, likely cost Hanlin between $800 and $1000 in 1999, and a used model might cost about $800 now, Dioguardi said. A Post online search for the T700 also yielded prices in that range.

Touring bikes are expensive because they are made to be comfortable during long rides and have a longer frame — "like a limo instead of a sports car," Rantane said.

Dioguardi said her office will "try to do what is fair" and consider the prices of the original bike, a used model and the newer T800. She expects to decide soon on a final reimbursement price for Hanlin, who could not be reached for comment.

[ Back to Student Voices ]