http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/MC5.html
The following provides one of the best indexes to gather information about the Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project.
http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv/planning/marymount/index.cfm
This next site offers the initiative proposal with more information about the possible ballot measure.
http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv/planning/marymount/Marymount-College-Initiative-Measure.pdf
I have been concerned about Marymount's Expansion Plans for some time now.
My primary objections to having on-campus housing at the main campus deals with safety. My objections do not deal with convenience or my possible inconvenience at having dorms placed at the Palos Verdes Drive East campus.
One of my earliest comments regarding young drivers living at the site was and continues to be; How do you mitigate fog?
I also think providing housing and marginal parking to 19-22 year olds, on the top of a set of switchbacks of a two lane roadway primarily used by local residents, is unreasonable and unrealistic.
I know of where I write, concerning young drivers and P.V. Drive East because I 'enjoyed' that winding and steep road in my teenage years, with my bike and my Type 2 V.W.
I bet you didn't know that it is possible to get a Volkswagen Station Wagon (more commonly known as a 'bus') from the intersection of P.V. Drive East and Crest Road all the way down to the intersection of P.V. Drive East and P.V. Drive South without touching the break pedal even one time.
During the time I piloted a motorcycle, I did not utilize the switchbacks on my Honda, but there sure are a lot of males that love to take on the cornering and grade on their motorbikes.
I feel I have written quite a bit about my concerns about safety and the prospect of having college students living on-campus.
When children grow up riding along P.V. Drive, North, South, East, or West, they learn about those roadways and when they receive their driver's licenses, they have much more familiarity and knowledge in dealing with driving on those roads.
The administration of Marymount College acknowledges that the majority of students attending classes at the campus do not come from families that live locally.
In the use of 'locally' it is proper to consider that the word does not mean living even the greater Los Angeles Basin.
Dr. Brophy and others need to have well-heeled parents who live out of state and even overseas send their children to Marymount. Those parents and students are probably the only way to keep the college open.
The safety concern we should all have revolves on the fact that most of the young students would not have had the experiences of growing up and riding along the roadways on the peninsula and therefore, they also would not have higher driving skills and judgements found in younger kids who grew up riding on the roads.
It takes time to learn how to safely drive in thick fog, you all know that from your own experiences.
It takes more skill navigating on hilly and curving roadbeds that are not usually found in more urban settings.
There is also an issue with first responders and safety factors at the college.
Currently, our local fire station, Station 83 has an engine where one of the firefighters is also trained as a paramedic.
Unfortunately, the closest Station to the campus does not have a paramedic rig. That station also serves both much of the southern portion of R.P.V. but also the eastern portion of R.P.V. with includes the Miraleste and Eastview areas.
The closest paramedic rig to Miraleste and Eastview is located in Lomita and is part of 'The Sixes' with Paramedic Unit 6 being used quite a bit.
Although I never lived on campus while attending college, I spent some time living in base quarters while I attended U.S.A.F. technical training.
I think I received a reasonable education about life in a dormitory setting.
The students attending Marymount are required to sign and live by a set or written codes that make up Marymount's Code of Conduct.
I wish I could state that all of the students who signed their names and stated they would follow those codes, actually follow them, all the time.
Sadly, incidents and reports offer proof that the Marymount Code of Conduct in not always followed and on occasion, tragic events occur because students chose not to follow their mandates.
I can also believe that with lagging enrollment, there could be some reluctance to administer and monitor students' adherence to the code on a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week time frame.
The safest student housing for Marymount is located along Palos Verdes Drive North. Again sadly, there is plenty of documentation to suggest that there are problems with enforcement of the Code of Conduct on that site.
The housing at Palos Verdes North is located behind a fence and is accessable only via a guarded gate. Still, infractions and even the breaking of laws takes place within the site and in surrounding area and along public roadways, as per documentation submitted by CCC/ME.
One of the safest things just might be having a land swap between Marymount College and the developers of Ponte Vista at San Pedro.
Having Marymount situated along Western Avenue would provide greater safety for students, faculty, staff, and residents living on the peninsula, I feel.
I doubt something like that would ever happen, but it allows for so many good opportunities for the college and the surrounding community.
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