As usual, the first week of classes are interesting for parking, since no one is set into their ways and try to park really close to their classes before they realize it’s futile.
However, I thought that the McKenny Union lot was supposed to be turned into a commuter lot. I noticed today that it’s still a pay lot.. and on top of that, the new union has paid parking along with all the extra parking that used to be in front of the towers. So essentially we’ve lost commuter parking this semester. Does anyone know when McKenny Union lot will be converted to a commuter lot like they said?
Edit 01/10/07 7PM
Just for reference:
October 31st, Pamela Young E-mail:
“Effective Monday, Nov. 6, the McKenny lot will no longer be a guest lot,
according to Cindy Hall, director of public safety. She said the McKenny
lot will become a hangtag parking lot for faculty, staff, students and
commuters until McKenny reopens. Roughly one quarter of this lot will
be closed off and used as a staging area for construction equipment
related to the McKenny Union rehabilitation, slated to begin later this
year.”
November 3rd, Pamela Young E-mail:
“In order to accommodate our students, faculty, staff and University
guests, the McKenny parking lot will remain a guest pay lot through the
end of the fall semester.”
Now, since I already see that people are going to interpret my post as “walk from north lot..”, that’s not my issue. I have no problem parking in North Lot. My issue is the fact that we were told one thing for quite a long time (that McKenny union would be turned into commuter/faculty/staff lot), they said it would, retracted the statement saying it’d be pay through the end of the fall semester.. which, I assumed meant come Winter semester it’d no longer be pay. Obviously, this isn’t true.
The addition of McKenny lot being commuter/faculty/staff would offset the fact that we lost a lot of parking spaces right next to the towers, since that lot was converted into a pay lot extension for the new Student Union. So.. essentially, commuters/faculty/staff have a net loss in the number of parking spaces.
Update 01/11/06 5PM
I contacted the parking department. They told me the lot will stay a pay lot and there are no plans for that to change. When I asked them why they said they did not know and couldn’t provide me with more information
I think my favorite philosopher from Canuckistan said it this way:
“When monkeys fly…”
It’s all revenue.
There is always several parking spaces in north lot. EMU is not a community college… there are not spaces in front of every building. Sometimes… you just have to take the 10 minute hike. It’s not that bad.
Yes, I love that phrase: “It’s all revenue.” I think we need to put that on bumper stickers!!
I have no problem walking from north lot. I’m not complaining about that. I’m complaining about the fact that the administration stated last semester the McKenny union lot would be turned into a commuter lot then balked at that and said that it’d stay pay for the fall semester. I assumed this meant coming WI07 it’d be commuter/staff/faculty as stated.
Yes, the stealth removal of parking spots is a real problem, and not, sadly, a new one, for the people who manage EMU. Indeed, part of the College Place closure plan calls for eliminating about 70 on the street parking spots (the meter spots on College Place and the mostly unmetered spots on the next street east, Perrin, which will all be removed to make a barely wide enough for two way traffic street).
But the management guy in charge of closing College Place defends this net loss of parking spots on the grounds that with the opening of the new Student Center the “center of campus” shifts and so there’s less need for parking out near College Place, plus the new Center was supposedly (according to him) going to have a lot of new parking spots.
Yeah, right.
And for me personally, campus parking is no problem. I walk or bike to campus, but I know most people can’t do that.
And of course, parking is no concern at all to the management people making these decisions: They all have their own private reserved spot, close to their office. They are all too busy to walk from the North lot.
Actually, I parked in the North Lot today. It’s kind of a pain because it’s more of a hike than I would prefer. But I suppose the walking does me good, and, like others have mentioned, you can always get a spot over there.
But I ain’t saying nothing else about my own parking strategies.
Well, since the money for the Pray Harrold rennovation is not forthcoming, I say we raze the place…..”take paradise, put up a parking lot”
Just sent an e-mail to Pamela Moore requesting clarification…
That should be Pamela YOUNG. Pamela MOORE is a CompSci faculty member–and is probably gonna wonder what you’re talking about.
Here’s the thing. If it were just occasionally that management changed its mind, most of us would understand that as a natural administrative response to changing conditions.
BUT this happens ALL THE TIME!
The more important point here is not the removal of of parking spaces, it is the lackadaisical lah-di-dah culture of our administration. Whether it’s incompetence, lack of concern for constituents, or inflated self-importance — that question is still open.
Hah! I actually did send to Pamela Young, but just wrote Pamela Moore here. That’s funny.
Some might label the administration a culture of incompetence. My guess is that someone (forever unnamed) made a unilateral decision based on “It’s all revenue!” and ran with it. As Susan says, it happens all the time.
So what do folks think about the state funding for Pray-Harrold evaporating? Is there a message here? Or is it just that the state is so strapped for funds, that the funding was scrapped?
MaunaKea,
In regards to the funding – I think you have a misconception with why it was vetoed. The legislature cut some of the funding to EMU (from 39 mil to 30 mil) then added on a bunch of additional costs for some community colleges. Granholm had previously stated that if they tried to do that, she would veto it.
So, really, the veto is a good thing. I’m sure when she gives her capital outlay we will receive the full amount again.
Mike
I’m not so sure EMU will get the PrayHarrold money — everyone on campus who ought to know about this is apearing overly confident, in my view. The state has a one billion dollar shortfall this year. The Gov will be proposing lots of cuts and some new taxes. Why PH wouldn’t be a possibility for one of these cuts is something no one has explained to me. I doubt that her Administration feels deeply obligated to EMU…..
In the next capital outlays bill, one that the Governor has more say over presumably, I’d guess that her total target for spending will be lower than what was in her first target….and powerful legislators from lots of other districts will be pushing their local projects. This could squeeze PH as much or more in the next bill as in the last one.
So I have no predictions on the outcome.
And does anyone who works in PH have any confidence that the proposal is really a good proposal, well thought out? Does anyone know of any faculty or staff who had real input into this proposal? I don’t. It appears to have been drawn up by Welch Hall residents who have little contact with PH…..
Pamela Young responded to my e-mail in a very kind manner and stated that the backtracking was made in response to student concerns. She read the topic here, and is sending the link on to Chief Cindy Hall “who should be able to address this”.
Chief Cindy Hall is wonderful – but she is goverened by Student Affairs. Probably the best person to contact about this is VP Jim Vick, Student Affairs. You could also try Carlos Costa, Student Center Operations – as he is the over- lord of McKenny and the new Student Center.