It was a shock for many students - perhaps more than 1,000 - to walk outside during the last few weeks planning to ride their bicycles to work, class or home.

But there was nothing where they last left their rides.

Since mid-May, the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety has impounded - although some might say stolen - about 1,250 unregistered bikes found throughout campus. Officials cite university ordinances, which require all bikes to be registered, and the need to clean campus of abandoned bicycles as reasons for the yearly sweep.

The university certainly has an interest in removing the eyesores of abandoned bicycles from campus, and for confiscating bicycles that are illegally parked - in the same way vehicles in no-parking zones are towed away. But the registration system seems to be an unnecessary hassle to accomplish this goal.

If cleaning campus of forgotten bikes is the ultimate goal of the department, then why were unregistered bikes collected on days when many students would be using them to get to class, rather than a weekend? There is usually a distinct difference between a bike that is abandoned and one left at a rack while its owner is attending class.

For the students who park their bikes properly at racks, the loss of their efficient transportation is seen as an unfair action - probably because they either don’t know the university has a registration policy or don’t understand why it’s necessary.

And we certainly can’t blame them if they have those feelings.

It costs $2 for students to register their bicycles on campus - although East Lansing police will register bikes for free - and students don’t really get anything for it. Registration stickers certainly don’t prevent bicycle thefts, and aren’t much of a help in recovering a stolen bike since they can be easily removed or bikes can be chopped into parts.

So rather than standing in long lines to get a registration sticker, students who know the rules ignore them.

If the university chooses to continue its register-or-else bicycle impoundment plan, the entire program should be better publicized and steps should be taken to make registration easier. Until then, most students will continue to feel the most likely culprit behind their missing wheels is the department charged with protecting them from crimes.

In the name of better student relations, the university would do well to adopt new practices in picking up bikes, such as tagging warnings to those suspected to be abandoned or unregistered, and retrieving bikes after a suitable warning period.

It would be a little more work, but the result would be a happier community. Students would have an easier time getting around without the fear of finding an empty bike rack at the end of class.

Biking should be and encouraged practice on campus - with the increased amount of racks, commuter lots, Capital Area Transportation Authority buses with bike racks attached, and all the restrictions on driving. But while biking is encouraged, MSU’s registration rules doesn’t make it any easier.