Parking problem grows with enrollment by Jason Williams The Ranger Reporter

Enrollment figures show 6,626 students enrolled at the Washington Street Campus; there are only about 3,000 parking spots.

"We know parking is a problem," said J.R. Couser, dean of student services. "As enrollment grows, so does the problem.

"I do not want to sound like I'm downplaying the problem, but parking is the No. 1 complaint on almost any college campus."

Some students on campus would say there is not a parking problem, but a walking problem. "If you don't mind walking, it is not bad," said Jason Nettles, a business major "I am only five blocks away today."

Some students do not see parking as a walking problem, but as a problem that needs to be solved. "Parking is nonexistent," said Ed Hubbard, a biology major. "It is a tribute to the school that many students want to come here, but they might not if they knew about the parking situation."

Some students are arriving earlier before their classes to evade the problem. "I get here at 7:30 a.m. almost every day," Hubbard said. "I don't even have class until 9:25 a.m." Vicki Guzman, an office technician major, said, "Normally I get here between 7:15 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. just to avoid the problem."

Faculty is faced with much the same problem as students. As the campus grows, the faculty has to grow as well, and their parking lot hasn't grown either. "When faculty parking fills up, I have to park with the students," said Gerald Schoen, a business management professor. "I like to walk, so it's not really a problem for me."

One faculty member has his own parking spot reserved just for him but refuses to use it.

"I've never used it," said Dr. Bud Joyner, president of the college. "I enjoy walking, and it also gives me a chance to have a feel for what the students are going through."

Students have even found space to park at the Toot 'n Totum on 22nd and Washington. "We've had a couple of students a day park and walk across the street," said Jennifer Priest, assistant manager. "Some are even professors, but there is not enough parking here to cause a major problem."

Students and faculty aren't the only ones battling the parking problem. Local residents are also affected by the lack of parking at the college. "Students walk through our yard breaking sprinkler heads and trample right through our flower beds. "We might as well be a state park," said local resident Jerry Jones. "I come out and ask them to walk around and get obscenities yelled back at me on my own property."

After putting a small fence around his house, Jones thought he had found the solution to his problem. "Students open the gate and still walk through the yard, kicking over signs in our yard to keep out, and leave their trash with it. We pay taxes to AC just to be miserable."

AC police also have been busy this semester dealing with parking violators. Police Officer Steve Chance said, "People are parking in areas not even marked and blocking students from entering or leaving areas of the parking lot."

A bill is being sent to the college board to raise the amount of parking tickets from between $4 to $7 dollars to $10.

The college has tried to offer solutions to the parking problem, in the past. "Last fall the college offered parking downtown with shuttles that would pick up and drop students off right under the bridge on 24th Street," Couser said.

"The most people we ever had was 40. It was a good idea, but most students never really took advantage of it." Other solutions are there but take a little longer to develop. "We buy property around the college anytime it goes on the market," Joyner said. "As soon as we have a lot big enough we try and make more parking available to the students."

"The space just isn't there," Chance said. "I guess that's the price you pay to go to a good school."