Tag Archives: parking

Finally, a survey the faculty and staff actually care about

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Not that it will matter:

Dear University of Oregon Faculty, and Staff:

We need your help! Transportation Services conducts a yearly survey to better understand how students, faculty, and staff commute to and from campus. This survey provides a snapshot of commuting trends and your input will help inform transportation planning and programs on campus. Due to a distribution error, your email was not included in the initial survey notification. If a colleague has already forwarded the survey to you, you do not need to retake it.

The survey is anonymous and should take you around 5 minutes or less to complete. It will be open until midnight on November 7, 2019.

When you complete the survey, you may enter your UO email in a raffle to win one of two $50 gift certificates or one of four $25 gift cards to the Duck Store.

The following link will take you to the survey: [Links removed at Josh’s request to avoid messing up his results. Survey was emailed to all fac and staff and a sample of students].

Thank you for your time! Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Josh Kashinsky
Active Transportation Coordinator
Transportation Services

Duck admins get free Jock Box parking, UO students not so much

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Reporter Duncan Baumgarten has the news on the latest increase in the Emerald:

The current rate for a day parking pass, based on the University of Oregon Transportation Services website, is $34 a month, $306 for three terms. The rate is new, having increased around a dollar since last year, according to University of Oregon Transportation Services specialist Matthew Gross. Records received by the department show that, since 2014, the price has increased 36%. A night parking pass costs $94 a month, $846 for three terms.

Not a problem for the Duck athletic nomenklatura. They get free parking in the Jock Box parking lot [2015 data]:

Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 10.53.15 PM

Here’s the list of beneficiaries:

Screen Shot 2015-12-05 at 10.07.58 AM

Eric Roedl, Craig Pintens, – wait, Tim Gleason’s not on the list? The MOU allowing this scam is here:

 Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 10.06.27 PM

Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 10.28.09 PM

They’re really claiming that the parking spots were “donated as part of the Jaqua Building Gift”? Actually, t was the other way around. UO gave the land to the athletic department for $1. At the time it was being used as a parking lot, very convenient for the Oregon Hall staff. Of course they had to pay to use it. For regular UO employees, reserved parking spots range from $1200-$1800:

Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 10.13.54 PM

Of course regular UO employees don’t get “Courtesy Car Stipends” either:

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And why is the hunting license fee so high, at $420? Because the Ducks stuck UO with a large part of the bill for the underground Knight Arena garage.

Johnson Hall to get new parking lot with no wide spots for prof’s El Camino

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It’s been awhile since this university has had a good parking scandal. I think the most recent was over free Jock Box parking for Rob Mullens, Vin Lananna and Lorraine Davis, and before that the Knight Arena underground garage. This pales in comparison – though the campus’s El Camino drivers might ask why their parking fees will subsidize parking for our well-paid administrators and their compact cars.*

https://apps.ideal-logic.com/files/public/d128a554fa3a43f2_V1C9-239VG/orig/Bid_Invitation_-_UO_Oregon_-_Collier_House_Parking_Project_-_BP1.pdf

* Full disclosure: Actually I walk to campus.

Mullens, Lananna, Lorraine Davis get free Jock Box parking

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Having a hard time finding a parking spot on campus, despite your $420 parking fee? Not a problem for the Duck athletic nomenklatura. They get free parking in the Jock Box parking lot:

Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 10.53.15 PM

Here’s the list of beneficiaries:

Screen Shot 2015-12-05 at 10.07.58 AM

Eric Roedl, Craig Pintens, – wait, Tim Gleason’s not on the list? The MOU allowing this scam is here:

 Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 10.06.27 PM

Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 10.28.09 PM

They’re really claiming that the parking spots were “donated as part of the Jaqua Building Gift”? Actually, t was the other way around. UO gave the land to the athletic department for $1. At the time it was being used as a parking lot, very convenient for the Oregon Hall staff. Of course they had to pay to use it. For regular UO employees, reserved parking spots range from $1200-$1800:

Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 10.13.54 PM

Of course regular UO employees don’t get “Courtesy Car Stipends” either:

Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 10.00.50 PM

And why is the hunting license fee so high, at $420? Because the Ducks stuck UO with a large part of the bill for the underground Knight Arena garage.

Emerald: Parking tickets subsidize Matt Court parking garage

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2/23/1015: Since the Ducks are still claiming they pay their own way, it seems like a good time to repost this classic Emerald report:

Alex Tomchak and Dave Martinez have the story in a Daily Emerald investigative report – from back in 2010:

If you pay a parking ticket doled out on the University campus, chances are you’ll be helping to pay off debts accrued on the parking structure under construction beneath the Matthew Knight Arena.

… “If the circumstances had been perfect, we would never have built an underground structure,” Horner said, adding, “Under the circumstances, because of the location, because of the requirement to actually build the arena, this is what we have.”

Duck coaches pocket parking payola

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5/20/2013: They are making UO parking operations pay nearly $1M a year towards the bonds for the underground Matt Court Arena parking garage – meaning the cost gets tacked on to the fees every UO parking pass holder must pay. And then they earn $370K a year, presumably from game parking, and spend it on themselves:

Everybody gets a car!

No subsidies here. Move it along, professor.

Professor Emeritus status

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6/29/2011: (revised, corrected to note existence of the old rules and the fact that they are also illegal)

At some universities it’s automatic. At the University of Montana, it’s apparently subject to the petty whims of the faculty.

