Parkside students flood campus

By Brent Killackey

Wednesday, September 6, 2006 11:19 PM CDT

SOMERS - Sean Mounce walked briskly toward the University of Wisconsin-Parkside academic buildings Wednesday morning, setting the pace of someone running a bit behind.

The 19-year-old Kenosha resident found parking on this first day of the 2006-07 academic year a bit

challenging.

The two up-close parking lots off Outer Loop Road were full, although the orange signs indicating such didn't discourage many students from futilely trying. At least a dozen cars circled the packed lots like vultures.

Mounce wasn't among them. He heeded the warning signs and found a spot in the less used sports and activity center lot, which was located just a bit farther away.

"I'm going to be a little late now," Mounce, a sophomore majoring in biology, said as he trekked toward Wyllie Hall's doors.

But that wasn't a huge deal on the first day, when people were still trying to find where their classes were being held, he said.

Chandler Rogers of Racine parked outside Tallent Hall, which is located across Wood Road from the main campus. The university runs shuttles to and from the remote lot, but Rogers skipped the ride on the warm, sunny day.

"I walked. I need the exercise," Rogers, 21, said.

Rogers, a junior majoring in management information systems, was waiting at a table in Main Place in Wyllie Hall for a classmate from a public speaking class. He already had an assignment from a morning public speaking class: Interview a classmate and prepare a 2-3 minute introduction speech.

He wasn't worried about parking woes. It typically settles down after the first few weeks, he said.

Jakia Johnson didn't have any parking worries. The 20-year-old Milwaukee resident lives on campus, where she will be keeping busy majoring in psychology and serving as program chair of the Black Student Union, a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., and a lead mentor with the Always Reaching Upward Program.

Johnson said it was good to be back in school: "Just being able to come back to school. A lot of people can't do that. I take that very seriously."

For Christina Fanning, Wednesday didn't mark her first day back on campus. Far from it.

"I've been in and out all summer," said Fanning, who is editor of the student newspaper, The Ranger News. The past three weeks have been especially intensive as the staff worked to get the first issue out on Sept. 5.

"The response so far has been good," the 19-year-old Kenosha resident said.

The first issue contained an article on parking, including addressing complaints about a lack of parking.

Michael Marzion, chief of police, said in the story that there's plenty of parking at Tallent Hall.

"You could call us UW-Parking-Lot-Side and just pave the whole thing," Marzion told "The Ranger News," "but what we like about this campus is that it's beautiful and we don't want to pave it."

Compared to other sprawling University of Wisconsin system schools, UW-Parkside is very compact.

"We're not that big of a campus," said Sandy Puzerewski, assistant to the provost who was handing out free copies of the U.S. Constitution in Main Place in Wyllie Hall.

"It's actually in conjunction with Constitution Day," Puzerewski said about the booklets. Apparently there's some state or federal requirement about promulgating information on or in advance of the day, which falls on Sept. 18 this year.

"You have to do something and people seem to like it," she said.

Puzerewski's table was one of many in Main Place, which was buzzing with activity with a free ice cream social and booths from banks and credit unions,

student activities and retailers seeking employees.

Despite all of the noise, Sarah Antinucci of Racine was getting an early start on her geography assignments in Main Place.

Antinucci, 19, is studying to become a science teacher.

"I've been working all summer, so it's nice to get out of that routine," she said. "It's good to be back."

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