Minutes from Oct. 21, 2004 meeting

 

Approved minutes (from last meeting and last June) and agenda

 

Attendance

Officers: Kai Pommerenke (President); ; Meredith Armstrong (Treasurer); Allison Luengen (Secretary); Ian Dobbs Dixon (External Vice President)

Department Reps:  Sina Farsiu (EE), Cintia Margi (CE); Christian Flacco (physics); Kelly Holt (lit); Nathan Whitehead (computer sciences); Marla Holt (ocean sciences); Amy Dexter (psych); Brooke Crowley (earth sciences); Courtney Rivard (Politics in process of becoming rep), Brian Gerstenberger (chem.)

Others:  Chanda Prescod-Weinstein (astro), Susanne Altermann (EEB); Reery Dick (CH); Luke Wenstrom (Physics); Michael Wilson (Physics); Alex Hutlxo (earth science); KT Morzinski (astro); Nick Jarboe (earth science)

 

 

Parking Presentation by Wes Scott, chair of the transport committee

            Look at http://www2.ucsc.edu/taps/pages/night_parking.html. 

 

Summary of What the Proposal Would Do

Wes Scott began by giving a summary of the parking proposal.  The proposal is to extend parking enforcement until 8:30 in all lots, except the remote lots, which would remain free.  Wes Scott says that the parking program supports the metro, bike shuttle, and campus shuttles.  He says that 50 cents of every dollar spent on parking goes to alternative transportation.  The cost of a night permit would be $2.  The cost of a scratch permit is currently $2.  If you used your scratch permit during the day, it would still be valid until 8:30.  Currently, there is extended parking enforcement in the Performing Arts and it’s currently needed in Stevenson, Cowell, and the East Field House.  There are 500 non-permitted vehicles on campus between 6 and 8 PM.  In 2002, the advisory committee was in favor of 24/7 enforcement.

 

Why Has Wes Proposed Extending Parking Enforcement

His arguments fell into two categories: 1) fairness and 2) revenue.

Wes says “We think it’s time for everyone that comes to campus with an automobile to pay their fair share.”  Wes things equity is a big deal, and mentioned neighbors as also important.

 

Questions to Wes

How Much Additional Revenue Will this Raise?

Between 0 and 15% more revenue.  The 15% is based on how much more Irvine made after implementing nighttime parking.  But it is also possible that they won’t generate any more revenue.  They anticipate that they can shift around police schedules (police enforce the parking) so that there won’t be any additional police costs.  TAPS would staff the kiosk at the base of campus for additional hours and this would cost something.

 

How is the Price of Permits Determined?

They use a statistical model and consider salaries, maintenance, and construction.  There is usually a 5% increase per year.  Parking spaces in the core west structure cost $25,000 per space. 

 

What Will the Funds Generated Be Used For?

Any funds left over will go into capital reserve.  This means that the funds essentially will be used as a down-payment on any future parking projects.

 

Who are the 500 Un-Permitted People that Come on to Campus Every Evening?

No one knows.  Wes says that about half of graduate students already have some form of permit, so maybe he thinks that these students would not be affected?

 

Is It Possible That As Long As People Had To Pay For The Evening That They Would Just Bring Their Cars Up To Campus During The Day, Thus Increasing Traffic On Campus During the Day?  We notice that the night permit costs the same as a day scratch permit so there is no incentive to wait until the evening?

Yes, it is possible that the proposal could result in more people coming up during the day.

 

Is TAPS Willing to Put in More Meters for People that Come onto Campus in the Evening?

Yes.

 

What Would You to Improve Safety Since People May Now Be Forced to Park in Remote Lots Rather than Near their Buildings?

Wes says that he has walked around on campus at night and understands that a woman might not feel safe, but that there are lots of people living on campus.  He says they will run shuttles every 7 minutes until 11:30 to the remote lots and presumably just having lots of shuttles running around will guarantee everyone’s safety.  He says that the Metro runs until 2 PM during the week and I guess that is OK after 11:30?

 

Why Haven’t the Number of Trips Increased on the Bike Shuttle- It is Overcrowded.

Because the shuttles won’t be overcrowded once daylight savings comes.  So basically, you should just deal with the overcrowding for the first month and a half of school, because when the weather changes, there will be less people that want to ride the shuttle and it won’t be overcrowded.  It’s very complicated to figure out how to hire someone to work more before daylight savings and then to do something else in the winter.  Wes says that he created the bike shuttle and is very proud of it.

 

Our Discussion

            We were shocked that someone could create a proposal to generate more revenue without more details on exactly how much more revenue would be generated.  Chanda has several important points about safety.  She points out that more shuttles isn’t enough to guarantee our safety.  Allison thinks that Wes has never stood at the science hill bus stop at midnight.  Give it a try- it’s pretty lonely out there.  We are also upset that they have no idea who those 500 people are.  Chanda also points out that this is a regressive policy- those will small incomes (probably including nighttime janitorial staff) will be hit harder.  Someone had a good point (Christian?) that we are different from undergrads in that we may HAVE to come up to teach sections- unlike undergrads, coming up might not be optional.

            Based on these reasons, we think the proposal is flawed and voted unanimously to oppose it flat out.  Kai and Ian will write the letter.  Susi says that if this gets out of the advisory committee, then we should take to the next level (faculty) but for now it seems like it might not even get out of the committee.

 

New Business.

1)  H.R. 3412 would change the law to make the entire fellowship tax exempt (not just the part that goes to tuition).  It was initiated by the Stanford GSA.  We unanimously voted to endorse it.

2)  ASME and CUE.  Chanda circulated a letter in support of ASME and CUE from the Student Coalition for Labor Justice.  More copies are available if you want to take them around your department.  To obtain them, email Chanda <chanda@astro.ucsc.edu>.  There will be a rally event in Nov to support ASME and CUE.  The GSA unanimously voted to endorse the event (with a signature, not dollars).  The rally will have speakers and Chanda will speak if someone from the GSA needs to speak.  Sina was worried that support for ASME and CUE might mean graduate students fees would go up.  Chanda said the link is not that direct, and that it is not on the table to increase the salary, just to have parity with inflation.

3)  Samantha <peoplemakenoise@hotmail.com> requested GSA endorsement of a student campus-wide web project that will strive toward closing the gap between UCSC students on the UCSC campus by building an online community hub.  They will build it separate from the University, and possible Cruzio will host it.  We voted yes to endorse it with our name on flyers and the website, and this did not involve any dollars.

 

4)  By general consent, Sina and Susi will work on buying the PC laptop.

5)  By-laws.  We had a discussion about the by-laws initiated by Allison’s proposal to amend them.  The purpose was to find a way to give the CPB person voting rights.  We decided to table this until next time.  Chanda also brought up a proposal to allow departmental reps to have alternates who could vote at the meetings.

Department Reps

            We approved the following department reps

Cintia Margi                 CE

Christian Flacco            physics

Kelly Holt                     lit

 

 

Committee and officer reports

            1) Susi is on the committee to pick the next chancellor and wants to point out that there is a lot of affection and attention given to UC Santa Cruz from those higher up.

            2)  Marla passed out background information on the SFAC (student fee advisory committee).

            3)  Chanda says that GSRS are unionized at UW.

            4)  Ian says that the 16th Annual Student of Color Conference is being held from Nov. 19-21 and anyone interested should contact him.  He checked in about our success in registering people to vote.  Marla was the big winner; she had registered 3 people.

            5) Kai:  the Quarry Plaza and Campus Welfare committees need people.

            6)  Chanda says it is ridiculous to pay $247.50 to the regents every quarter.

 

Adjourn.