PCC Courier, January 25, 2001

Pasadena City College VOL. 86 NO. 16 www.pcc-courieronline.com January 25, 2001 Ditch the car For hundreds of students, tak¬ ing the car to school leads to long waits for spots and intol¬ erable frustration. Why both¬ er with parking and possibly risking a ticket? The college is offering students a whole range of alternative trans¬ portation methods. >► SEE PAGE 3 Hidden spots The parking crunch doesn’t have to drive you crazy. The ‘Courier’ comes to the rescue with a number of handy alter¬ native places to park that may save a number of headaches. SEE PAGE 3 Top 11 ways to find a parking spot Multi-award winning colum¬ nist Jon Heller, has decided to use his acerbic wit for good this week. He’s offering new and returning students a handy how-to guide to help them find that elusive parking spot. >• SEE PAGE 4 , Special Issue THE PARKING LOTS ARE FULL AND STUDENTS ARE ON EDGE AS THEY BATTLE LONG LINES AND IRATE DRIVERS Photos by Matt Robinson Photo Illustrations by Kristen Glover 2001 : A Parking Odyssey Clogged lots, a scarcity of spots and frayed nerves net the college millions of dollars in parking revenues each year By Vincent D'Orazi STAFF WRITER Endlessly circling crammed parking lots, slamming your fist against your steering wheel, stak¬ ing out students as they walk to their cars. All this can be yours, for a mere $64. If you are one of the over 8,000 students who have pur¬ chased a semester parking per¬ mit, enjoy the ride. PCC’s permits are the highest priced of any college in the area. Semester parking fees here are more than double that of Citrus College’s $30 per semester rate, and almost $20 higher than Glendale College’s $45 permits. “It’s really expensive,” said stu¬ dent Dinah Cameron, “I just came from Mt. Sac, and it’s only $20 there.” Believe it or not, before the spring 1995 semester, parking permits were only $20. Sgt. Brad Young, supervisor of police and safety services, stated that the reason for the price increase was to help pay for the five-year-old, $14.4 million park¬ ing structure. “We went to the state legisla¬ ture in order to make the parking rates as high as they are,” explains Young. “We pleaded our case, because we needed more money to pay for this structure.” According to Young, the school sells about 8,500 parking permits per semester, which cre¬ ates revenue of around $544,000. Besides the money made from “We could have a murder a month on this campus, and I guarantee you, parking would still be the priority,” Sgt. Bradley Young, supervisor of police and safety services semester permits, Young said that an additional $4,000 is collected each day from the daily permit machines located in student lots. This means students will spend about $900,000 on parking this semester alone. Parking fees col¬ lected from both students and faculty last semester totaled $992,160. Odessa Walker, interim direc¬ tor of fiscal services, stated that all of the money generated from permit fees are used for parking related expenditures. This includes an annual payment of $767,050 for the existing parking structure, as well as parking lot maintenance. The fact that the campus only has 4,500 parking spaces, a figure which includes spots at the near¬ by Community Education Center, and close to 28,000 enrolled stu¬ dents, leads some to think that the number of permits sold should be limited. Young said that the school once tried limiting the number of permits sold, but it was the students that suggested the permits be oversold. Young also mentioned that each parking spot has a rollover rate of up to three cars per day. Thus, the original 4,500 spots can be recycled to allow up to 13,500 students to park daily. Traditionally, the parking crunch tapers off after the first couple of weeks of each semester. In the meantime, the campus police will focus on making things run smoothly and safely in >► see Parking, page 3 Master Plan 2010 will add 560 new spaces for drivers By 7 STA : r THE eui new buildings on campus as well as remodel and upgrade a leu existing LOW DOWN pat king si rut i u re and mull i-purpose athletic, field on the corner : of Bonnie ■ Master Plmi 2 010 calls for a щ 7 ijilii ; : яря $25.2 million parking struc- ruw ami athetic field. ■ The new tour-level structure and regulation-size -meter held will cost $25.2 ■ A new million and is expected to yield a net increase of 650 new parking spaces pro- industrial vidmg some parking relief. technology “We lose some [parking spaces! in terms ol establishing the (athletic) Held facility. ? ; because there’s already parking there, so you have to subtract those, and then add : : : ■ A renovated tendent of administrative services. campus center Building new structures on the PCC campus will not be an easy task. Most that will comniunitv colleges are on a land space of approximately 150 acres; PCC only include a new bookstore, ",;:r /г.ц •. . ■ batik and slu- . of space. This ь one ot the smaller campuses in the state of California,” said ; : dent govern ~ Matthew. merit offices. While the entire project G expected lo lake 10 years to complete, if all goes ■ see MasterPlan, page 3 .;