Parking on Campus is horrendous

[TechsasDawg]

When I first enrolled in Tech in '55, the only people I remember had cars were Dr. Ropp and Mr. McFadden, the campus cop. Some of the professors car-pooled, and you would see a couple of cars in front of Keeney Hall, a few at Bogard Hall, some at the Tonk, and one at the gym. Most of the professors rode their mules, tied them up at the Tech Farm, and walked from there. Life wasn't so bad then. Nobody griping about lack of a place to park! :lol: After a stint in the Navy, I came back in '60, and things hadn't changed a whole lot. More professors had horses than mules, and Tech had an old Blue Bus that made the shuttle back and forth to Tech Farm. It also carried the football and basketball teams everywhere they went! Not as many car-pools as before, but plenty of parking. Richardson and Cottingham were relatively new, with a huge parking lot, and right across the road from the football stadium. What wonderful days those were!

TD
~~

[aubunique]

TechasDawg, my first semester at Tech, I broke my foot in PE class diving out of bounds to tap a baskeball back inbounds and hitch-hiked home to Shreveport and went to the doctor Saturday afternoon. Yes, even some doctors worked on Saturday back then and students nearly all had classes Saturday morning! By the way, I broke the foot Friday but didn't dare skip class the rest of the day or Saturday morning! Why didn't I drive? It was February 1959 and only students 21 years old or seniors could bring cars to Ruston. No, I don't mean bring cars to the Tech campus. If the Ruston PD caught an underage student driving in Ruston, even if he LIVED there at home with his parents, he would be suspended or at least put on probation, which meant NOT leaving town on the weekend, etc., for a semester.
Because I had been in the military, the powers that be decided that I could drive to Tech until my foot healed. I borrowed my grandparents' little-used 1954 standard shift pickup and used the cast to use the clutch for a few weeks.
Why would students need cars on campus? The dorms and classroom buildings and dining halls are an easy walk apart. If people are in college for the correct purpose, there is nowhere off campus they need to go for four years! After I was married, of course, it was nice that my wife had a car because Vetville was a bit farther out.
If all colleges in the U.S. agreed to go back to those rules, there would be no parking problems and a lot more shade trees on every campus. The advent of the electic wheelchair has allowed even those unable to walk to travel quickly across campus and, without student traffic, the trip would be safe for all.

[Screenname]

one time i had to walk to the union because the streets were froze over. Imagine...in 2000 walking to the union! HOLY COW!

[markay714]

MY ACL injury was my key to wheels as well at Tech. Dr. Bundrick fixed me right up - back in the days where you had 6 weeks in a cast and a few months on crutches after the surgery. My parents had mercy when I was crutching it from Harper all the way to the field house for therapy (one of the highlights of my injury was having to go to do my therapy at the field house) and got me a car - somehow I never relinquished it the rest of my Tech career and I was just a sophomore - later my sister and I had to alternate weeks of who had control and who had to beg for car use, but that was WAY better than walking all the time.

[markay714]

Actually heard another interesting old time Tech story a couple of weeks ago. This guy ended up as an engineer at DOTD, but had a storied past on how that happened. He got out of the Army and was in Leesville when a truck load of friends stopped to chat with him as he was just standing on the street corner. They exchanged pleasantries and he asked what they were up to. They said that they were heading to Tech to school and wanted to know if he wanted to go. He decided he wasn't doing anything else, so he decided to go along. I loved the story and really would've liked to have heard more details, but the guy telling it made it sound like he hopped in the truck with only the clothes on his back!

[DONW]

I never had a car until my last 2 quarters. I walked everywhere and enjoyed it. I weighed 160 pounds and never was sick. Those were the good ole days and I sincerely mean it. I look forward every year to football season to get to go back and walk around the campus and sit on one of the benches in the quad.

[Rossp917]

Ok...I know this is late to throw in. There are quite a few more gravel lots now, but even before those came online, I show up for class at 7:45 and have never had to park more than 150 yards from CTH. 2-3 days a week, I have to drive over to IFM in the middle of the morning....and guess what, there are parking spaces within a few hundred yards. Some people are of the opinion that they deserve to have instant access to the building that they want to be at, and I cannot agree with that any less. Sometimes you have to walk...sometimes I have to carry heat sensitive, light sensitive, vibration sensitive research equipment a quarter mile across campus...guess what...I do it rain, shine heat or cold. My point is...get over yourself.

[american]

Parking seems much easier this quarter.


Tech's students to find more parking for winter quarter
Chuck Cannon

December 2, 2003

RUSTON - Lack of parking tops the gripe list at most university campuses.

But Louisiana Tech University has the problem under control with several new parking lots.

"We used to receive more complaints about parking than anything else," Tech Police Chief Stephen Quinnelly said. "Now, we get very few complaints (about parking)."

"The (Student Government Association) helped get the 20-for-20 program passed a few years ago," said Dickie Crawford, dean of student life and auxiliary services. "And the (University) Foundation actually bought the land and built the lots."

Each Tech student pays $20 for 20 quarters, making the 20-for-20 program, which provides funds to pay for the lease of the parking lots from the Foundation.

When students arrive for winter quarter classes on Wednesday, they'll find new parking lots on Everitt Street, adding to parking lots built in the last year, and located by the old railroad tracks behind the bowling alley.

"And there are more planned," Crawford said. "We are in the process of securing additional land that will add even more parking."

That's good news for David Ezell. The 20-year-old graphics design major has noticed the improvement in the parking situation on the Tech campus.

"It's still tough sometimes, but getting better," he said. "With the new lots on Everitt, that will make things a lot better."


©The News-Star
December 2, 2003

[StrayDawg]

LOL Thor. Was that you in front of me at Wal-Mart the other day waiting on the little old lady unloading the two buggies full of stuff to pull out of her front row spot?

I'm guessing it was raining while you were searching for a spot to boot. Not fun. Reneau mentioned the parking situation in the News-Star article the other day. That let me know that there was a major problem.

FYI, In the old days, they never put locks on your wheels until you had three unpaid tickets. We didn't have to register our vehicles unless we got a parking sticker. I never got one so I don't guess they knew who I was. I went through three (used) vehicles during my time at Tech and amassed approximately 10 parking tickets. I never got a wheel lock or got towed. Not encouraging you toward a life of crime like I succumbed to with this boring story, but think about it the next time you are driving around looking for a spot.

I beat the system!

MadDawg,

I'm about three months behind on this thread, but your story reminded me of my own criminal past.

Fall quarter of my freshman year my parents bought me a (used) car and I blew the head gasket out of it the first week of school. Not racing or anything, just that the car wasn't exactly in mint condition. Ask Dawgbitten about it, he remembers what a gem it was. Anyway, I got it back from the "shop" toward the end of Fall quarter, but I was going to wait until the beginning of Winter to get a parking sticker because it would save me three bucks.

I was living in Hutcheson dorm at the time and those smart-ass student cops that write tickets for fun came around and put a ticket on my car everyday for about three weeks. This was Fall of '91 and tickets cost $5 if paid within 48 hours and $10 after that. I never moved the car and never removed the tickets thinking that they might see the pile of weathered tickets under my windshield wiper and have some mercy on a poor college student. I mean, it's bad enough I had to be seen in that old thing, right?

The joke was on them though. I had blown the head gasket out before my dad (a chronic procrastinator) got the car registered in his name. So, once I got the new plates I was able to get a sticker with the new license plate number and Quinnely's band of renegade student cops had to eat $300.00 worth of tickets because they couldn't track me!!!

Yee Ha. Look out Bonnie and Clyde. 8-)