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Friday, November 3, 2017 - Vol. 118 Issue 31
Students seek T-lot revitalization By Emily Stieren assistant news editor
There are approximately 180 parking spaces for approximately 1,000 students who live in Thompson Hall. Many of the parking lots at Western Illinois University have minimal parking, but maybe not as significantly as Thompson’s T-lot. “In the T-lot, there are not enough parking spots,” said Campus Parking Manager Lance Johnston. “Every lot on campus that is attached to a building does not have enough parking to accommodate every single person that lives in that building. There is just not enough space or room for parking.” In a Western Courier survey, out of 100 Thompson residents surveyed, 99 percent said they think the T-lot does not have an appropriate number of parking spaces for the number of students who live in the hall. Taryn Underwood, a student at Southern Illinois University studying to obtain her master’s degree in architecture, referred to the International Zoning Code for more information regarding how many parking
spaces Thompson should have. According to Underwood, the code stated that there should be two parking spaces per dwelling unit (dorm room) no matter the number of people living in each room. Although this might be a long shot, Johnston said he is always looking for ways to expand the parking lot. “The reason why that parking lot is so small is because there is no place to build,” Johnston said. “There is a little bit of green space between the Thompson lot and the woods to the north, but there are also some 100-year-old trees there that people would not want to cut down. I thought about trying to maybe expand that back toward the woods, but that would be a fight with the people who don’t want to see trees get cut down. But of course, they don’t live there.” Isaac Asche, Thompson resident and the Speaker Pro Tempore of the Student Government Association, said he thinks a building as large as Thompson should have more parking spots, given the number of residents housed in the building.
Parking
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NICHOLAS EBELHACK/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Aerial view of Thompson Hall's parking lot (left.) Demolition cleanup continues at the Higgins Hall demolition site, which will be transformed into grass area as progress continues (middle and right).
JESSIE MATIAS/PRODUCTION MANAGER
By Tabi Jozwick courier staff
The Western Illinois University Veteran Resource Center will have several events throughout campus and the Macomb community from Nov. 6 to 11, to honor American veterans for Military Appreciation Week. “Military Appreciation Week
is an opportunity for us to acknowledge veterans and service members who have served and to honor those that paid the ultimate sacrifice,” said Assistant Director, Student Assistance Center Veterans Resource Center Kathy Meyers. “We take that week as an opportunity to offer a variety of programs for veterans, service members, staff, faculty
and administration to attend.” “Celebrations, Triumphs and Challenges: Gender Differences in the Military” will feature a panel of students, alumni, faculty and staff of veterans and service members to discuss gender differences with Educational Studies Professor James LaPrad as facilitator in the military on Nov. 6 in the Multicultural Center
at 6:30 p.m. Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration Assistant Professor Jeremy Robinett will be doing his presentation Appreciating Western Military Service Students’ Experiences: Friendly Faces and Conflicted Spaces on Nov. 8 in the University Union Fox Room at 3 p.m. “Robinett completed a study
last year here at Western,” Meyers said. “He will present his findings of the survey and provide opportunity for us to move forward and how we serve our veterans and service members and we are looking forward to that information.”
Military
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