Brett Berry Columnist

The last few years here at the University of Arizona have seen many significant changes in the atmosphere and condition of the campus, the students and the establishments on campus that provide the goods and services that the students require on a daily basis.

Of course the university needs to evolve in order to keep up with the changing needs of a large university and its population. However, the last few years have seen a disturbing, growing trend here at the UA. Today, the goal of everything campus-related seems to be to pry as much money as possible from the wallets of the students and their parents. Whether it be through the bookstore's overpricing of textbooks and minimal buyback rates or the price gouging incurred daily at the U-Mart, students are constantly hit up for cash when they really have no alternative but to spend the money to make departments and campus stores more profitable. Money, rather than service to the students, is the driving force of the campus.

No university organization is guiltier of this pillaging of students' pocketbooks than Parking and Transportation Services. Each of us has had at least a few bad experiences with the PTS people. Their minions are always scouring the campus for illegal parkers, watching parking meters and waiting for the moment that the final minute runs out so they can slap a $25 fine on another unsuspecting student.

These are the people who charge you $235 for a Zone 1 permit (with no guarantee of a space due to overselling at about 1.4 permits per space), $350 for a lot-specific permit and a whopping $450 for a space in one of those beautiful parking garages. They further generate revenue from these parking spaces by roping the spaces off and selling them to campus visitors and football fans. In these times of "focused excellence" (and by "focused excellence" I mean cutting classes, budgets and entire departments), the PTS people have somehow been able to build their new garages and even erect a shiny new building to house their offices.

Today, the goal of everything campus-related seems to be to pry as much money as possible from the wallets of the students and their parents.

This week, it was reported that PTS is trying to secure funds to build another garage north of campus. This 1500-space garage will be built over the current 750 "surface spaces" (meaning Zone 1 spaces). This is in line with the UA's Comprehensive Campus Plan (CCP) to develop the parking strategy as one more similar to an urban, high-density environment rather than as a low-density, suburban type of environment.

The plan calls for a focus on creating a more pedestrian campus due to this urban environment, which is a great idea. However, the plan fails to realize that the campus itself is the urban environment; the students who commute to campus are living in a city with a very suburban layout. There are only two choices for the off-campus student: Either live within biking distance to campus and pay higher rental rates or drive to campus and buy one of the parking permits. Both possibilities result in a lot of money being spent by that student.

The plan also points out that, in the past, PTS has financed the expensive construction costs of new garages by "Îsubsidizing' them with earnings from older, low-priced facilities." So, great, I'm basically paying PTS to eliminate my cheaper permit type by purchasing a Zone 1 permit.

You might be thinking, "At least they're adding to the total number of spaces available." However, recall that this planned garage would eliminate the cheaper surface spaces to make way for 1500 more spaces, for which they can charge $450 each.

The CCP calls for the building of more garages on the fringe of campus with shuttles to campus to take the place of those spaces that will be eliminated nearer campus; this would reduce the auto traffic on campus as well. I'm all for reducing campus traffic, but this is not the way it should be done.

The students and faculty here at the UA should address this problem themselves in the next set of elections. The next time that a transportation bill is on the table, we should send a message to PTS that we don't want to pay their $450 rates for parking and vote in a real mass transit system. That way, we would address the parking problem and not support the profiteering PTS. Students could live off campus and not be forced into driving to campus, hence reducing the demand for parking. We could just ride the light rail to class for a very light fee and do our homework on the way. Traffic would be reduced, and they could eliminate surface lots. And then we won't all be forced into paying $450 to park.

Brett Berry is a regional development sophomore and a Zone 1 carpooler. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.