By Janie Magruder
GCU News Bureau
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to begrudge Cindy Seminoff for winning one of the iPads in Grand Canyon University’s recent “parking hero” challenge, in which employees parked in the 27th Avenue Office Center and shuttled back and forth to the main campus for three weeks.
Just about the time the challenge began on April 7, Seminoff’s home was burglarized, and her son’s iPad was among the items stolen. Guess what R.J. Seminoff is getting for his 10th birthday this week?
Ten winners in the contest, which drew 1,500 entries over 14 days (not counting the Good Friday holiday), were randomly drawn on Friday, and prizes were awarded. The challenge was designed to open up spaces for students' cars in the Camelback Road garage until the end of the school year.
“This really worked,” said Dr. Hank Radda, the University’s provost. “One faculty member had a student who would always come to class 10 minutes late, and not only was she on time these past few weeks, she said, ‘Is something wrong? I just found a parking space, and it was really easy.’”
Seminoff, an associate professor of exercise science in the College of Arts and Sciences, rode the shuttle every day during the contest. She enjoyed the experience more than she thought she would. “I got to hang out and chat with people I normally don’t see,” she said.
Steven Niedzielski, who works in Building 18 in video production, said the internal temperature of his car one late afternoon at 27th Avenue was 109 degrees, and he was happy the arrangement ended before the weather gets really hot. He will share the iPad with his third- and fifth-grade daughters (at least that’s the plan).
“Everything about it was easy,” Niedzielski said of the shuttle service.
That was mostly thanks to drivers Michael Ledbetter, Bob Conner, Mike Bagley and Ted Guevara, who were prompt and pleasant. Kudos also go out to Maria West, who oversaw all the entries.
Other prize winners were:
Microsoft Surface tablets: Maribel Navarro and Brian McGuire
Kindle Fires: Tamira Cross and Chase Kerrey
Premium men’s basketball season tickets: Lisa Harman and RJ Hatch
Season tickets to Ethington Theatre: Shannon Schumann and Dorothea Jiboye
Hatch, an office coordinator in ground operations who also is doing GCU’s Team Walking Challenge, used the park-ride-walk feature to boost her exercise level. “I got my steps in,” she said.
Contact Janie Magruder at 639.8018 or [email protected].
