I have two scenarios for you to consider.

Number 1 — You’re walking down the peaceful sidewalks of central campus. The birds are chirping, the sky is a perfect azure and the lawns are freshly cut. Suddenly, the pastoral setting is shattered by a biker zooming by only inches from you!

Number 2 — You’re riding your bike down one of the few roads on ISU’s campus. The cool fall air zips by your cheeks as you shoot downhill, picking up speed. Before you can brake, an oblivious pedestrian steps out onto the asphalt directly in your path!

Most of you have probably had one of these two experiences. With 25,000 students here, it would be hard not have a near-miss every once in a while.

But let’s stop and think — is it mere overcrowding that causes these almost-accidents, or is it a lack of common courtesy?

I ride my bike and walk to class with almost equal frequency, so I can’t condemn hell-bent bikers or head-in-the-clouds walkers without somewhat indicting myself. But I can speak for both sides of the issue.

Walkers, listen up:

I’ve heard people complain, “Bikes belong on the sidewalks, not on the roads.”

Well, yes, it would be ideal if all bikers could get to every building traveling only on established roadways, but they can’t. That’s the small price we pay for having a beautiful grassy, tree-lined campus that offers a slice of the outdoors in the middle of a city.

So don’t take up the whole sidewalk. Walk on the right side unless you’re passing somebody and don’t yell at bikers who race by you — they’re probably in just as big of a hurry as you are.

And don’t walk on the “bike path.”

Maybe this is a little nit-picky, but why is there a clearly marked bike route north of the Food Science building when there is a sidewalk directly adjacent?

It is there so people can walk on the sidewalk and bike on the bike path, of course.

The asphalt is there for bikers to zip by without slowing down and to prevent scaring walkers.

One more thing: as for walking on roads and in the marked bike lane on Morrill Road, don’t do it.

If you’re going to whine that bikes don’t belong on the sidewalks, get off the roads. There are sidewalks everywhere so you don’t have to endanger yourself or bikes and motor vehicles.

And when you’re crossing the street in the crosswalks, for gosh sakes, LOOK!

It’s just like our mommies told us when we were little: stop, look and listen. It’s trite, but it’ll help you keep all your body parts attached.

Now, for the bikers:

The reason people complain about you is quite a few of you are pretty darn inconsiderate.

All it takes is a little thought.

SideWALK.

If you don’t have to ride on the sidewalks, don’t. Furthermore, don’t ride on the sidewalk south of Hamilton Hall when the bike path is merely feet away.

If you’re biking at night and there’s a single walker up ahead, call out well in advance, “On the left,” so you don’t scare the bejeebers out of some innocent freshman, or worse, buzz a member of the defensive line.

And most of all, don’t weave through masses of pedestrians at the speed of light. It’s discourteous and dangerous.

Use the grass if you’re in a huge rush, so you have a clear path to your destination.

Just remember: bikers move a lot faster and have more mass than walkers. All my engineering friends will say, “That means they have more momentum” — so just be careful.

In Rodney King’s now-immortal words, “Can’t we all just get along?” I think we can, bikers and walkers alike.

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Luke DeKoster is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication and history from Hull. He is a Daily staff writer.