January 9, 2012

Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor, Michigan

washtenawvoice.com

Restaurant week returns and gives students the chance to dine at a discounted price. Also check out the Wurst bar in Ypsilanti. B4

GRABBING SOME GRUB

PARK THE WHINING

The solution is finally here: new parking structure opens
Anna Fuqua-Smith
Staff Writer

ONLINE CLASSES

Exploring both the upside and occasional downside of taking classes off-campus and online. A5

FUELING THE FUTURE

BOB CONRADI THE WASHTENAW VOICE

No more trolling for spaces. No more ugly confrontations when someone beats you to a spot. No more screaming at someone who just goes out to the car for a smoke and doesnt leave. No more being late for class because you couldnt find a place to park. No more excuses. After a $12.7 million investment, the controversial parking structure is open for business this week, creating an estimated 544 more parking spaces. Traffic patterns, however, may prove to be a challenge to some because of road construction not yet completed. According to Associate Vice President of Facilities Development and Operations Damon Flowers, the road built to connect Lot 7 at the Liberal Arts building to Lot 1 at the Morris Lawrence building will eventually be finished, but the Washtenaw County Road Commission will not permit opening it until some additional construction on Huron River Drive is completed.
PARKING STRUCTURE CONTINUED A3

A gerbil tunnel leads from WCCs new parking structure to the LA Building.

THE ROAD TO A PARKING SOLUTION

NOVEMBER 2009:
After years of debate and against strong opposition, the WCC Board of Trustees approved the 600-spot parking structure. It is now estimated that the new structure will supply an estimated 544 spaces.

AUGUST 2010:

JANUARY 2011:

A look at some of the ways that Washtenaw County is changing the way it uses and produces energy. B1

Plans for the new structure fall behind. The college blames the Ann Arbor Township Planning Commission.

Construction begins behind the LA building. Administrators confirm that trees uprooted for construction will be replanted around the college.

MAY 2011:

DECEMBER 2011:

St. Joseph Hospital resists splitting the cost to widen Huron River Drive, which the county road commission says is necessary for the structures construction.

The structure remains on schedule, but new traffic problems await. The widening of the road at Huron River Drive was never completed, forcing the Washtenaw County Road Commission to prohibit the college from opening the road leading out to the Morris Lawrence building. The road from the Clark Road entrance to the structure will be the only point of access. All trees have been replanted in and around the college.

MAY 2010:

Students and faculty oppose WCCs plan to build a parking structure by gathering more than 300 signatures, citing that the college will be destroying a fragile ecosystem by building on the proposed site.

SEPTEMBER 2010:

The Ann Arbor Township Planning Commission finally approves a preliminary site plan for the new parking structure.

APRIL 2011:

AUGUST 2011:

Weather has delayed some construction, but officials confirm that the structure is right on target for Winter 2012.

Construction workers are ahead of schedule, despite rain delays, often working 12-hour days to ensure completion by December. All 81 of the caisson foundations the large shafts of concrete used to support the building and 65 percent of the underground storm-runoff system is in place, including main water lines that will feed the structures fire-suppression system.

At Iowa caucuses, voters select candidates in time-honored tradition

Words and Photos by

Politics as usual

Jared Angle
Photo Editor

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa If youngsters here at Valley High School had their way, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul would face Barack Obama in Novembers presidential election. Paul, the conservative congressman from Texas, was received by exuberant cheering and applause at a rally sponsored by the nonprofit Rock the Vote, just hours ahead of the states presidential caucuses last Tuesday. By contrast, U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and several members of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romneys family garnered a fairly tepid response from the crowd. Welcome to democracy in action in middle America, where candidates for the highest office in the land come seeking endorsements from average voters. Students are future taxpayers and homeowners, said Valley High Associate Principal David Maxwell, 41, of West Des Moines. He spoke to the purpose of the rally: to get students interested in the political process.
The senior class of Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa attended the Rock the Vote event in the school gym to hear several GOP presidential candidates speak.
POLITICS AS USUAL CONTINUED A8

2012 Michigan Community College Press Association Judging Form

Place of award: Second Place First Place Second Place Third Place Honorable Mention

Category: Headline Writing Headline/title of entry: Park the Whining; Occupy Rick; On target Contestants name: Voice Staff College name: Washtenaw CC Judges comments: Creative use of words; good description of what story was about. Park the Whining was particularly good!