Inconvenient parking angers students

This news story was originally published in The Santa Clara on Oct. 5, 1995 and discusses Santa Clara’s alleged parking shortage

By Anahita Savarnejad

Volume 75 No. 3, Oct. 5, 1995

It's another round in the tug-of-war between students and the university where complaints are once again rising about lack of parking. 

Many resident and non-resident students say that there is not enough parking, whereas officers of Public Safety say there is enough and, at times, an abundance of parking spots. 

Fred Armstrong, the Service Manager of Public Safety, said the problem is that students want "parking of convenience." There are about 4,000 registered cars to 2,374 total parking spaces. The problem occurs when parking is sought in convenient areas. 

Jose Alvarez, a resident student of Sanfilippo Hall last year, said he could rarely find a place to park by his former residence. "During games, I [couldn't] even park [in Leavey] at all so I [would] have to park my car in the street," he said. 

Women's soccer championship 

There are also concerns regarding parking availability during the Women's Soccer Championships which are coming to Santa Clara University in 1996. 

Dick Damon, the Director of Public Safety said parking for the event will be in the Leavey Activities Center parking lot. Addi-tional parking will be available in the area directly across from Leavey by the intramural field. This parking will become available for spectators and students once the championships begin. 

The Leavey Activities Center parking lot has 690 parking spaces, about 200 of which are usually vacant during school hours, Armstrong said. Of the 690, 579 spaces are for all registered cars. 

Inconvenience 

Although the want for convenient parking cause a lack in parking stalls in some areas, some students see parking as an inconvenience that needs to be accepted. Chien Liu 

said that parking is hard to find near his residence but he can usually find parking in Leavey. This is a longer route to his residence but he doesn't see another choice. 

Chien said that although it is farther, Leavey is an alternative for Sanfilippo Hall, Campisi Hall and Graham Hall residents but residents on the other side of campus do not have such an alternative. Their parking is very limited and new parking additions in the Swig Hall and Dunne Hall area would help those residents. 

According to a non-resident student, June Lampa, the North Bannan parking lot by the main entrance is where most non-resident students prefer to park since it allows close access to Bannan Hall, Kenna Hall, O'Connor Hall and the Science buildings. 

Lampa said she has difficulty finding a parking spot on days when she has early classes in Bannan. When she can't find a parking spot at the North Bannan parking lot, she has to park her car in the Leavey Activities Center parking lot and Walk across campus, causing her to be late for class. 

Additional parking 

According to Don Akerland of the Construction and Design Services, there is going to be an addition to parking. The location that will be going under construction for the parking addition is the dirt lot located by the Law Clinic and the lot on the corner of Franklin Street and The Alameda. 

According to Akerland's plans, construction is due to begin within the next few weeks and anticipates the number of stalls to be 246. Of that number, no decision has been made as to how many of the stalls are going to be designated to Faculty/Staff, Resident and Non-Resident student parking. 

With the constant outcry for better parking, Alvarez said that the university gives priority to other beautifying projects rather than projects that would fulfill student needs. "Santa Clara University should have better parking to be more considerate," he said.