WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PARKING 1
PAGE 3
RFID cards, or do not have their payments ready. When payments are ready, the machines occasionally will not take them, as in Young's case. These events cause lines to form as drivers attempt to exit.
"We didn't have a great start," said Donna Hultine, director of KU parking and transit, while discussing the new system. "People are expecting to get right in and there's sort of a learning curve
To operate the new gates, it is necessary to approach slowly and align your car with the ticket reader so that the weight of the car may be sensored.
PARKING TIPS
1. If you have an RFID card, approach the gate slowly. Make sure your card sits over the "loops" marked on the ground in front of the gate. A green half crescent will light up and the arm will lift once the machine recognizes your card.
2. If the machine does not recognize your RFID card, try turning it around or moving it closer to the windshield or machine. KU parking and transit offers sleeves which will hold the card on the windshield if problems persist.
3. If you are paying using a ticket be sure to have your payment and ticket ready for the machine before you get there to help other drivers to avoid delays.
CLAIRE HOWARD/KANSAN
— SOURCE: KU
PARKING AND TRANSIT
with this system."
User error has also added to the new system's problems. About a week and a half ago, a student, either confused or upset by the system, tried to jam a credit card into the wrong slot of one of the payment machines attached to a gate on the Jayhawk Blvd. entrance, Hultine said. The action broke some of the machinery within the payment station, disabling a gate for a week and costing $5,000 in repairs.
Parking and Transit has been working to fix many of the new system's issues. One short-term solution includes the addition of more informational signs about the new system to decrease user error, Hultine said.
Another solution goes by the name of Tanya Rezayazdi. Most of the time she can be found on a chair in the middle of the Mississippi street entrance.
For 40 hours a week, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., she helps drivers who are unable to get their RFID cards to work, or hands tickets to those who can't reach them from the machine.
"Basically anyone new coming in, I tell them about the system," she said.
Rezayazdi has seen it all from someone actually running into a gate, to the garage system accidentally letting in more cars than it had parking spaces for last Friday.
"I just gave them the office number," Rezayazdi said of the irate drivers. Rezayazdi is employed on a temporary basis. Neither Rezayazdi nor Hultine knows when Rezayazdi's services will no longer be necessary.
Besides Rezayazdi, parking and transit also has an intercom system installed in the payment machines allowing students to directly contact the department. Young used this system and after a few minutes was able to get the parking department to remotely lift the gate allowing her to exit.
In addition, from 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Parking stationed seven employees at entrances and exits of the garage to assist drivers moving in and out of the garage.
Hultine said there no back ups or traffic jams.
KU Parking and Transit also has more long-term plans to rectify the problems. Hultine said plans are in place to add an additional payment machine, costing $50,000, during the year. Next summer KU Parking and Transit hopes to enable an additional lane on the Mississippi Street exit. Currently at the exit there is one lane in and one lane out. There are two exit lanes and one entrance lane on the Jayhawk Blvd. entrance.
Hultine said she thinks eventually people will begin to pick up the system, noting that the Allen Fieldhouse parking garage, with similar electronic gates and payment systems, has had very few problems.
Until then the department has been working to pacify upset parkers by sending out multiple emails to permit holders apologizing for inconvenience and coaching them on how to use the system. The department is offering to transfer users' permits to different lots if they wish.
"I am really sorry that their experience isn't good so far," Hultine said. "I think that it will just get better. There are surface lots open and I understand that lot 94 is not full, so if they switch out I will understand."
Hultine hopes in the future that parking additions and drivers education on the system will alleviate the current situation.
Until these things happen garage users will just have to do something they are becoming increasingly familiar with: wait.
— Edited by Jonathan Shorman
WHY THE CHANGE?
Donna Hultine said that the reasons for the remodel and addition of the electronic gates were to decrease department labor, make the garage more user friendly and help students avoid the 9.000 tickets Parking and Transit wrote in the Mississippi Street Parking Garage last year.
With the new system, drivers without permits pick up payment tickets upon entering the garage. When they leave they insert the ticket into the payment station and pay by credit card.
Since drivers now pay the station upon departure payments are always exact and a car will never run out of parking time. The new electronic gates also insure that all cars parked in the lot will pay for parking in some way or another.
The overall construction project included the addition of five new payment stations, the instillation of electronic gates, and the widening of the Jayhawk Blvd. and Mississippi street entrances. The price tag for the project was $550,000 and paid for in total by KU Parking and Transit.
EMPLOYMENT
- Adam Strunk
Jobs offer academic benefits
arush@kansan.com
BY ALEXA RUSH
As if the multitude of hours dedicated to slaving over classes and homework isn't enough, some students decide to take on that ever-daunting challenge of a part-time job. Many courageous Kansas students have already proved that this load is more than possible to handle, while gracefully maintaining some sense of sanity.
The University Career Center is dedicated to helping students find a job that best suits their schedules and interests. Not only do they offer information online about part-time campus jobs, but off campus and full-time jobs as well, which can be viewed at www.kucareerhawk.com.
With about 4,700 students working on campus daily, they practically make the essential services possible. From answering phones in the offices, to serving food at Mrs.E's, to desk duty at the Ambler Student Recreation Center Kansas offers a variety of opportunities for everyone.
"A part-time job can be a great enhancement to a student's life, not only because of the income it provides, but also because work experience helps one to gain new
skills which can be transferred to a professional career after college," said Ann Hartley, associate director of student employment.
College students have a reputation of being thrifty; probing for great sales, searching for free loot on campus and scrounging around for that extra penny anywhere they can. Kaylee Sextro, a junior from Olathe, has been there, done that, and is now working part-time at the rec center.
"Having a job in college is nice because you make money while going to school." Sextro said. "So you hopefully don't have to take out such a large loan. It also gives you money for those groceries and bills."
Maintaining a healthy balance between classes and work can sport a challenge for college students. Finding the time to go to classes, finish homework, get enough work hours, spend time with friends, and finding a way to leave room at the end of the day to get enough sleep for the next round can be a trying experience.
Becky Allen, a freshman from Topeka, has found herself struggling with this issue and believes that keeping a daily planner, avoiding procrastination and focusing on one thing at a time are all going
Museum to open new Jefferson exhibit
NATIONAL
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture is planning an exhibit with Thomas Jefferson's Monticello to explore the third president's history with slavery.
Museum officials say "Jefferson and Slavery at Monticello: Paradox of Liberty" will tackle the sensitive subject of slavery during the American Revolution. Jefferson called slavery an "abominable crime" but was a lifelong slaveholder.
"Just remember to leave enough time to study and do well in school," Hartley said.
Edited by Mike Lavieri
The exhibit announced Tuesday will open in January at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The black history museum is under development and is slated to open in its own building on the National Mall in 2015.
Hartley said that although holding a job while in school is a great idea, more than 20 hours a week of work piggybacked on top of a full-school load may actually do more harm than good. Making sure that there is a defined balance between the two is key for a successful academic and financial year.
At Monticello in Virginia, curators are beginning a long-term restoration o. Mulberry Row, which included 21 dwellings for enslaved and free workers at the plantation. An exhibit on Mulberry Row opens in February.
"Since I work in catering, the schedule changes weekly," Allen said. "I'm going to work on my homework around it. I've noticed that I have to check myself and stay on top of my schedule. I've also found that to-do lists are always helpful."
to help her stay organized and productive.
Associated Press
2. (   )
Re-Tool Your Warm-drobe This Fall.
The Re-Tool Snap-T In 7 new colors for this Fall!