The dog days of summer are officially upon us. I know that because I spend 15 minutes sweating on the walk to and from campus during the warm afternoons.
If you’re wondering why it takes me so long to get to my building when parking is abundant all around campus right now, the answer is simple — I refuse to pay the outrageous $115 for a parking pass during the summer quarter.
Call me a cheapskate if you want, but I simply don’t have a hundred bucks to spend on something that in my opinion should be free or at least close to it.
Let’s be honest, Cal Poly is a ghost town during the summer. There’s no one here! When I walk onto campus I’m lucky to see five people walking around. Even the notoriously crowded off-campus parking spots are mostly empty.
It’s a simple decision of supply and demand. During the school year students pay for the privilege of parking on campus and (supposedly) beating the rush and having the convenience of being close to the classroom.
While we know that’s not exactly true, that’s another story for another day.
Nonetheless, it’s understandable that someone would pay that kind of money to avoid all that hassle. Yet during the summer there is no hassle.
According to the most recent Cal Poly summer census info released in 2006, fewer than 4,000 students enrolled in summer quarter. Compare that to the most recently available fall census data in 2007, where nearly 20,000 students were enrolled.
Based on that information it’s safe to say that the summer crowd is about 20 percent the size of the normal school year.
Even if every single enrolled student bought a pass and parked on campus at the exactly same time, still nearly half of the school’s reported 7,785 parking spots would remain empty.
So why doesn’t the school charge 20 percent of what we pay during the normal school year for a parking pass?
The answer given would surely have something to do with the California State University system’s nearly $600 million debt.
But is overcharging for summer school parking really going to get us out of such a gigantic debt? If 4,000 students bought a parking permit every summer every year we still wouldn’t climb out of debt until about July of the year 3279. But since we all know the world is ending in 2012, that’s just not going to cut it.
Look Cal Poly, I know you need the money, but so do I. While my student loan debt isn’t going to quite reach the $584 million mark, it sure feels like it. In two years of not parking on campus here I’ve saved around $900.
You could have gotten half of that money if I didn’t feel like you were bending me over for the “privilege” of trying to find a parking space near my classroom then settling for the one that’s another 15 minute walk away.
So until you make these permits more reasonable, I’ll just be one more student that shows up on campus sweaty and disgusting — and trust me, no one wants that.
Scott Silvey is a journalism senior, the Mustang Daily sports editor and beer critic.
My understanding is that a parking space costs a minimum of $25,000 to build and maintain (more for parking structures — talk to the architecture or city/regional planning departments for more on this). Cal Poly should be charging at LEAST $5.00/day for each spot just to cover their expenses. Therefore, parking passes should be closer to $250/quarter (assuming a 10-week quarter). You’re getting off easy! And you’re not polluting!
For example, Shoup (1998) reports construction costs of over $29,000 per space for a structured garage in Walnut Creek, California, against perhaps $2,000 per space to construct surface parking. (EPA report 2006)
The numbers might be a little higher now but Cal Poly already owned the land so the cost would be significantly less.
Actually, some of us don’t live in SLO and cannot take city buses that are provided FREE of charge with use of your Poly ID Card. If I lived in SLO, I would gladly take the bus to school. I don’t understand why they charge people parking for summer classes either. I already am spending lots of gas money to get to campus from Arroyo Grande, where my family lives. (and I already drive a Geo Metro, and there is no one to carpool with)
They could at the VERY least, discount it like they did the admission fees for summer classes. Why not charge half price or something?
It’s ridiculous and money grubbing of this school.
Instead, I am forced to fight for free parking on Slack Street. I don’t mind walking from Frederick street either.
It’s just really frustrating that they didn’t give us a break for the summer, especially when we already pay out the rear for everything for the rest of the school year.
Has anyone else noticed that we might have the College Based Fees in addition to the CSU tuition increase? I\’m pretty sure 78% of Cal Poly students voted yes to putting money back into the school, not yes on top of the tuition hike the Board added this summer.
Yes, I believe Cal Poly is moving forward with the 10 percent fee increase we approved, in addition to a 20 percent fee increase approved by the CSU. That’s 30 percent in total. We’ll have an article about it soon.