HEARING ON CAMPUS PARKING CANCELED

Southeast Missouri State University canceled Tuesday's planned public hearing on a new parking structure after no one formally asked to participate.

The hearing was scheduled for 6 p.m. in room 127 of Dempster Hall. Only media representatives and a few passers-by showed up.

A legal notice about the hearing explained the university didn't have to hold it if no one made a request to speak or deliver written comments three days prior to the event.

Southeast, struggling with a longtime parking crisis, plans to build a $12 million park-and-ride structure in the hills off New Madrid Street. The new lot, scheduled for use in 2003, will have 1,800 spaces. Commuters will catch a shuttle to campus locations.

Al Stoverink, director of facilities management, said the next step in the process will be to apply to the Missouri Department of Transportation for funding.

He said it isn't unusual to have light or no attendance at university public hearings on facilities and transportation issues.