A Justice Site
Mirror Sites:
CSUDH - Habermas - UWP - Archives
California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: November 20, 2004
Latest Update: November 20, 2004
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu
On the Road to Governance Discourse:For discussion: Parking Problems Encountered by Students:
Narratives in Full Expressive Mode.Social issues on the campus have come up numerous times in all of our classes. One of these is the difficulty and high cost of parking in the urban commuter college.
- Agencies
In agencies class we have noted the problem of dealing with changing social conditions in institutional settings where the client has little control and the state has a strong interest in seeing that the client is served well, meeting the goals of the agency as empowered by the legislature. In other words, students may have little power in addressing the issues of parking costs, but as Kenney notes in his essay on parking at universities:
"At a round-table discussion during a meeting of the National Association of College and University Business Officers, we asked some campus business officers why they didn't charge the full cost of parking. The immediate answer, amid a burst of laughter, was, "Cowardice!" Faculty members and administrators want reserved spots and resist higher charges. The business officers perceive that students and their parents, already paying tuition, would also oppose higher fees. Some administrators on urban campuses also note that increased charges for parking might force more people from the college to park in the neighborhood, increasing already strained town-gown relationships. . . ."One approach is to set more-appropriate parking fees. Politically it may not be possible to change the parking-fee structure all at once, but an institution can establish a goal of raising charges over time to reflect the full cost of providing parking.
"Pricing strategies should also include incentives to promote desirable behavior -- for example, offering subsidized parking for car and van pools. For example, the free-parking program for car-poolers at the University of Washington has reduced purchases of single-occupancy-vehicle parking permits by 32 percent over the past decade.
"Some institutions express concern that recapturing all parking costs will drive fees so high that they would create hardships for lower-paid employees and needy students. As a remedy, colleges can offer parking subsidies for such employees through cafeteria-style benefits, or add some portion of the parking costs into the financial-aid packages of needy students."
From Kenney's Opinion: How to Solve Campus Parking Problems Without Adding More Parking.
- Sociology of Law
In law class the problem emerges of how the laws are frequently written with the successful citizen with status in mind, and so do not address the issues of the poor or struggling not-yet-successful-in-power-and-status student. In this case, dominant discourse about the rights and responsibilities of those with lesser and less-sensitive representation needs to change to bring about change in the rules and laws of the system to produce an equal playing field.
In heavy traffic areas, where there are frequent delays, and in a situation in which students are dependent on the good will of their supervisors at work to let them leave in time to get to scarce parking on time, parking becomes crucial. Again, the state has an interest in seeing that everything possible is done to safeguard and strengthen the education the students are seeking. This would suggest that the state should take some proactive steps to aid students otherwise overwhelmed by the problems of dealing with impersonal bureaucratic rules that result in institutional discrimination against the poor, the worker who must hold onto his/her job and has little control over job demands, the parents who are called unexpectedly to deal with crises of child rearing.
Things that hurt:
- A memo that says come early on final day becasue parking will be hectic, when you have a job from which you can't leave early and the school makes no attempt to make the exam schedule more flexible.
- A teacher who says: "Your education comes first. Tell your supervisor that." And look for another job, in a labor market where jobs with benefits are hard to find.
- A campus where, even with a parking permit, there isn't enough space to park when you get there, and you have to drive around and hunt, and are then late for class, and the teacher is mad. A version of blaming the victim who is often caught between the supervisor who controls the essential job and the instructor who controls the essential grade.
- The inflexibility of the time schedule, combined with a campus attitude that assumes greater control over time than students actually have. In part, this is a failure on the part of the institution to recognize changing traffic concerns and changing job conditions.
- A legal system that gives no power to students to challenge such decisions for more flexibility, in spite of the unfairness of the decisions to many students and the importance of the students' education to a state interest.
Such incidents which call the student's attention to disempowerment within the institution do not seem to mesh well with the university goals stated and with the state interest in guiding students effectively through to the best education possible. In the sociology of law that means finding ways to let student voices be heard in good faith as part of the decision-making. Students do have validity claims that should be considered within the entire process of governance. The most efffective means to gain that good faith hearing is to make all students aware of the social issues, provide a forum for open discussion, and make the results of that discussion available to decision-makers. Transfrom_dom is a first step in that direction. In that discussion group feelings and ideas may be freely expressed, but also affect is balanced by the information provided on Dear Habermas, and then we move to governance discourse amongst ourselves to most effectively present student validity claims to decision-makers.
