News
More Parking Blues
Heather Mupita
Editor-in-Chief
Teresa Atkinson, a Shoreline Community College student says that she parks at the Sears parking lot. Although there is nothing wrong with parking there; she finds the location inconvenient.
“I live and work in Lynwood and therefore the time factor comes into play as I have to make sure I get to work on time. The Sears location is inconvenient because it takes time to get to campus and to go back,” she said.
Parking problems on campus have become a nightmare for most students and it is not only the fact that there is insufficient parking.
Other issues include students parking on campus without parking permits, verbal disputes over parking, and reports by the security department that some students have been caught smoking marijuana in the campus parking lot.
Another problem associated with parking is that students are forced to come to school earlier than the scheduled time for their classes.
Student Setareh Mahmoodi also pointed out that “parking is horrible, especially if you come five minutes before class and the Greenwood lot is inconvenient as it is muddy when it rains and then it is also faraway and you have to walk for 10 to 15 minutes before you get to your class.”
However Cordell Torres was more positive about the parking woes on campus, he believes that; “If people used the Sears Lot more, then parking problems would be solved.” He also suggested that if a more gas efficient shuttle system and more shuttle buses were introduced, this would make the location more convenient and accessible.
Robert Miner was so dissatisfied with the parking facilities that he now parks off campus near the SCC. “I park by the elementary school and I don’t want to pay for parking or to take the shuttle. I might just as well park across the street for free, because when I bought my parking permit the first time. I could never get parking on campus. It is easier for me to just go across the street and not have to pay. Besides, college students don’t have a lot of money.”
Lilie Kurniawan also finds the parking situation frustrating; “There should be more parking on campus. I don’t think the Sears lot is convenient enough. People would rather sacrifice to park on campus rather than at Sears.”
Sergeant Becky Gibler of the SCC Safety and Security Department however believes that off-site parking is convenient enough for students as there is a shuttle bus to and from campus.
Gibler also warned that those students caught parking on campus without permits will get citations of $25 for illegal parking. Gibler also suggested that students should come early to campus and take advantage of using facilities such as the library and computer la to do their homework. She also urged students to be courteous to one another in the parking lot. “I used the shuttle every day when I was a Shoreline student and it was very convenient for me.” She also pointed out that the Greenwood lot is now much safer as it now has more lighting and has been paved.
The Sears Lot is located to the west of the main Sears building. Enter on 160th Street between Aurora and Dayton Avenue North.
The shuttle drops off and picks students on campus from the south side of the 1000 building. The shuttle runs from Mondays to Thursdays from 7: 45a.m to 4:30 p.m. and Fridays from 7:45a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The shuttle runs continuously except for the short breaks from 9:45- 10:10am, 11:40a.m. to 12:25p.m., and 1:45 to 2:00p.m.
Students can only use the shuttle bus if they have a valid SCC parking permit.
Library to Charge for Printer Use
Chaim Eliyah
A & E Editor
Students using the Library Media Center at Shoreline Community College will soon seen changes in the process of printing documents. Due to too much frivolous printing, the Student Government decided last Wednesday to implement a system where students pay for their printing when using library computers.
The program, once in place, will allow students to pay for their printing via their Student ID cards. The ID cards have a magnetic strip that allows personal accounts to be created for a student – much like your typical copy card from an outlet such as Kinko’s. Other uses for this system haven’t yet been developed; however, University of Washington students use their U-PASS ID cards for many purposes, including printing, copying, bus transportation, and buying food.
The ID card will be read and the student’s account will be debited by small magnetic scanning devices attached to the computers. We should see the scanning devices in the library within the next week. Although Student Government has approved spending $9,000 on these machines from the technology budget, they believe that this money will be recuperated within one year. A similar amount of income is projected for each additional year, which will allow the college to spend the extra money on new technology instead of paying for personal printing costs of students, according to Student Body Vice President Elliot Newlin.
