Linnabary: ‘Innovation’ or imitation?
Changes on campus an exercise in delayed gratification or deception
Last week, more than halfway through the semester, the university announced that the new, hangtag-less electronic parking passes had gone into effect and enforcement would begin. Up to that point, students were allowed the luxury of being able to park wherever they pleased; no tickets were issued.
It’s a prime example of the “innovation” the university has given to students this year. The most recent campus additions – an unenforced parking system, floundering food trucks and a failing convenience store-bus – have thus far proven to be a failure, a series of misfires that the university has paraded as beneficial to students, but at what cost?
The university’s definition of “innovation” seems to be defined by unnecessary, frivolous investments. Although food truck representatives said actual sales numbers are unavailable, the Food Truck Plaza by NIAR can hardly be called a success. Yes, AirBus employees will soon utilize the space. But was it necessary to rush rolling out the Food Truck Plaza in a still-in-development environment? One can’t help but wonder, without a contract, when these vendors will bail out to more bustling venues.
Back to the new parking system. Did anyone, besides administration and parking services, feel a need for a new parking system? Well, let me rephrase that – did anyone ask for a new parking system that didn’t entail more parking lots and space?
Students who paid for parking passes feel cheated, but perhaps a better term would be “ripped off.” They paid a good amount of money for a parking pass. They should be refunded — at least a quarter of the year’s cost — for the price of their parking permits.
There’s also a superfluous factor that I think warrants attention. It was nice to see the visible hang-tag on someone else’s vehicle, immediately identifying someone else from WSU off campus. That’s no more, for the sole reason of ‘streamlining’ parking.
‘Streamlining’ removes the cost of a hangtag – but what other difficulties are overcome? The difficulty of having to run to Jardine to pick it up? Big deal. Is that enough reason to spend $100,000 to install cameras on police vehicles? How about the extra $10,000 to $15,000 cost of licensing the software? Where did that money come from? Money seems to pop up conveniently whenever the university decides something falls under the vague term “innovative.”
Speaking of convenience, the QuickShock convenience store bus at the Metroplex shop seemed like an unnecessary investment, with plenty of food options available on campus and a Kwikshop at 21st and Oliver. Students seem to think so, too, with the shop recently displaying a sign stating: “We average 50 customers per day. We need 120 to stay.”
Just because something is more technology-driven or different than an older system doesn’t mean it’s better. Yes, the parking services’ job would ideally be streamlined. But how long will it be before those jobs are replaced completely and the system is fully automated?
I would rather an “innovative” campus focus on what would likely be more beneficial to students than food trucks, parking permits and the flip-flopping promise of football – better classrooms that don’t leak when it rains or rattle with the sound of cockroaches scurrying away when the light switch flips on, better-paid teachers, and a more transparent and accessible administration that truly has students’ best interests in mind. These are the things we need and should be focusing on, especially considering the hiring freeze that much of the university is currently in. The success of this university should be defined by the success of its students, not the amount of capital invested in its amenities.
Andrew Linnabary was the 2018-2019 Digital Managing Editor of The Sunflower. He studied journalism and minored in English. Linnabary is from Wichita, Kansas.
Lara Brockway • Oct 31, 2016 at 12:20 pm
The QuickShock Convenience Bus is a private business. No school funds went into it.
Jason • Oct 31, 2016 at 12:16 pm
Thank you for writing this great article. I think everyone shares these sentiments. Please continue to write about things that are being pushed on us as students. You are a voice for change.
NL • Oct 28, 2016 at 3:25 pm
Look at how they layout who-park-where. Sorry I feel like that person was not very bright…
Thomas Sutherland • Oct 28, 2016 at 3:03 pm
I would just like to add that the School of Music nearly had to halt its faculty search last year to replace three members who left last year due to budget shortfalls. We nearly went from 5 voice studios to 2, and all the time we’re in danger of losing funding to a football team that frankly no one really wants. I think it’s about time that administrators start getting their act together or they’re going to be in some big trouble in the next few years.
Emily • Oct 28, 2016 at 12:25 pm
I’m so happy to see that you and other students see the dangers with the President’s spending. Raises for the faculty have been frozen for the past several years while health insurance is raised each year. In essence, the faculty are taking a pay cut each year they stay. Meanwhile they see things like new buildings crop up in the midst of this financial crisis. If things aren’t changed, WSU is bound to see a steady turnover of faculty and a higher percentage of adjuncts.
Ryan Malone • Oct 27, 2016 at 9:30 pm
I want this article to go viral. Maybe then they will listen.
Sheryl Davis • Oct 27, 2016 at 8:41 pm
As an alum long before your parents were born, I can assure you that things have not changed. Sorry we could not hit a big lottery and build that parking garage before they put up new dorms.
Francesca • Oct 27, 2016 at 6:35 pm
Yes, the Quickshock Convenient store is more convenient, but items are overpriced. I can go to the gas station down the road and get items way cheaper.
Sarah • Oct 27, 2016 at 5:38 pm
Beautifully done! I remember the second week the food trucks were open I went over and I, being friend to some and family to other food truck owners, was met with worried statements of “do you think more students will come?” Some of the bigger trucks like the flying stove and the Cupcake one can afford to be there, but many of the food trucks are just now opening. They are delicious and I love having them on campus, but that’s a horrible place for them. If anything, they should be allowed to roam the campus.
Rhonda Davis • Oct 27, 2016 at 5:30 pm
THANK YOU for this article!! This has been something the students have griped about for a while, but they have been ignored by the administration. “Corporate campuses” are the new “it” but it is at the expense of the students and academics. It is a bad plan. How many failed plans and “research groups” are they going to run through before they figure out they might want to LISTEN TO THE STUDENTS and consider their needs. Students talk to potential students.
I still haven’t figured out why there is a metro bus convenience store. Not sure who the brainchild of that one was but I hope they weren’t paid to come up with that idea. Students that do not feel like they have a voice on campus will not spend money on campus, instead they will go their classes and leave as fast as possible.
Ryan Brockhoff • Oct 27, 2016 at 4:04 pm
This is exactly how I feel. Inappropriate allocations of funding that doesn’t benefit the students who pay to be here.
Clarisa Akred • Oct 27, 2016 at 4:04 pm
Great article speaking everyone’s mind when it comes to how wsu loves anything “innovative” without actually considering the costs or usefulness to students.
Norman Conley • Oct 27, 2016 at 3:28 pm
Well said. Thank you student parking permit holders for paying for the shuttle so I can park free. Students you are being ripped off. The university needs more on casmpus parking not more recurring cost for parking violations. Do not be complacient you have a voice. I will now step off of the soap box .
David Linnabary • Oct 27, 2016 at 1:04 pm
It’s all about money, making and spending it.