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Parking
fee increases to fund new student parking
structure
By
Jeff Au Spafford
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
Prices
for parking have risen across campus as
Parking Services continue their plans to
build a new structure in Lot 11.
The
parking permits, once $63, have skyrocketed
to $98 for the spring semester. Day passes
have also increased from $1.75 to $3.25,
and the meters from $1.00 to $1.75 for an
hour.
The
sharp fee increase will help fund the construction
of a new parking structure, which will cost
Cal State Long Beach close to $26 million.
This 18-month project is estimated to open
to the public in the fall semester of 2006.
This 1,400-space parking structure will
be located toward the northeast side of
campus near the engineering buildings.
A
referendum passed in 2003 to add an additional
parking structure to accommodate the increasing
amount of students attending CSULB.
Though
most fee increases and changes start at
the beginning of the fall term, President
Robert Maxson delayed all costs and adjustments
to alleviate and minimize cost for the student
body.
Another
reason for the price change this spring
was an act of fairness. Armando Contreras,
the executive assistant to the president,
says, "President Maxson did not want
people who were going to graduate to pay
for a parking structure they will never
use."
On
fee increases and parking conditions on
campus, Contreras says that "the whole
purpose to build a parking structure [is]
to benefit the students by making more parking
available for them.
Raising
the cost was necessary. We raised [the fees]
all at once for a smoother transition."
Since
the students' money helps fund the construction,
Contreras says the lot "[is] dedicated
for only student use." He also assures
the student body that "price[s] will
stay stable [with] no more increases."
Though
students are complaining about the harsh
increases in the cost of permits, day passes
and meter rates, CSULB is ranked 11th among
other universities for high parking rates.
San Jose State's parking permit is $270
per semester, and UCLA is reaching $130.
These are just two of the 10 schools that
rank above CSULB.
Tom
Bass, director of Parking and Transportation
Services, says that the parking structure
is "designed to satisfy the student's
parking needs" and will provide "more
than sufficient spaces" for the large
student population.
CSULB
is known as a commuter campus, where a large
percentage of students commute from nearby
cities. Bass says, "We are reliant
on an automobile community for its students."
During
the first week of the semester, students
witnessed the long lines of cars weaving
in and out of parking lots and the four-story
parking structure near The Pyramid in search
of parking spots.
Parking
and Transportation Services is promoting
bus travel with the Campus Connection shuttle.
The shuttle travels around campus taking
students to designated locations. Carpooling
is also strongly encouraged. Carpooling
permits are available at the Parking and
Transportation Services office. This permit
will allow students to park in special assigned
spots.
Many
students, however, feel that the fee increase
was unjustified and improperly communicated
to the student body. Hector Flores, a sociology
major, brought his concerns to the senate
meeting last Wednesday. Like many students,
Flores finds parking conditions at CSULB
frustrating, hard, and in a word; horrible.
He argued there was no clear dialogue or
communication with concerned students about
campus issues and believes students are
often left in the dark.
Flores
asked for alternatives to the parking fee
increase to be presented and advocated for
the creation of student panels or forums
involving administrators to discuss fee
budgets and other relevant topics.
"When
[the administration] makes decisions that
affect us and does not tell us, it makes
us inferior [and] undermines our intelligence,"
Flores says. "They need to allow students
to help [with the] decision process that
affects them personally and individually."
As
students continue to gripe about the lack
of parking spaces and other poor conditions,
Bass says, "Focus on the fact that
we are working on it."
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