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Gabriel Reyes, assistant to president Caret for campus climate, addressed a group of about 15 students and Spartan Keyes residents who staged a sit-in protest in president Caret's offic Thursday morning. photo by Kristopher Gainey / Special to the Daily [Click to enlarge]

Students For Justice members Katie McGuinn, left and Rose Placencia march up the steps of Tower Hall to protest the paving of Bud Winter Field. photo by Kristopher Gainey / Special to the Daily [Click to enlarge]

About 10 people, some students at San Jose State University and some neighbors of the field, located on Tenth and Alma streets, gathered on the lawn in front of Tower Hall and circled the fountain in unison, chanting "Save Bud's Field."

The university, which owns the park that is often used for recreation and exercise by neighbors, students and Spartan athletes, is looking to turn the field into 800 parking spaces for SJSU commuters.

Carrying signs that read, among other things, "Say No to Caret," "Athletes Use Bud Winter Field" and "Do the Right Thing Bob," the group took their cause into the halls of the tower with their chants echoing as they headed up the stairs toward Caret's office.

Resident James Clark expressed concern about the proposal, saying the paving wouldn't just be depriving neighbors of the park's use, but students and athletes as well.

He added that the decision would be poor land use by the university.

"The plan is it's going to be a 7.7 acre parking lot. That's almost two and a half city blocks of pure asphalt," Clark said. "They're putting about 10 trees in there. It's just a really bad use of the land."

Clark said the protesters were hoping to convince Caret to seek out alternatives to paving the field, and contended that it was a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

"The various groups that are interested in this project could come together ... to form an intelligent solution that saves the field and really goes a long way to solving the university's long term parking problems," he said.

He said the university is adding 1,200 to 1,400 students a year for the next couple years, and this parking lot is 800 spaces.

" It's a drop in the bucket," Clark said.

There were also concerns among residents that a new parking lot would lead to traffic problems in the areas surrounding Bud Winter Field.

"They are doing this to alleviate congestion around the university, but there is also going to be that congestion converted to the south campus area," said resident Dawna Hawksworth.

Upon filing into the area in front of Caret's office, the protesters were met by Gabe Reyes, the assistant to the president for campus climate at SJSU.

Reyes spent about 20 minutes listening to the complaints of the students and residents.

Student Union board member Denise Olenak referred to the proposal as "environmentally racist," because the neighborhood was made up of mostly low- and middle-income families, and the park is the only open space they have to use for recreation.

Reyes acknowledged some of their points about the importance of the field to the neighborhood and shared their concerns about overall parking problems at SJSU, but supported the university's plans to pave the park.

"I understand your concerns, but I also understand that the university has a responsibility to provide the students with their needs," Reyes said.

Protester Irwin Dawid, a member of President Caret's Parking, Traffic and Transit Committee, stated that the committee hadn't been informed of the decision to pave the field, and told Reyes the university was using an out-of-date solution to solve parking concerns.

"This is a committee that was convened by President Caret, and he didn't even share (the proposal). We basically found out by reading it in the paper," said Dawid, who is a Masters student in urban climate.

Dawid expressed his desire to see the university look toward mass transit as a more feasible solution, citing an abundance of parking at light rail stations as a sign that students might be better off exploring that route of transportation.

"By building 800 more spaces, we are asking 800 more students to drive," he said.

When he promised to do his best to set up a meeting with Caret for the protestors, Reyes was met with skepticism.

Reyes also mentioned the difficulty the university already has getting students to use the south campus parking lot that currently exists on Seventh and Humboldt Streets, which led protesters to further question the plans to pave way for another one.

To emphasize their goal of saving the park, Clark told Reyes that the group will go to the furthest lengths it can to do so.

"Our other recourse is litigation, and we would rather not go there," he said.

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