More students have been spending more time in the Collegium and other places around campus in an effort to save money as gas prices began rising again at the beginning of February.
Gas prices in southern California reached lows of $2.46 a gallon in Los Angeles, $2.42 a gallon in Orange County, and even $2.38 a gallon in Riverside in late January, but are on the rise once more. Most students who commute find themselves traveling an average of 20-30 miles a day. While some commuters are local, others find they have to pay more for gas. Jonathan Edwards, fifth year psychology and sociology major, travels an average of 33 miles a day and pays as little as $8 to fill up his vehicle.
“I drive a motorcycle … but I have to [fill up] every two days,” said Edwards.
Other students who live less than 10 miles from Biola find they have to fuel up later for less often. Bethany Garcia, sophomore music performance major, spends $30 to refuel her car but finds she has does not have to fuel her car as often as others do.
“I’m local … so like one and a half weeks sometimes two weeks. [My home is] pretty close,” said Garcia.
FINDING WAYS OF DRIVING LESS
Garcia has also noticed the trend of most commuters staying in the Collegium when gas prices are high.
“I would say when [gas prices] go up, people tend to stay [at the Collegium] a lot more. A lot of kids stay inside and don’t want to eat out because … they don’t have money,” said Garcia.
Sophomore biological science major Dulce Zuniga only fills her car half way to save on cash.
“I usually fill it up half way and it’s about $10 or $15,” said Zuniga.
However, all students welcomed the price drop in gas that began falling in late December of 2014. Unfortunately, as of early February 2015, prices have begun to steadily climb up again, nearing $3.00.
“I was very excited that [gas prices] were going down, but they’re starting to go up again,” said Stephanie Vargas, freshman biological science major.
Sophomore computer science major, Thomas Burton noticed that the prices lowered significantly before rising.
“Yes, [prices] were lower than they were before then they suddenly spiked,” said Burton. “It’s been kind of annoying since … we thought it was going to go down and stay down for awhile and it just jumped up.”
Most students have utilized any extra cash saved for Biola’s tuition costs. Bethany Garcia, sophomore music performance major says she utilizes the money for tuition.
Edwards agreed that he felt grateful to spend less money on gas, though he doubted low gas prices would last very long.
“I don’t think this decline is going to last. I think it’s going to peak back up again but I’m definitely enjoying it while it lasts,” Edwards said.
