Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Matt Fochtman recruited about 10 of his closest friends to help create his masterpiece on the pavement.

Personal Space

Monta Vista allows seniors and juniors to lease and decorate their own parking spots

By GEORGE MOORE

Monta Vista High School seniors were given the opportunity to "adopt" their own private parking spaces on campus this semester. In order to personalize their spaces, they went a little beyond having their last name stenciled in white block letters. They made a statement using a variety of colors and a lot of imagination to brighten up their section of asphalt.

"It gave the students a chance to express themselves," said senior Deanna Sainten, social manager with the Associated Student Body. "Having their own parking space also gives them more of a feeling of belonging to the school."

This will be the only semester that seniors can participate because the temporary parking area--consisting of 105 spaces--will be converted back to tennis courts next year. De Anza College has given permission to students to use its tennis facilities this year.

Senior Paul Montanez, ASB president, said that about 28 parking spaces were sold at $15 each to help pay for expenses of the senior ball. To be eligible, students must already have paid for the regular $25 parking permit.

Matt Fochtman recruited about 10 of his closest friends to help create his masterpiece on the pavement. He said they spent about four hours using brushes, hands and anything they had available to create a large sun, a green man, a little poetry and other designs and framed it with a snake.


Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Ashley Spurzem, 18, sits atop her Mercedes parked in her personally designated spot at Monta Vista High School. Spurzem, the school's Associated Student Body Secretary, was working at the time of the painting, so she enlisted a friend to paint out her design of a beach on the space.




Ashley Spurzem, ASB secretary, said Fochtman helped her out with her parking spot.

"I gave him the design and he got started on it while I was working," Spurzem said. "I just helped a little bit."

Spurzem wouldn't have too much trouble finding parking without a personalized space because she gets to school early for a first period class. Now "ASHLEY," painted in large letters greets her each morning as she pulls into her spot.

"I like parking in this area and it's just nice knowing my spot will always be here," she said.

Montanez said about 15 more people have applied for their own personal parking space since the originals were sold in early March.

"People really wanted to do it after seeing how the others turned out," Montanez said. He added all 105 spaces in the temporary area were available to lease.

The idea stemmed from Cupertino and Lynbrook High Schools, which lease spaces every year. ASB officers pleaded with assistant principal Joanne Laird, who is fondly referred to as 'Momma Laird,' to let seniors have the chance to leave their mark this year because it would be their first and last time that they would be able to do so.

"The bulldozers arrive June 15," said Laird, referring to the start of the construction of new tennis courts.

The faculty parking lot currently has portable classrooms occupying its space, which will be removed in January 2003 when a new addition to the high school is complete. Laird said because faculty has had to share the student's lot this year, the school required that only students who live farther than a half-mile from campus would qualify for parking permits.

"We found that it really made an impact, so we opened it up to juniors," Laird said.

Next year, only seniors will be permitted to park on campus, and Laird said the school might have to impose a three-quarter-mile radius to cut down on the number of drivers.

"Right now there are quite a few students who have permits that we're not going to be able to accommodate next year," she explained.

In another effort to decrease the number of vehicles on campus, Laird said the school offers guaranteed carpool permits, and 12 carpool spaces were used this semester. For drivers to qualify for a spot they must carry at least two passengers who are licensed drivers.

The next group of seniors who are leasing some asphalt will be breaking out their paintbrushes and their imaginations on April 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Montanez said.

The issue of sutdent parking at Monta Vista caused quite a stir with nearby residents in June 2001 when a task force made a proposal to city council that would have allowed students to park in front of local resident's homes. After listening to hours of angry comments from neighbors, the council approved a voluntary version; the residents could offer parking to students, but it was not mandatory.

Some residents accepted the voluntary program with open arms, even forming friendly relationships with some of the students. But a large number of residents, to the surprise of the council, continued to oppose the voluntary program because they felt it was detrimental to their neighborhood.

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