NIU students and faculty members voiced their concerns about the mounting parking dilemma to members of the Campus Parking Committee during Thursday’s meeting.

Richard Collins, a floor representative from Grant Towers South, spoke on behalf of students. “I asked people at a recent Hall Council meeting what their concerns about parking were. The major problem discussed was safety.”

Collins noted the vandalism and burglary to vehicles, much of which occurs at the gravel lots W, X and O.

Collins said one solution to the problem would be to pave the three lots. “It would make the students more comfortable to park there, in a lot that is paved,” he said.

Vandalism in the lots would be reduced with pavement, because then people could not throw stones or kick up loose gravel when driving quickly, Collins said.

“We understand this,” said Larry Bolles, director of the Judicial Office. “We have kids come from Aurora who come here just to take tires and mirrors off of cars. We need more security in the lots.”

Collins said another problem with parking is that no one is using the faculty shuttle bus, which transports faculty members and staff from Lot O to various drop-offs on campus.

“There is no one on that bus. That is free to faculty and staff and in the average day only 30 people use it,” Collins said.

Bill Cummings, associate professor of accountancy, said the shuttle bus is a “horrible embarrassment to this campus.”

“No one asked faculty and staff if they would use it. It is a failed policy which I believe must be stopped,” Cummings said.

Associate Professor of Sociology Robert Suchner spoke to the committee about the parking crisis on campus.

“I am not here at the Campus Parking meeting this month to complain,” he said. “In the last month, I have talked with any number of people about our parking problems.”

In talking with people on campus about parking, Suchner said he found “no one I talked to put the needs of the campus before their own desires and convenience.”

Suchner addressed the issue of “transitory” parking on campus, meaning that the center of campus parking lots is filled with people who do not have “the greatest need to park on the doorstep of the offices and classes,” Suchner said.

Suchner said NIU needs to concentrate less on the status of individuals and more on their individual parking needs. A faculty member who drives to NIU at 8 a.m. and leaves at 5 p.m. could easily make use of the shuttle, Suchner reasoned, saving the close parking spaces for faculty and staff who are more mobile.

“Faculty do not do their jobs on this campus,” Suchner said, noting that many faculty members do research off campus. “The computer equipment on campus is so out of date, if anyone did any research on the campus, they would declare themselves obsolete.”

Cummings disagreed, “There are faculty that do 99 percent of their work here. I don’t think you can generalize.”

Committee members also questioned Gary VanderMeer, the chair of the parking committee, about how the new parking structure will be funded and if student fees will be used.

“There is no mass fee for student parking. If a student at this campus does not buy a parking permit, they pay nothing toward parking,” VanderMeer said.

However, money is taken from the bond revenue of the residence halls, and students at the meeting said they were concerned that parking expenses would affect room and board increases.

“The residence halls are a large portion of the bond revenue. It is very important that we remember that,” said Jeff Salus, administrative vice president of the Residence Hall Association.

Patti Perkins, assistant to the vice president of Finance and Planning, spoke to the committee about the construction on campus and how it is affecting the parking situation.

She said the parking structure is about 50 percent completed, and should be ready for use by March or April.

“We believe the 1,200 new parking spaces in the parking deck will solve some of the problems. It will not solve all the parking problems, or morale, or class loads, or PQP, but it will relieve the frustration we feel right now,” Perkins said.