Deputy Police Chief Keith Totten and Officer Michelle Meyer from campus police both own shirts that claim FAU’s parking is making them late to class.

They bought the shirts from senior Dustin Balmuth on Sept. 29 because, just like many students on campus, they dislike parking, too.
“The whole problem is the administration,” said Meyer. “The fact is, they took away the parking without putting new ones; it’s not like we don’t have the space [to make additional parking].”

Balmuth, a international finance major, has made and sold T-shirts in the Breezeway to promote a “peaceful” protest in order to raise money for FAU to build new parking spots.

According to Balmuth, wearing a shirt that says “Top 10 Reasons Why I’m Late for Class” and lists “FAU’s parking” as reasons one through 10 makes a statement to show how serious the parking problem on campus is.

Balmuth, along with his friends and fellow FAU students Neil Parsont, Emily Goldsmith and Yaron Bloch, is working to make realistic solutions for FAU’s parking problem.
“[Parking] has been a problem for a while, but at some point there needs to be something done,” said Parsont, a graduate finance major.

Their goal is to sell T-shirts that currently cost $7 to raise between $20,000 and $30,000 for FAU to use to come up with additional parking spots. On Oct. 13, the group wants anyone who purchased a shirt to wear it for their “peaceful” protest.

Balmuth and Parsont are aware that an additional parking garage could cost up to $3 million, but they feel their donation will show FAU that students are serious about fixing the parking problem.
“We’re giving money back. Please take a look at this issue,” said Balmuth, referring to their donation. “We feel like it’s a social good-doing on our part.”

Balmuth, Parsont, Goldsmith and Bloch each spent close to $1,000 out of their own pockets to organize this event. They are all aware of the risk they are taking: Some students just won’t spend money for a shirt. But the group thinks the ones who have gotten numerous parking tickets or who come to school early just for parking will be a part of the group’s cause by buying a T-shirt.

Students might be wary of four FAU students solving the parking problem, or even being truthful and donating all of the money to FAU. According to Balmuth and Parsont, they are putting in all the time and effort to see change, not to make money. If FAU doesn’t accept their donation, they plan on using the money they raise to set up a ticket pool that will pay for students’ unpaid tickets.
“We do want students to know, rest assured, that this money will 100 percent go directly to its cause,” said Parsont.

Although Balmuth and Parsont haven’t contacted Traffic and Parking about this protest and donation yet, they feel FAU should have no problem collecting the money for parking.

 “We don’t know how [Traffic and Parking] is going to react,” said Parsont. “It could come off to them that we oppose … what they’re doing, and we don’t want to come off that way. It’s a delicate matter.”

According to Parsont, the biggest issue with parking is the rise in students on campus, as well as the construction of new buildings.

This year, FAU broke its enrollment record when it passed 28,000 students this year. In order to keep up with the growing enrollment rate, FAU is constructing additional buildings to accommodate additional classrooms. With all the construction on campus, some parking lots are being taken away while not replacing lost parking spots.
“They are tearing half of the parking on the [Indian River Towers dorm] lot for another building. If you’re short on parking, you don’t turn parking lots into buildings!”

According to the group, they are proud that FAU is becoming attractive to more students and building new facilities, but what students want is parking.
“I don’t think people actually understand how serious the parking problem is until they come [to FAU] and have to walk 20 minutes to get to class,” said Balmuth.

Through Oct. 8, the group plans on selling the shirts in the Breezeway and in the College of Business to promote their event. They also have a petition for students to sign, as well as a poster board giving students the facts about parking.

Gracie Marie O’Dowd, a junior exercise science major, was one of the first to buy a shirt.”I like the idea,” said O’Dowd. “Parking sucks. I was parked on the grass and got a ticket. I think freshmen shouldn’t drive on campus; that should be a privilege.”

Unlike O’Dowd, some students thought the price of the shirts were expensive but agreed with the efforts of Balmuth and his friends.
“I come here early for parking, but I’m broke,” said Dane Hilbert, a sophomore biomedical science major. He suggested the shirts should be free for students.

Deputy Police Chief Keith Totten made his way down the Breezeway to sign the petition and pick up two shirts.

 “[The shirts] are a good novelty,” said Totten.

Totten expressed that people are fighting for parking spots. He added that an arrest was recently made after one such fight, and now a person is facing charges. The case is still under investigation.

According to Balmuth and the whole group, their intentions are good and they only want administration to be aware that parking should be on the top of the list of priorities.
“Parking will only get worse,” said Balmuth. “I hope they accept [the donation] in good faith. I want everyone to understand that this is all positive, regardless if we are doing this out of frustration. I want to get everyone together to make a statement.”

For more information about the T-shirt protest, check out their Web site: www.fauparkingsolution.com.

Just how bad is parking?
Number of students overwhelms the amount of parking on campus

According to Traffic and Parking, currently on the Boca campus there are 7,034 parking spots for more than 28,000 students. Because FAU is considered a commuter school, the majority of the students drive to campus.

According to Neil Parsont, a graduate finance major, students aren’t the only ones complaining about parking. He claims faculty pays twice as much for parking and have less spots on campus.

The construction of buildings such as the new movie theater has restricted parking by the Indian River Towers dorm. According to Parsont, the new gym and alumni center on campus have taken away numerous parking spots in that area.
“If I pay $60 a semester for parking, then I should have a parking spot,” said Parsont.
Over the summer, the carpool program was started and took away a total of 57 spots all over the Boca campus. Both Balmuth and Parsont agree the carpool program is a “good idea,” but not for FAU.
“It can work for a few people, but not for the majority,” said Balmuth. “You’re talking about [28,000 students], and if there are 15 carpools going on, the rest of the [students] aren’t going to feel the significance.”
 

Serious students
The ‘peaceful’ protest group has big plans for their event

On Sept. 25, graduate student Neil Parsont walked around campus handing out fliers to promote the T-shirt protest. On his rounds around the College of Business, he went around asking, “How do you feel about parking?” and ended up speaking to Interim President John Pritchett about their plans.
“I ran into [Pritchett] in the [College of Business] lobby, and he told me to talk to the VP of Finances,” said Parsont. “He seemed pretty happy. I actually didn’t know he was the president at the time, and I asked him how he felt about parking, and he said he wasn’t happy about it, so I wanted to tell him what we were doing. He walked with me for a minute or two, and I mentioned that I want to raise money for the school and that we have a lot of ideas.”

Parsont gave Pritchett a flier about his event right before he left.

The group hopes to get outside donations from Office Depot and Best Buy to give to FAU for more parking spots.

Overall, the group wants to get 1,000 students to wear the shirts and make national news in hopes that someone will realize how bad the problem is and help out. They already have spoken to reporter Kimberly Miller from the Palm Beach Post to cover their event ,and had a commercial made up for Owl Radio to promote their T-shirt sales.

After they raise money, they plan on getting a lawyer to ensure the money donated for parking is used solely for new spaces, and not used elsewhere.
 

First days of shirt sales
With 1,000 shirts bought with their own money and plans to buy more, the group hopes to sell between $20,000 and $30,000 worth of shirts that are now on sale for $7

Date       Shirts sold
9/29            32
9/30            4
10/1            6

Pick up your shirt!
The ‘peaceful’ protest group wants to get as many students as possible to wear the protest shirts

On Sept. 29, the shirts were sold on the Breezeway, but because the group’s expenses are so high, they could no longer afford a table. They plan on continuing to sell the shirts in the College of Business lobby; just look for a big red poster sign.