Thursday, September 14,1995
Parking problems on campus
Now that the summer is coming to a
close and the trees are infinitesimally
different shades of green and the
chipmunks are scurrying this way and
that outside of the Reed Building, this
could only mean one thing: the
students of Penn State Behrend are
fighting for a parking spot.
The rumor around campus is that
1100 new students were admitted this
year to join the tiny Behrend
community so revelled by the
administration and the students. The
shear size of the incoming class
threatens to destroy that community.
Everything is crowded, including
housing, the sidewalks, and especially
the parking lots.
At any point in the day, from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m., the lots are full. We can
easily criticize the adminstration for
its indiscriminate policy on issuing the
parking permits, and yes, with the
increased price or parking at Behrend,
students could complain of a money
grubbing administration. However,
maybe the increased price of parking
was determined as a means to
discourage students from purchasing
one. If that is the case, the
administration has to be asked; what
about the commuters?
Commuting students have no choice
but to purchase a parking permit,
mainly because Behrend is secluded
and no other parking alternative is
available, but also because of the, at
best, mediocre public transportation
system in Erie and the surrounding
community.
Should Behrend adopt a new policy
for the sale of parking permits and
will this effect the price?
A majority of colleges exclude
freshmen from eligibility for on
campus parking and the exclusion of
freshmen at Behrend would solve part
of the problem. This sounds like a
good idea, however we must
remember that colleges with this
policy also have a policy that requires
freshmen to live on campus the first
year. We all know that Behrend
Housing could not handle such a load
from a continual increase in students at
Behrend. The figure show an increase
of fifty percent in the last six years
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and no sign of letting up. To exclude
any commuter from purchasing a
parking permit will cause unjust
hardship. Students have enough to
worry about in class without worrying
about how they're getting to school in
the morning.
Other policies could include more
parking lots, but where? The only
feasible, close place would be the
athletic field. 1 don’t think Behrend is
ready to give up its sports.
A further increase in the price of
parking will have no effect on parking
because commuters, again, have no
choice but to purchase one. Increasing
prices again will only serve as a
penalty for commuting to school.
So, the students are left in a pinch.
The problem is that the school
facilities are not growing at the same
rate as the class sizes. Either entrance
to Behrend must become more
exclusive, raising its application
standards, to hold back the tide of
incoming students, or it must increase
the facilities at a greater rate.
A peek into the budget, published by
Penn State, shows planned increases at
Behrend. The 96-97 budget has a new
30 million dollar Graduate Research
Building planned for Behrend to
benefit the Science Divisions. Plus the
97-98 budget plans call for a two
million dollar maintenance building to
house equipment and Police and
Safety. Also, an amount of money has
gone to rewiring the overburdened
electrical system at Behrend.
Hopefully, the power will stop cutting
off every other night in the
apartments.
There seems to be no relief in sight
for parking. Next year, expect the
situation to get worse.
All we can do is urge the
administartion to consider the growth
of the campus in planning future
constuction that will keep up with
student needs. A second possibility is
coming early for classes because you
may have to walk a few minutes to get
there.
—Chad Clouse
Collegian Staff
*ym. he is ■ commuter
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Long-Distance
Relationships
• Can you make
• work?
Q: "This past summer I met someone who I really like.
But when we finally started getting close, I had to go
away to school. Now I’m not sure if we established our
relationship enough for it to withstand the distance."
A: The only thing you needed to establish with each
other before going away to school is whether you want
to give this relationship a chance to grow.
Will it? There’s no way to know what will happen.
Distance can be a minor annoyance, a major barrier or a
kiss of death. But it also can give you important room
to grow and cause you to appreciate each other even
more.
Physical closeness doesn't guarantee intimacy. There
are plenty of people who see each other every day, even
live together, who feel lonely and miserable in their
relationships. Recently a student told me that friends of
his were able to maintain a long-distance relationship for
five years. After all that time, they were finally able to
move in together. Six months later, "they were
history," he said. If two people want a relationship, it
can grow stronger—no matter how far away they are
from each other. If only one person wants it, it’s not a
relationship.
Distance doesn't have to prevent you from learning
about each other and going forward in your relationship.
Letters, cards and telephone calls can keep you in active
communication. You can send fun items in the mail and
make each other tapes. Be careful not to measure how
your relationship is going by how many letters you get.
Some people aren't letter writers. And some are
uncomfortable (and monosyllabic) on the telephone no
matter how many hours you talk together when you're
with each other in person.
What you first need to determine is if this person is
worth it to you. As much as you’d both like this
relationship to grow, a key issue is how you feel about
being in a long-distance relationship.
Lynn, a senior, explained: "The big issue for me
would be whether or not it would be worth risking
getting hurt or risking that it would work out. I've
never been able to date more than one person at a time.
So I'd be putting my life on hold to take a chance on
whether he would work out.”
Stephen, a junior, said, "Can't you just chill out and
follow your nose? After a couple of weeks, you'll
know if you want it or not. So just don't get ahead of
yourself about commitment and see where it goes."
Keith, a senior, told me: "I think you shouldn't write
the relationship off, but you also shouldn't have such
strict rules that you're going to feel guilty and limited.
The more rules you have, the more you open the door
for resentment and temptation. It's really hard to do,
but you've got to trust that things will work out the way
they’re supposed to."
If you think the long-distance person is worth it, go
for it. If you don’t try, you’ll never know. If you just
take a day at a time and see what happens, at least you'll
be giving it a chance.
Ellen Rosenberg is college educator and the creator
of Life 101 Campus programs. The questions and
responses from students are from real-life situations.
Have a problem that you'd like Rosenberg to help you
with? Write her at: do Real Life on Campus,
College Press Service , 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite
1400, Chicago, 1L 60611. Or e-mail a question to
a9sneto>aol.com.
—Ellen Rosenberg
College Press Service
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