Hot Tickets : OCC Raffle Winner Won’t Receive Anything but Empty Space

Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa has struck pay dirt in the parking lot.

Student government at the community college, looking for a fund-raising source, came up with a sure-fire winner: raffle a parking space.

“We’ve just started selling (chances) . . . and students are already clamoring for them,” said Colleen Harper, a member of the board of trustees of Associated Students of Orange Coast College, the student government organization.

Harper, a sophomore from Huntington Beach, thought up the idea for the parking-space raffle.

With about 27,000 students enrolled, the community college--the largest in California--has perennial parking problems. Students who pay the semester parking fee have the right to park on campus. The catch is finding an empty spot.

Under Harper’s plan, a student could win a guaranteed parking slot.

“The winning student will receive a personalized, reserved parking space in the staff parking lot for the entire spring semester,” said Harper. “Never again, during the semester, will that student have to hunt for a parking spot. It’ll be guaranteed.”

When a student buys a special pencil for $1, he or she receives a raffle number. Pencils are being sold to students as they line up to register for classes. Each pencil boasts, “Coast Is It!”

“More than 26,000 students will register this spring, and we’re hoping that a third of them choose to take part in the raffle,” Harper said. “If that’s the case, we could earn as much as $8,000.”

Harper said money will be used by student government to refurbish six classrooms in Orange Coast’s Home Economics Building. The classrooms are more than 25 years old.

“The classrooms will be cleaned up, repainted and recarpeted,” she said. “We also plan to hang new drapes.”

The winning number will be drawn by Dean of Students Sharon K. Donoff on Jan. 17 during ceremonies on the campus quad.

Festivities also will include a concert by a student band, a free barbecue and exhibits by the college’s student clubs.