Show has enough parking for students Rosana Wilkey Contributing Writer T WAS a glorious October I IT morning The sun warmed the sterile pavement of a deserted parking lot Twelve sparsely scattered cars occasionally occasionally occasionally oc oc- oc- oc interrupted the yellow yellow yellow yel yel- yel- yel low grid pattern on the ground A short distance away motorists lined up on crowded isles tensely combing the colored rows of parked cars in a frenzied search for any signs of an eminent departure They were unflinching in their determination determination determination deter deter- to vie for the next vacated vacated vacated va va- stall To an observer not caught up in their struggle to secure a place to park the disparity of these scenes seemed too ridiculous to attribute to the minute 3 walk that separates lots H Hand and K of the Redwood Campus parking lot However the perception of a parking shortage on campus turns out outto outto outto to be largely connected to that short walk In spite of the recent additions additions additions addi addi- to the Redwood parking lot totaling new stalls students continue to voice frustration over parking Determined to settle the issue I set out on my own notepad in hand talking to people counting empty stalls and watching from the sidelines as students and faculty faculty faculty ty maneuvered into parking I Iwas Iwas Iwas was somewhat surprised by my findings Most of what I read in the Horizon about abou t parking has been negative said Carol Boswell manager co-manager of public safety depart department I wish the students could understand understand understand un un- un- un that we are doing the very best to provide parkin parking parking park park- in ing for them Lots Lots F and G which were completed just in time for this this' quarter are a source of pride for Boswell Up to the thelast thelast thelast last minute the two lots were scheduled to be graveled We didn't think that they were going to be p paved ved she explained adding that it took some great last minute negotiating to accomplish this feat With almost parking stalls on campus about are designated for students staff 50 handicap visitors and the remaining for fora a variety of campus service vehicles Even though there are no additional lots planned for the near future the public safety department is always making changes i in n classification of lots to make improvements Boswell described a parking stall as the space in between two parallel lines Apparently some resourceful st students dents and staff members have been creating their own stalls by parking on lanes and driveways adjacent t to any stall Another illegal parking site is the unpaved area near the bas baseball field Boswell o warns that students are not to parK on the dirt anywhere on cam cam- pus She adds that although these areas were utilized as overflow areas last year they are no longer considered legal parking Challenging the notion of insufficient parking on campus Boswell asserted that the perception of a parking ng shortage is directly direct direct- ly related to walking dist dis dis- t She explained that when students ts claim there are no park parking ng places they really mean there is no place to p park parkin rk in the lots closest to the buildings I have a series of independent parking lot surveys from Monday Oct 26 to Friday Nov 6 during the peak morning hours During the first week I came in at am a.m. and stayed until am a.m. The following week I stayed until am a.m. My findings were consistent consistent consistent tent with the public safety department t surveys Coming from the southeast entrance lots A B C and D 0 were always filled to capacity as were lots j K L M and N on the north side Meanwhile lots I and H on the northwest corner of campus campus campus cam cam- pus adjacent to the tennis courts were practically deserted around 9 am a.m. and half-full half an hour later Lots F and G which are located located located lo lo- lo- lo west of oJ the LOS Institute on the southwest border of campus were 60 percent t full around 9 am a.m. peaking at 80 percent t of of capacity the next hour hOll There is a t ten minute n-minu n e overlap overlap overlap over over- over over- lap right before the hour as incoming incoming incoming in in- coming students attempt to park before departing students have a chance to reach their cars This overlap adds to the perception of a parking shortage I counted from eight to 19 cars illegally parked on 2200 West and six to 10 on Redwood road on each of my surveys Even this late into the quarter some people haven't yet purchased a parking permit permit permit per per- mit Rob Bruening a parking enforcement officer said They prefer to park on the road and risk a tow Bruening is kept busy writing writing writing writ writ- ing citations Many of the citations involve missing or expired permits I He also claims that students students students stu stu- dents are not the only ones who break the rules recalling recalling recall recall- ing issuing three citations for a certain staff member who illegally parked in the same spot three days in a li 1 J ro row j I III have been yelled at and even threatened tene with bodily harm Bruening said Th The last time I ran into I Bruening he was heading to 1 the office to get more blank citations It wasn't even noon and he had used his first TOO u L r l' l 1 I |