MONDAY,APRIL 22.2002 NEWS THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A PARKING CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE campuses across the country. He said one reason for this was that more teenagers owned cars. "We tend to allow our children to have cars at a younger and younger age," Keller said. And, as more of those teenage car owners bring their cars to college, the problem of sparse parking spots is getting harder to ignore. At KU, Hultine said the overselling was most glaring at GSP-Corbin, which was oversold by 156 spaces. The problems don't end there. According to parking department statistics, the number of permits sold for student housing as a whole has been rising since 1997, reaching a peak in the year 2000 with 3,975 permits sold for 2,501 spots available to most students. This year 3,919 permits have been sold. This year, the scholarship halls were oversold by 71 permits. Boots said overselling was a problem that couldn't be avoided. "I think more and more students bring cars every year so its not going to get better," said Josh Boots, president of the All-Scholarship Hall Council and Plano, Texas senior. AARON1FRNFR/KANSAN At the Jayhawker Towers lots 209 permits were oversold this year. Dave Grummon, president of the Jayhawker Towers Association and third-year law student, said it was hard to find a parking spot after 10 on week nights at the towers. Residents often park at the Lied Center, a 10-minute walk away. Grummon is a columnist for The University Daily Kansan. "Its a very tricky problem." Grumman said. "We grow up in a society where, if you have a car, you're used to having a place to park." Possible Solutions Parking consultants said one of the common options for controlling the parking problem would be to restrict which students got permits. For instance, freshman would not be allowed to bring cars. Other more creative ways could be used to determine who gets a permit. Elizabeth Markowitz, Overland Park freshman, stands inbetween rows of cars in the packed parking lot of GSP-Corbin. "There are times when I get home late at night and have to park three or four blocks away," Markowitz said. "At Notre Dame, they assign parking based on grade point average." Keller said. Other Big 12 schools deal with parking constraints with different approaches. At the University of Missouri, each student is guaranteed a spot and residence hall lots are not oversold. However, Jim Joy, director of Missouri's Parking and Transportation, said that to guarantee everyone a spot, some students might end up parking a bus ride from their residence halls. Joy said Missouri has built garages in response to the glut of cars. Vanschuyver said that any price increase caused an uproar among students. At the University of Oklahoma, the money and space for garages were not available. Katie Vanschuyver, manager of Parking Operations at Oklahoma, said the university had oversold all its lots and had found little room to expand. "We don't have any more land. If we build garages, we would have to raise prices," she said. At KU, Hultine said the Parking Commission had informally considered not allowing freshmen to buy permits. But she said it was highly unlikely such a proposal would be approved by the Chancellor's office because not being able to bring a car might affect a student's choice to go to KU. "It's sort of our understanding that anything that would affect enrollment is not really popular," Hultine said. Permits sold and spaces available in 2001
Permits soldParking spaces
GSP-Corbin531290
Daisy Hill1,7291,171
Scholarship Halls345274
Jayhawk Towers523367
Oliver Hall503399
Chancellor Robert Hemenay said although the administration would be open to any proposal from the Parking Commission, he had discussed the issue with KU freshmen and they didn't like the possibility of not being able to bring cars. Hemenway said that KU simply wanted to produce as many parking spaces as possible. Big 12 schools in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska do not limit freshman parking. University of Kansas Parking Department Statistics At GSP-Corbin there is little room for more spaces. Hultine said there were no plans to build onto the current parking garage at 12th and Indiana streets. Hultine said that for GSP, the best answer would be a limit on the overselling of parking permits. In the spring of 2000, the Parking Commission asked the University administration to consider just that and Hemenway shot down the plan. "He told us, 'I don't want to create a disadvantaged class of students before they get to KU.'" Hultine said. However, if students want garages and cheap prices they may wait a long time. Hultine said the towers had two small garages built as a private venture years ago. However, the garages soon fell into disrepair. After the project failed, Hultine said, the University gave no more money to rebuild. 2000 and charges students $125 to park for the year. Boots said that if prices were lowered, more scholarship hall residents would be tempted to park there, taking strain off the Alumni Place parking down 14th Street. Hemenway said he could not recollect his reasons for rejecting the proposal. She said the garage across the stadium on Mississippi was filling up little by little each year, but the parking prices would stay where they were to pay for the costs of maintaining it. Meanwhile, at GSP-Corbin, every new year brings a class of residents who won't leave their cars behind. If the University had warned her about the problem, Elizabeth Markowitz said she would have thought twice about bringing a car, even though she needed it to drive to work. Faced with the combination of fewer spots for more cars, University drivers seems to be stuck between a rock and a parking place. Boots said the solution to the parking problem at the scholarship halls was not to limit permit sales, but to utilize the new parking garage on Mississippi Street. Looking to garages The garage, across from Memorial Stadium, opened in August of Contact Shaffer at ishaffer@kansan.com. This story was edited by Gillian Titus. Orchard Corners Apartments Enjoy the comfort of a small community Now Leasing! We offer: - On KU bus route - 2 BR - 2 Bath w/Study • 4 BR - 2 Bath w/Study • Furnished & unfurnished apartments • Private patio or balcony • Sparkling pool - 4 BR - 2 Bath - Private patio or balcony - Small pets welcome - Small pets welcome - On-site laundry - On-site laundry - On-site laundry - Friendly on-site manager - Dorms units available SO. IT'S TUESDAY NIGHT... You're twenty-four years old, and what are you gonna do? Why not surgically remover your backside from the couch and get to Plugged. And Plugged is...? Plugged is anything from hanging out with tons of twenty-somethings to learning how to save money, or making the right choices. Plugged is all about