Some students are skeptical of the change. One student who works in the coffee stand raised the concern that the ASB Technology fees they pay should cover their printing, and believe it would be a bad idea to make students pay for printing.
However, superfluous printing within the library has been a continuing problem that has nothing to do with school costs. Just dropping by the library one can find many examples of such unnecessary printing; sometimes students will print as much as 10 to 20 pages each about their favorite artists, hobbies and interests – a cost that builds up over time.
This motion has been approved by Student Government and endorsed by the Library Media Center as a means of keeping technology costs low at Shoreline Community College. Student Government hopes that the mere 2 cents per sheet of paper that students will pay is not seen as exorbitant, yet keeps students mindful that we all have to pay for the wonderful array of technology presented to us here at the college.
Campus Salon on the Move
Heather Mupita
Editor-in-Chief
The campus salon, staffed by students from the cosmetology program, will relocate from the SCC campus to a new, larger salon. The new location will be on 160th Street near Aurora and close to the new Shoreline Bank building. Darlene Carlson, the Program Assistant for the Cosmetology Center, stated that the move which was scheduled for Jan. 3 will now take place on Jan. 18 of next year.
Although the program will now be conducted off campus, it will still be part of the SCC. “The change in location will be better for the salon, there will be better visibility, easier accessibility especially for the elderly and some clients who find it hard to walk up the stairs,” Carlson said.
Carlson is optimistic of this move and added that the new location will have a separate facial and wax room. These two services are conducted in the same room at the present location. This has been inconvenient for the students and their clients.
The campus salon had been included in the initial plan for the PUB renovation due to take place next year. But as Carlson pointed out, “Something fell through, but I think this works better for us.” She also pointed out that everyone has been supportive of the move.” The college has funded a lot of money to see that this happens”, she said.
Carlson also reiterated that: “In the past eleven years that I have worked here, students were not really aware of the salon. We were not visible to students. No one saw us back here.”
As she explained, she pointed to the entrance of the building which true to her testimony is not visible to the public. The Salon moved to their current location in 1978 to the northeast part of campus above the Metal Fabrication Shop. She further added that the new location would be more visible and accessible thereby creating more business for the salon.
The cosmetology program has been in operation since 1971. When it started, a haircut and style cost the general public $3. (http// success.shoreline.edu/salon/history). The salon then moved to its present location in 1978 and was remodeled in 1994.
Carlson also said that everyone in the department will be moving. “It will be a new facility, this place needs to be updated and we have grown out of it, we are really looking forward to the new facility.”
College Students Not Applying
for Financial Aid
Financial aids still available, and you might qualify
Lydia Sprague
Special to the Ebbtide
Half of the students who are currently attending colleges in the United States have not applied for Federal Aid, the American Council of Education reported recently.
Most of these students were correct in assuming that they were not eligible for aid. But the council states that at least 1.7 million students who are eligible failed to apply, and thus did not receive aid. The required forms are free (hence the name Free Application for Federal Student Aid – also known simply as FAFSA). Not enough students are aware of the forms or potential available funding. “Most students just assume that they can’t get it (aid) because they’re not eligible, or they think that they need to have good grades (in order to get aid),” says Shoreline student Jaime Couden. Hugh Turnbaugh, another Shoreline student, agrees, “A lot of students just are not aware of how easy it might be (to get aid).”
Learn More Turnbaugh believes that federal aid should be more widely publicized. “It should be taught about in high schools,” he says, “and advertised (more) in colleges.”
According to the American Council of Education’s study, only one-third of community college students have filled out the FAFSA, while over half of university students have completed the forms. Couden and Turnbaugh agree that more university students apply for aid because universities are more expensive. Students attending large universities pay more than community college students for books and classes, and living in a dorm is almost as expensive as tuition itself on some campuses.