- Women and Poverty
In the undergraduate section and the graduate seminar in women and poverty, we find that the condition of the working class student in dealing with trransportation, the cost of books, and conflicting commitments places an even greater strain on the student's climate of learning. Because they are often female heads of household, the responsibility of caring for children with inadequate economic resources adds to their burdens. Also education has been a primary focus of the welfare to work program, in the interest of preparing people caught in poverty to move out to self-sufficiency. It is again heavily in the state interest to see that the problems encountered in education are solved with minimal stress and a strong affective climate in which to adapt to the new alternatives offered by education.
For example, students in one sociology class this semester (with Prof. Clare Weber) are working together to make counseling and support groups available for women of color suffering depression. News bulletin: most of our students suffere deression over the stress of dealing with conflictual demands while trying to get an education. We need more of this kind of reaching out to make the climate of learning collaborative and sensitive, as opposed to inflexible and punitive.
Transportation for the poor and those who do not have access to cars has been sorely neglected. Car pooling is hard in the best of times in LA - so great the distances, so geographically diverse our student population. But active effort in making shared transportation available would prevent some students from having to come late or leave early for their public transportation. This is also a problem for the working class when a car breaks down.
Sources:
- Opinion: How to Solve Campus Parking Problems Without Adding More Parking By Daniel R. Kenney. Chronicle of Higher Education 3-26-04. On the Website of the California State University, Public Affairs, Friday, March 26, 2004. Backup
- The Daily Breeze Go to Archives and search for Home Depot Center for: Nick Green DAILY BREEZE. Daily Breeze. Torrance, Calif.: Nov 18, 2004. pg. A.1. I'm pretty sure that this is the article to which Andrea refers. jeanne
- University Budget Committee, Link to Agenda. A portion of the agenda for September 14, 2004, follows:
- Review impact of CSU General Fund Allocation on campus.
- Develop final budget recommendations for fiscal year 2004/05.
- Discuss non-budget recommendations, including education of campus community re. budget process.
Notice particularly agenda item number 3, including education of campus community re. budget process.
Administratiion and Finance University Administration. Includes the following:
- "Provide efficient, accurate, quality, and customer-oriented services in the execution of all functions." In this case, customer-oriented would seem to mean student-oriented, since students are our primary clients.
- "Provide prudent financial guidance and management of the University’s fiscal resources." This would seem to indicate that many of your questions about our relationship with Home Depot Center should be addressed to this division of the Administration.
- "Provide a framework that improves communication and information flow to the campus community." This would seem to be the division that would help us understand the relationship to Home Depot Center and to incomes from that relationship, and how they benefit the student.
- University Goals, 2001-2004
- The University's Statement of Policy of Nondiscrimination, which contains the following statements:
"California State University, Dominguez Hills, a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural institution, has a policy of nondiscrimination in all matters affecting students, employees and applicants for admission or employment. Not only is the University committed to compliance with equal opportunity and affirmative action regulations, but to understanding and valuing diversity. The University seeks to be a model multi-cultural campus community." This would seem to indicate that the university is willing to hear the validity claims of its diverse population, including students, in good faith."We reaffirm that full support will be given to affirmative action programs which seek to overcome under-utilization of ethnic minorities, women, Vietnam-era veterans, special disabled veterans, and persons with disabilities." One plausible interpretation of this statement would seem to be that the university is committed to hearing the problems its policies may cause its economically under-privileged, as they are traditionally inder-employed.
"In addition to meeting fully its obligations of nondiscrimination under federal and state laws, California State University, Dominguez Hills is committed to creating a community in which a diverse population can learn, live, and work in an atmosphere of tolerance, civility, and respect for the rights and sensibilities of each individual, without regard to economic status, ethnic background, political views, or other personal characteristics or beliefs."
"Every member of the University community shares in the opportunity to create a successful multicultural environment and in the responsibility to abide by and support policies of nondiscrimination. Every member of the campus community is urged to take positive action to ensure a campus climate that promotes civility and values diverse cultures, opinion, and perspectives." (Emphasis added.)
- For discussion: Parking Problems Encountered by Students:
Narratives in Full Expressive Mode.
Considerations: Parking is a value-added cost, in which all pay the same amount, despite ability to pay. One plausible implication for social justice is whether the state interest in education is sufficient to overcome such economic injustice in the interest of improving the education of the entire population.
