Vending machines now accepting credit/ debit cards
An inside look at Union Station’s King Tut exhibit
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September 2, 2014
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UMKC’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
VOLUME 82, ISSUE 2
UMKC students see increase at parking meters Bring an extra quarter next time you park on campus JANET SCHAAF NEWS EDITOR
UMKC Students and visitors who regularly utilize metered parking spaces may spend a little more money this year. UMKC Parking Operations recently increased parking meter rates to $1.25 per hour from the previous $1 per hour. UMKC has the highest hourly parking meter rates compared to the other three campuses in the University of Missouri system. Missouri S&T in Rolla charges 50 cents per hour while UMSL charges 50 cents for 50 minutes. Meter rates at Mizzou differ for students and visitors: 60 cents per hour and $1 per hour, respectively. According to UMKC Parking Operations Manager Michelle Cone, the last increase to parking meter rates at UMKC was in 2009. However, this year’s increase may soon help to decrease the amount of cash needed to use a metered space. “Due to customer demand, we will soon be installing credit card readers in the pay-and-display meters,” Cone said. “The increase will help cover the cost of the card readers, their installation and the additional fees associated with the use of credit cards.” Currently, the pay-and-display meters take bills or coins. All meters on campus, including those that only accept coins, allow parking for up to eight consecutive hours. UMKC senior Geri Miller only purchases a parking permit if it is cost effective to do so. “I never bought a [summer] parking permit,” Miller said. “The parking permit was $60 and I did the math and I said … I’m not buying that permit. For the
summer, I spent $33 for parking, but that was with missing two classes.” Miller was not aware of the rate increase, but does not think it would affect her parking habits. “It still would have been cheaper [to use metered parking], but just by a little bit,” Miller said. “If I had multiple classes or an eight-week class, I would have bought [a permit].” The Parking Operations page on UMKC’s website indicates the department must generate its own revenue. According to Cone, last fiscal year the department did not generate enough revenue to cover those expenses. “Permit sales and meter revenue are the only guaranteed sources of parking revenue,” Cone said. Students have a variety of transportation options. The transportation page on UMKC’s website (www.umkc.edu/ transportation) suggests five options: the UMKC shuttle bus, The Metro, biking to campus, traditional commuting with oncampus parking and car sharing. “Depend[ing] on the semester,” Cone said, “roughly 30-40 percent of students purchase a parking permit.” For a full-time student who parks on campus, purchasing a parking permit may make more sense, financially. For example, a student with 12 credit hours would pay $240 over the course of the semester to park at a metered space. However, the $240 total only includes actual hours in the student spends in class. Time spent on campus studying or hanging out with friends adds to that amount. A single-semester (fall or spring) 24-hour day permit costs $126. UMKC does not plan to add additional metered spaces on
ABOVE: Metered parking prices increase this semester at UMKC. RIGHT: Pay and Display meters soon to accept credit cards for payment. Photos by Janet Schaaf campus, but Cone said that the new parking garage on the Health Science campus added additional student permit spaces and, in turn, should yield more available permit parking spaces on the Volker campus. Parking Operations also receives revenue from parking violation fees. Last fiscal year, paid violations amounted to $367,748, or nine percent of revenue generated, according to Cone. “Parking violation revenue simply comes out of the attempt
to provide enough parking spaces for those who have paid for parking,” Cone said. For students like Miller who calculate the cost of metered parking versus permit parking, being able to swipe a credit card may not make a difference. “I can see how it would be enticing, though,” Miller said. “Credit cards are much easier. But if they’re [metered spaces] still in the same location where I’d still have to walk three blocks, then no.” —jschaaf@unews.com
UMKC student wins the Miss Czech Slovak US pageant DAN MORENO SPORTS EDITOR
UMKC graduate student and Kansas City native Morgan McMichen was crowned the 2014 Miss Czech-Slovak US Queen on Aug. 4, the first queen from Missouri in the pageant’s history. The pageant was founded in 1986 by John and Lois Fiala, and more than 300 women from across the country have competed since its implementation. McMichen, pursuing her Master’s degree with a dual focus in foreign language and literature, additionally won Best Oratory and Authentic Kroj (costume)
during the pageant. McMichen grew up in Independence, Mo., but her first Czech relatives, Jan and Anna Pečenka, emigrated from Litomyšl, Pardubice to the U.S. during the American Civil War. “I have always had a love for culture, language and heritage,” McMichen said. “I have fond memories of my grandmother reciting poems and folktales in Czech and teaching me about my family’s ancestry.” McMichen’s Czech relatives originally settled in Marysville, Kan., and to this day, the family’s old farm remains intact. “The more I learn about my
heritage, the more enthusiastic I become about preserving it,” McMichen said. “I encourage other young women to continue to grow their knowledge and pride in their Czech or Slovak backgrounds, and I know the importance of passing on Czech and Slovak customs and culture to future generations.” McMichen is the current Zumba instructor at UMKC and at other locations across the city. Currently, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin hold state pageants where state queens are crowned
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