WSSU Students
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“Trey Day” hits
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The News Argus
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www.thenewsargus.com
Winston-Salem State University’s Student Newspaper
Oct. 1,2007
Why buy a decal if you can’t find a parl(ing space?
Taresh IWoore
and Demetria Davis
ARGUS STAFF
Enrollment at Winston Salem
State University has now
reached nearly 6,000 stu
dents. With the increased enroll
ment, however, comes a scramble
among commuting students to
find available parking spaces.
Four weeks into the fall semes
ter, some students were frustrated
with the parking situation. Many
students who have parking decals
are having trouble finding proper
parking spaces and result is they
park illegally.
Whether they have decals or
not, cars parked illegally are being
ticketed or towed. The lack of
parking spaces and mounting
parking tickets has many students
upset and doubting whether the
purchase of a parking decal has
any meaning.
"You cannot sell a service that
you can't render. There are more
students, faculty, and staff than
there are parking spaces," said
Antonio Caldwell, a senior.
NIany students are ^\iestior\irvg
whether or not buying decals is
necessary since it does not guaran
tee a parking spot.
"Student parking is not fair,
and if the school is not going to
construct more parking spaces,
then they should not ticket people
who they accuse of parking ille
gally," said senior Marcus Gill.
"If they want to issue tickets,
they should provide efficient and
effective parking services," said
Photos by Garrett Garms
ABOVE: Campus police scan the parking lot for parking violators.
RIGHT: Some students who have purchased decals continue to
receive parking tickets because of a lack of spaces on campus.
sophomore Desmond Alson. "I
have a decal and I continue to
receive tickets for parking in the
wrong area even when there is no
set designated parking facility for
us."
Students are not the only ones
fed u.p witH tlrve lacl^ of parVcing
spaces.
"There is no excuse for the facul
ty to be out of a park[ing spot)
upon arrival to campus," said one
person who asked to remain
anonymous. "We work here and
in order to make this university an
effective learning institute, we
must be able to arrive to classes
and meetings promptly."
An emaU sent out to faculty,
staff and students from the
Campus Police on Friday, Sept. 7,
said that WSSU Ram Shuttles
would be run continuously from 7
a.m. to 6 p.m. One shuttle will
extend its hours until 10 pm.
Michael Johnson, a sophomore
commuter student, said that he
Inas parked every day at Bowmain
Gray stadium but has yet to see a
shuttle.
"The main problem," said
Officer Norris Gullick, " is that
students are not purchasing park
ing decals."
According to campus police,
there are around 2,000 parking
spaces across the campus. Student
decals are $120 and will continue
to go up as tuition and enrollment
rise.
•. -ft. yy, iya.v
Refund checks could be given out
after drop-add dates in near future
Trygeania Dowell
ARGUS STAFF
Recently, Winston-Salem
State University has made
a number of changes such
as Donald Julian Reaves
being named as the new
chancellor in February and
the completion of
Foundation Heights resi
dence hall this fall.
The financial aid office
also had a change about a
year ago when Dr.
Raymond Solomon became
the new financial aid
director. Solomon, who
has 13 years of experience
working with financial
aid, suggests changes need
to be made in the financial
aid office, changes such as
adding new space and
more staff.
The other change that is
in review by Vice
Chancellor of Student
Affairs, Dr. Melody C.
Pierce, Solomon and other
administrators is the tim
ing of financial aid
refunds. There has been a
preliminary meeting con
cerning whether or not to
change the disbursement
of refunds from the first
day of school to the date
when students can drop
and add classes.
According to Pierce and
Solomon, students have
been known to apply for
college just to get the
refund, and once the
refund is disbursed the
students don't come back
to class. It is also a burden
on the financial aid office
when students receive
their refunds before the
days to drop and add
classes. The reason being
that checks for refunds are
written on Monday but
not disbursed until Friday
and between that time stu
dents can add or drop
classes. The financial aid
department has to manu
ally check all refunds
before the drop and add
deadline.
For example, if a check
is disbursed Monday and
a student drops a class,
that student will end up
receiving more than what
he or she was supposed
to, and if a student adds a
class, that student will be
underpaid. This demands
a manual process that is
"extremely cumbersome
and burdensome Solomon
said.
Ten years ago the
Thompson Center was
built for several offices
and one of them being the
financial aid office. Back
then there were approxi
mately 2,500 students at
WSSU, and now the col
lege is growing with
approximately 6,000.
Solomon requested for
money in the budget for
more staff and more
space. Pierce said he will
be receiving the extra
space he needs for the
financial aid office.
However as far as funds,
she said funding is not
available at this time for
the extra staff.
WSSU is state funded so
in order for the financial
aid department to receive
the finances it needs to
hire more staff, the
request for extra money
has to be a year in
advance.
Meanwhile, the financial
aid office will expand to
the conference room
across the hall. In the near
future, after the under
graduate admissions suite
of offices is redesigned,
the financial aid offices
will be redesigned. This
will enable financial aid
staff to have private
offices for confidentiality
reasons.
Vacant positions in the
financial aid office are
being filled slowly. The
financial aid office has
hired four temporary staff
positions.
Tips for timely
refunds:
□ File FAFSA as early as January
every year.
□ Submit all necessary documents
well before the June deadline;
t Income Tax forms
> W-2 forms
I verification sheets
□ Write your name and banner i.D.
on top of all forms.
□ Make sure all documents, includ
ing electronic, are signed.
□ Confirm birthdates and Social
Security numbers.
□ Re-check application
□ Apply 1 year early for scholar
ships.
It is important that if students have
siblings who are going to college,
that paperwork is started early so
that it is submitted on time.
Source; Dr. Melody Pierce
To learn more about financial aid
and apply for scholarships, students
and parents can go to
http://www. WSSU. edu/WSSU/About/
Administration/Division+of+Student
+Affairs/Financial+Aid
Some students
benefited more
than others from
recent career fair
Gabrielle Leonard
ARGUS STAFF
^'^n Thursday, September 13,
m W approximately 20 companies
came to the Anderson Center
looking for fresh talent amongst the
student body at Winston-Salem
State University. The Career Fair
was hosted by Career Services.
Senior Danny Harris said that this
year his profession really wasn't
represented by the companies pres
ent at this year's fair.
"1 want to do physical therapy,
and I don't feel that the Maryland
Police Department or Kroger can
help me achieve that. However, I
do feel that other majors were better
represented at this fair," he said.
The purpose of this career fair
was to give students looking for
jobs and internships the chance to
hear just what the companies at the
fair had to offer. It also allowed
students to see what opportunities
may lie ahead for them once they
graduate.
This year, there were plenty of
companies to choose from, includ
ing Target and Thurgood Marshall
Fund.
Candrice Nolan, a senior, econom
ics/finance major, said that she
would have loved to go and is sorry
that she missed out on the fair.
"I won't be here due to a business
conference, but 1 would have loved
to attend," Nolan said. "The career
fairs at WSSU are always some of
the best because there is always a
large amount of companies to
choose from."