Neither Couden nor Turnbaugh have applied for federal aid. Couden admits to letting her father pay the full price of tuition while Turnbaugh says that he earned too much money to even be eligible for filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
According to Kristi Kallander, the assistant director of the Financial Aid Department at Shoreline Community College, students should apply for financial aid even if they think that they are not eligible. Forms to Fill Out, Some common reasons that students have for not filling out the FAFSA are simply that students do not know how to find the forms, or fill them out, and they do not know to come to the Financial Aid Office at Shoreline when they need help. Students are also often turned off by the seemingly complicated forms, and the fact that receiving aid takes more than one detailed step. The forms might prove daunting and don’t go through the whole process, or get confused and don’t know who to ask for help.
Some students who would like financial aid are not eligible because they are in default, meaning that they have a bad history with receiving financial aid in the past. Some examples are students who did not repay a loan, or students who failed classes that were paid for by loans.
These students then are not eligible for more aid until the default is resolved with the lender and the Financial Aid Office. They must get into contact with the lender and find a way to pay back what they owe. These solutions often vary from situation to situation. The student then must let the Financial Aid Office know that the default has been resolved.
Loans versus Financial Aid According to Kallander, a common misconception among students who are looking for financial aid is that a loan is not a type of financial aid, because it must be paid back with interest. However, she says, loans are one of the most common types of financial aid offered. The maximum interest rate for a financial aid loan is 8.25 percent, she points out, which is much less than the interest on most other loans (including that credit card in your pocket).
Other forms of financial aid available to students are PLUS loans for parents and work-study programs where the student works on campus in order to pay off tuition. Work-study jobs on campus include working in the Shoreline Bookstore and in the cafeteria.
According to the Shoreline Financial Aid Office, as of November 1 Shoreline has received more than 5,000 FAFSA forms from students. However only 1,723 Shoreline students have actually followed through and taken the extra steps to receive aid.
Kallander states that many of these 5,000 students may have decided to go to a different school. On the FAFSA, the student has a choice to list up to five schools that he or she may be planning on attending, and each of these schools receives a copy of the FAFSA results.
The Financial Aid Office reports that as of Nov. 1, 2004, approximately 16,075 Shoreline students have received financial aid throughout the end of the year.
The number of students receiving aid, Kallander says, will continue to grow every day as the office reviews more applications; therefore it will be much higher by the end of the year.
Steps to Take The steps that a student needs to take in order to receive financial aid are not as complicated as they might seem at first glance, Kallander states.
First, the student must fill out the FAFSA. Kallander encourages applying via the Internet because it is a quicker form to fill out, and it gets to the FAFSA offices faster (www.fafsa.ed. gov). It can also be picked up outside the Financial Aid Office in the 5000 Building, filled out by hand and mailed to the federal processor.
Although the Internet form is faster, the student needs to acquire a PIN through the financial aid office to function as an electronic signature, taking up to seven days to be emailed and activated.
Next, the student must fill out the Financial Aid Data Sheet, available in the Shoreline office or on the Shoreline website.
Now the student must complete the transcript evaluation sheets, which are available in the Shoreline Financial Aid Office, or online on the Shoreline website. This is an evaluation of the student’s transferable credits that can take up to four weeks.
Depending on the student’s situation, additional required documents may be needed. These may include tax return information or proof of citizenship or any other number of things. Loan requests also require a separate form.
After all of this the student must apply for admission to Shoreline Community College.
Other important information about applying for financial aid is that the funding for aid can be limited, and that all the completed files and forms are reviewed on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Deadline is November 30 The deadline for completing the FAFSA forms for aid in winter quarter is November 30, 2004. Students who turn in forms late must pay tuition with their own funds until aid is available.
Eligibility for financial aid is determined based on the completed FAFSA and is calculated between the cost of tuition and the expected contribution of the student and the student’s family.
As the deadline quickly approaches Kallander would like to encourage students to stop by the Shoreline Financial Aid Office and pick up some information regarding the FAFSA and other tools required to apply for financial aid. She, and all the others at the Financial Aid Office, hopes to help more students in the quest to complete college.