Five Rattlers Get to Campus in a Pinch, in Shape and in Style

Compiled by Nicolette Good
Photo by Josh Huskin

Jonathan Perez

Senior Political Science Major

1963 Chevrolet Stepside

It started as a project with my dad, and we kind of took it overboard. I was taking shop class in high school when we started restoring the truck. It was supposed to be a vehicle to get to school in. It turned out to be a vehicle that stayed in the garage. I take it out more now, though, and it gets so many looks. Older people say it reminds them of their childhood.

dream ride:

An old-school hot rod

Marshall McCue, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences

“Original” skateboard by Vision

I grew up skateboarding in Florida. My parents were hippies. It was the thing to do. I’ve been doing it for about 20 years, and I don’t pay for a gym. I skateboard after work quite a bit just to relax and have fun. Sometimes I go to a skate park, and I’m usually the only 40-year-old there.

dream ride:

The 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from “Smokey and the Bandit”

Kathleen Amen

Government Information Librarian

VIA Metropolitan Transit

When I was in London with the study abroad program, I didn’t drive at all. I rode the buses and subways, and I was a little nostalgic for that. Now I ride the bus almost every day. When I was a little girl living in Houston we’d take the bus downtown, and it was considered a very big deal. You had to dress up and wear gloves. But that was long ago.

dream ride:

Jetpack

Teresa Van Hoy, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of History

2011 Bianchi Vigorelli

When I got cancer, I decided to focus on fun and health instead of the grim stuff. Cycling brought me so much strength and joy that I kept it up. I’ve been biking 20 miles a day for 10 years, and now I’m an institution: a middle-aged woman in neon. But I’ve always had pretty groovy modes of transportation. Growing up in North Carolina I hitchhiked on trailers and pickups.

dream ride:

1960s yellow convertible Volkswagen Beetle

Megan Mustain, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Philosophy

2009 Vespa S150

I taught in the summer program in Innsbruck, Austria and came back with an urge to try the scooter life. I’m Vespa only, now. I notice things on my route instead of zoning out like I would in a car. If you’re thinking about other stuff, you fall off. I even started a scooter gang called the “Stink Eye Scooter Club.” We have patches. It’s a kick in the pants.