As Colleges Grow, So Do Headaches

A procession of cars as far as the eye could see zigzagged around Moorpark College on Monday morning. It was only the first day of school, but campus Police Officer Anya Zeise had already had about as much as she could stand.

“This is crazy,” said Zeise, sweating as she ran around directing the flow of traffic.

Students trying to make it to class on time sat in hot, stuffy cars checking their watches, while harried police finally gave up and let students park on the soccer field.

“We’re opening up red zones now,” an officer shouted into his loudspeaker. “Just follow the squad car, people.”

The first day of school is always a trial, but at Moorpark and Oxnard colleges, where enrollment is growing, the usual irritations became major headaches for thousands of students trying to register and get the classes they wanted.

Moorpark’s first-day enrollment grew 2.9% to 11,880 students, while Oxnard grew 5.3% to 5,847. Ventura was the only county community college to suffer a slight decline in enrollment, to 9,731, a 2.1% drop.

While most students struggled, John Hrabe shrugged off the parking woes. “I don’t drive yet,” said the 14-year-old, who was standing in line at the campus bookstore.

“My dad drops me off and picks me up,” said John, a Thousand Oaks High School sophomore last year who aced a college proficiency test and is now attending Moorpark. He also avoided another first-day frustration: the high cost of books.

“My dad pays for my supplies,” he said. “I’m not old enough to work.”

For others, the frustration of parking and waiting in long registration and bookstore lines was commonplace throughout the district Monday.

“We’ve been waiting for about an hour,” said Kim Pacl, standing in the class registration line at Ventura College with her daughter and 50 other students.

They wanted to register for sign language, quilting and swimming, but so did a lot of other students. Mother and daughter enjoy going to school together.

“It’s great because you have someone to study with at home,” said Marcy Pacl, 17.

Although enrollment dropped at Ventura College, officials said they believe they will make up the difference in late registration enrollments.

But even with fewer students than last year, it was no less hectic at Ventura than at the other campuses. Exhausted from the long day, Eric Timons fell asleep reading “The Development of Personality” at a table in the cafeteria.

“I got used to sleeping in, I guess,” he explained after being jostled awake.

A big draw for students at Moorpark on Monday was the opportunity to take classes in the new $7.6-million computer studies, science and mathematics building. The 27,000-square-foot building houses more than 300 new state-of-the-art computers.

All the computer classes and most of the science courses filled quickly. The only hope for latecomers was to show up in case some registered students canceled.

In Gary L. Ogden’s marine biology lab class, more than a dozen students trying to be added to the roster stood and sat in the rear of the class waiting for their names to be called.

Ogden asked the students to write their names on a piece of paper and picked out three, lottery-style.

“OK, the last name is Joel Fischernich, and the rest of you are history,” Ogden told the crashers. “I’m sorry.”

Fischernich raised both fists in the air in celebration.

“I got lucky with the parking, now this,” Fischernich, 22, said later. “Yeah! It’s been a great day.”