The UO Senate approved new rules in 2010, but the entire package was rejected by General Counsel Randy Geller because it included a clause for free parking, which state rules prohibit. (Sensibly – everyone needs to pitch in to help pay for the jocks’ new arena garage.)

Provost Bean says this means the old rules are still in force:

FROM: “James Bean”
DATE: May 11, 2011 13:46:44 PDT
TO:
SUBJECT: EMERITUS

The recommendation from the senate was deemed illegal and hence not
acted upon by the President. The old policy is still in force. …

That old policy is here. But it also includes the offending parking clause. So by Bean’s Randy Geller’s logic it’s also all illegal. So maybe the new policy was rejected because it ruled out emeritus status on the basis of administrative service – very inconvenient for UO President Emeritus Dave Frohnmayer. Who knows.

So, currently, retiring professors must apparently rely on the patronage and whim of Academic Affairs VP Russ Tomlin. Russ can, apparently, even make the call on whether or not to cut off your email access – as UO did to Jean Stockard a few years ago.

This is not an acceptable situation. If you have more details on what is going on, please leave a comment.

new UO scapegoat appointed

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1/14/2011: With Melinda Grier gone, the job of UO scapegoat has been open for more than 6 months. It appears the administration has now appointed VPFA Frances Dyke to the position:

Dear Senators:

As you know, the new basketball arena opened last night to
some fanfare and publicity. Although most things ran smoothly,
the parking on campus did not. Many people arriving to campus
for non-basketball purposes were forced to pay $10 to park
even if they had a valid parking permit. Vice President Frances
Dyke has agreed that this charge occurred in error and would
like to rectify this situation with each individual who was charged
inappropriately. This includes all faculty, staff and students.
Please have anyone you know who came to campus yesterday
afternoon and evening for a non-basketball activity and was
charged $10 to write Frances Dyke directly
([email protected]).

Thanks very much in advance for forwarding this message to
your colleagues and constituency.

Cheers,

Nathan Tublitz

Nice try Mr. Mullens, but we want the whole $600,000 – and the $2 million of ours that Jim Bean is paying to run the Jock Box too. Meanwhile, rumor is that Frances will be writing those checks out personally. Disturbingly, there is no evidence the normal affirmative action rules were followed during the scapegoat hiring process. Perhaps it’s an interim appointment?

$600,000 was not enough

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1/13/2011: Now the UO athletic department is trying to hit the faculty staff and students up for another $10 for parking on game day – whether or not they are going to the game. College of Education Dean Mike Bullis spills the beans on how to keep your money:

From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Terry Kneen
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2011 3:15 PM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: coegr: Fwd: coe-staff: important: parking near COE today,
1/13/11

Important parking information for basketball games.

All —

As you may have heard, the grand opening of the new Matthew Knight arena this evening. The issue of parking for the Matt Knight Arena’s inaugural event — the basketball game against USC — is one that caught all of us, even me, by surprise. Specifically, we learned today that parking lots #17, #18, and #40 around the College of Education are to be used for game parking and cars arriving in those lots after 4 pm this evening are to be charged by attendants to park in those lots. Because the HEDCO Clinics are open and serving individuals until 8 pm and we have evening classes with faculty and staff arriving after 4 pm that initial directive did not work for us. After multiple phone calls to various parts of campus I have learned that parking attendants at the lots around the COE have been instructed to not charge for parking if the individual(s) in that car say they are not attending the basketball game. Please relay this message to as many people you know who may be affected by this situation.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this situation may cause.

Mike

Michael Bullis, Ph.D.
Sommerville-Knight Professor and Dean

I for one am glad that the UO deans are spending their time on this, instead of mere academics. Go Ducks!

Senate Agenda

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12/1/2010: The Senate meets today, agenda here. A report from President Lariviere/Provost Bean on the Riverfront Research Park should be interesting, given recent revelations about UO’s apparent failure to follow the development procedures. I suspect the statement will be limited, given the potential for a lawsuit from the developer.

France Dyke will talk about parking. Don’t expect any answers about why fees have been raised $600,000 per year to pay for the underground arena parking garage, which cost about $50K per slot. She has been asked this many times, and she’s committed to not explaining the subsidy, ever. The only question is what combination of strategies she will use this time:
a) read from prepared statement, then feign ignorance
b) obsequiously thank the questioner and say her staff will look into it
c) act like the questioner is being unreasonable for not accepting a non-answer

Paul Weinhold of the UO Foundation will speak. This is part of a burst of transparency designed to build support for Lariviere’s restructuring plan. Don’t ask why the Foundation is spending donor money building extravagant offices for themselves and UO Development in the new Alumni Center, instead of on classrooms. Don’t ask how hard we had to work explaining to increasingly skeptical donors why this was the #1 priority for UO. None of your business, you ungrateful student professor punk. Really, this is best for you. Trust us. By the way, we are not going to agree to be subject to the Oregon public records law. Ever.

peacehealth parking contract

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11/9/2010: Here’s a nice moneymaker for DPS: Rent 100 parking spaces from Peacehealth for $25 a month, then sell parking permits for them for $400 a year. Earn a bit more by selling, say, 120 permits for the 100 slots. See UO’s contract with the Peacehealth parking garage here. Of course, this is way, way cheaper than the Arena underground parking garage.  But Frances Dyke is going to make students, faculty and staff subsidize that garage anyway – the athletic department needs your support.