Dustin Balmuth and his friends think they can fix FAU’s parking problems by selling T-shirts.
On Sept. 29 at 9:09 a.m., Balmuth and three of his friends will be in the Breezeway on the Boca campus selling shirts for $7 each that say “Top 10 Reasons Why I’m Late For Class,” where reasons one through 10 say “FAU’s Parking.”
Balmuth, a senior international business major and the mastermind behind the idea, realized that parking at FAU is only getting worse each year. Instead of causing a loud protest by using a bullhorn, he hopes to have a “peaceful protest” and let students get their voices heard by wearing the T-shirts.
“It almost started as a joke to see all these people on campus wearing this shirt, and, being a business major, I saw this as an opportunity; primarily, to fix the parking problem,” said Neil Parsont, a grad student financial major.
The goal of Balmuth and Parsont, along with fellow FAU students Yaron Bloch and Emily Goldsmith, is to raise between $20,000 and $30,000 to present to FAU as funds to add additional parking.
“We spent a lot of money and took a lot of risks, but I feel $7 isn’t a lot to make a statement,” explained Balmuth.
So far, the group has printed 1,000 T-shirts to sell in the Breezeway, Tuesday through Thursday from 9:09 a.m. till 2 p.m. for two weeks, but they are ready to mass produce the shirts so that every student can wear one.
Because both students are business majors, they got legal advice and counseling on how to organize their event from lawyers and past business professors. They chose the date and time (Sept. 29, 2009, at 9:09 a.m.) to sound catchy and make it easier for students to remember.
“For the student, the average parking ticket is $15 to $20, and I think those people wouldn’t think twice about spending $7 to fix this problem,” said Parsont. “You can buy a drink at a bar for $7.”
On Oct. 13, they plan on having everyone who purchased the shirts wear them and then give FAU a check to fix parking.
Both Balmuth and Parsont clearly acknowledge FAU’s effort in trying to alleviate the parking situation on campus with ideas such as the carpool program, parking on the grass, the bus shuttle and Tri-Rail. They feel that those programs are “good ideas” but don’t solve the main issue at hand: not enough parking spaces.
For more information on the event and their parking solution, check out their Web site: www.fauparkingsolution.com.
Check out the issue of the UP that comes out on Oct. 6 for a follow-up story on the protest.
