Friday, November 9, 2001

Students voice concerns over loss of parking space
By Sarah McClellan
Staff Reporter

Students, faculty and staff filled out surveys about parking concerns in front of Mary Couts Burnett Library Thursday at a forum sponsored by the University Affairs Committee.

The House of Student Representatives committee held the forum to enable students to voice their concerns about the parking crunch experienced on campus and make suggestions to help alleviate the problem, said Karl Kruse, University Affairs Committee chairman.

The forum generated responses ranging from a parking garage to reserved spaces to alleviate the problem.

Will Stallworth, director of the Physical Plant, said the lot north of Tandy Hall will close at the end of the semester for construction of the Sarah and Steve Smith Entrepreneurs Hall.

Don Mills, vice chancellor of student affairs, said nearly 200 parking spaces will be removed next semester due to Smith Hall construction.

Jason Ruth, committee member and a sophomore e-business and finance major, said the forum was planned in reaction to the parking spaces being removed.

“What we want to do is get enough support to build a parking garage,” Ruth said.

Ruth said 400 to 450 surveys completed Thursday. After the surveys have been assessed, the University Affairs Committee will take their results to Mills and Frederick Oberkircher, who is in charge of parking fines. The committee will then suggest the building of a parking garage, he said.

Jenny Meierotto, a senior business marketing major, said it is especially hard to find parking around Dan Rogers and Tandy Halls.

“There’s just nowhere to park,” she said. “Even if I go to class 15 to 20, minutes early it’s difficult to find a spot.”

Ruth said closing the Tandy Hall parking lot will cause the problem to escalate during the spring 2002 semester.

The parking problem worsened with the closure of the University Christian Church lot on the southwest corner of McPherson and Rogers avenues Monday, Ruth said.

Julia Nelson, a senior speech major who filled out a survey at the forum, said she is in favor of a parking garage.

“I wish we had a parking garage because it would make it easier to get to class on time,” Nelson said.

TCU Police Chief Steve McGee said a parking garage would create only 300 new spaces, and would cost between $6 million and $7 million.

Mills said no one has offered to pay for a parking garage and no one is likely to, but the garage could be funded by other means.

“Parking garages are paid for by borrowing money and user fees,” he said.

Parking behind the Amon Carter Stadium is an option, Ruth said.

Ruth said it takes 27 minutes to walk from the west stadium lot to Dan Rogers and Tandy halls, so an extended shuttle service from behind the stadium to campus in a timely manner may help.

“The shuttle system we have now is never on time and rarely gets to classes when you need it to,” Ruth said. “We want to make it better and beef it up a little.”

Another suggestion, Kruse said, is reserved spaces for students to purchase.

SGA has not discussed a projected cost for student reserved spaces or a new shuttle system, said Larry Markley, SGA advisor.

“(SGA) wants to gather students’ opinions so they can use them later to make recommendations to solve the problem,” Markley said. “At this forum, they’re trying to find out what direction they want to go with that.”

Michael Cruz, a junior radio-TV-film major who filled out a survey at the forum, said he would gladly pay more for a reserved space than the $60 students pay for a parking permit.

“I’m not one of the earliest students to get here,” Cruz said. “If I can just find my spot and come to school five minutes before class, that’s worth paying for.”

Meierotto said she wouldn’t pay more for a reserved spot.

“I don’t think we have to pay more to park when we already pay $20,000 (a year) to go here,” she said.

Meierotto said she doesn’t mind paying the $60 for a permit, but doesn’t want to pay more if there isn’t enough parking for commuters.

“No matter what they charge, they need to supply parking (for the students that buy permits),” she said.

Sarah McClellan
s.l.mcclellan@student.tcu.edu