Rising Gas Prices - Serena Imani Korn, musingsofajournalism student

Increasing gas prices are causing significant change to everyday lives of South Puget Sound Community College students, according to a poll conducted on Wednesday. Of 62 SPSCC students polled, 61 percent said gas prices have had an impact on their lives; 26 percent said they felt no major impact. Those impacted are making significant alterations to their daily schedules. In a separate question, 61 percent of students polled claim to drive less and 31 percent make efforts to carpool. 45 percent of those interviewed take Intercity Transit, utilizing their student I.D. cards as a free pass. Jeff, in his first quarter at SPSCC, is one of those students heavily impacted by the rising gas prices. Jeff lives in Shelton, 21 miles northwest of Olympia. Finding gas prices particularly hard-hitting, he leaves his car at home, and instead catches a bus to downtown Olympia. While this saves money, it also causes Jeff to put more thought and planning into his schedule.

Will students, commuters take the bus? - CLIF LeBLANC, the State

Plans are rolling to attract suburban commuters and U South Carolina students to metropolitan Columbia’s bus system, but the relationship-in-the-making will require wooing — and someone to pick up the check. Derrick Huggins, the bus service’s new temporary director, is seeking federal money to finance a scaled-back version of a so-called “park and ride” plan devised more than a year ago. The ambitious proposal calls for new Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority buses to ferry commuters from Newberry, Camden, Batesburg-Leesville and Blythewood into downtown Columbia. Riders would leave their cars at parking stations along major feeder roads and move around Columbia on CMRTA buses.

As Memorial Day nears, pump prices still a pain for everyone - Grant Welker, Herald News

The impact can be felt directly at places like Bristol Community College’s Fall River campus, where thousands of students, many with limited budgets, commute for classes. Dayna Butts, a 19-year-old business administration student from Brockton, now takes most of her classes online to avoid a 40-mile round-trip to Fall River. She commutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and stays home for classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s the best she can do to avoid putting more miles on her Jeep Cherokee, which she spends $100 a week to fill. Finding the cheapest gas isn’t always an option. “I try to, but it can be wasting gas to get there, so sometimes I just go to what’s closest,” Butts said. She also tries consolidating trips, but other suggested methods — like not exceeding the speed limit on highways — not so much. “I’m not going to drive, like, 60 and have people passing me,” she said with a laugh. Other students, like Hadeer Mohamed of Fall River, find avoiding miles almost impossible. Mohamed is a medical laboratory science student who can’t avoid making trips for his clinical studies at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford.

Gas prices set back students - AnaJaye’ Diggs, Otterbein 360

Gas prices don't just affect professionals on their daily commute to work. Many Otterbein commuters have been hit by the recent steep increase in gas prices. Some commuter students adjusted their schedules around the spike in gas prices. Sophomore music performance major Agnes Hayes comes to campus five days a week and sometimes on weekends. "I stay on campus more so I don't have to pay for gas. I try to get everything done within the five days as much as possible," she said. The social lives of students have also taken a hit because driving isn't always an option. Sophomore biology major Mary Holmquist said, "I don't go anywhere besides school and work."

High gas prices lead to low Ivy Tech summer enrollment - Seth Slabaugh, Star-Press

Officials at the East Central Region of Ivy Tech Community College say high gasoline prices are partly to blame for a decline in summer enrollment. The number of summer students enrolled at the college's campuses in Muncie, Marion and Anderson is 4,300, compared to 4,900 last year, Mary Lewellen, vice chancellor of student affairs, said after a regional board of trustees meeting in Marion on Thursday. That 4,300 total could rise before the bulk of students start summer classes June 6, she noted.

Rising Gas Prices May Increase Appeal of Online College - Allen B. Ury, Everest University Online

Along with online shopping and entertainment, another area likely to be affected positively by rising gas prices is online education. Online colleges have long appealed to students who already have "day jobs" or family obligations and don't have time to attend classes at traditional ground schools. Online colleges and universities are also attractive options for students who don't have a school in convenient proximity to where they live, or can't find the programs they want at their local community college. Now, with even modest commutes becoming unaffordable for many people, the zero-travel-time requirements of Internet-based colleges are likely to draw an increasing number of people to these institutions.

Pump prices pinch commuter students - TERRI PEDERSON, Beaver Dam Daily Citizen

Tess Goeller, attends Marian University, fills her car up after working on Sunday before heading to Fond du Lac. Goeller is a graduate of Beaver Dam High School and expects to graduate in May of 2012 from Marian, but until that time she is still commuting back to Beaver Dam from Fond du Lac in order to work. No one is happy about gas prices around $4 a gallon, but few people struggle with the cost more than commuter college students. The cost of books, supplies and tuition with limited hours to work are things that can be budgeted. The increase price in gas, however, was not something they could factor in when the semester began last winter. Tya Hill, a Beaver Dam mother of two and re-entry student at UW-Oshkosh, said she has had to tighten her belt to deal with increased gas prices. "I've seen a big difference," Hill said. "In August, I was able to commute at a gas cost of approximately $65 per week. Now that has increased to about $90."

With ample supplies, gas price tests $4 - George Lauby, North Platte Bulletin

As the price of gasoline neared the $4 a gallon mark in Nebraska, Exxon’s first-quarter earnings surged 69 percent. The giant oil company took in $11 billion in profits during the first three months of 2011, the highest profits since 2008, a year when the retail gasoline price also approached $4 a gallon. After the 2008 price zenith, gas fell back to $2.60 a gallon late last summer, but started skyrocketing again a few months ago. “I don’t like it, it’s too high,” said Jim Elletts of North Platte May 3 as he gassed up the family car. “I got a little irate when I read (about Exxon’s profits.)” "It’s outrageous,” said Kristin Hayes, 19, a community college student who bought only 2.6 gallons – about $10 worth.

Gas Tax Holiday? - Associated Press

While politicians in New York, Indiana, New Hampshire and Illinois are among the first talking about easing gasoline taxes, the chances of actually seeing that kind of relief at the pump are remote. Even as prices hover around $4 a gallon and states consider cuts in taxes up to 50 cents off each gallon, there is resistance amid ongoing fiscal woes. More states are expected to consider the idea as summer approaches and as they join New York, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois and Washington, D.C. with $4-a-gallon gas. Some states have already rejected a “gas tax holiday.”

High gas prices have unpaid intern shelling out hundreds on commute - Dan Robson, The Star

It takes two hours for poor Ronny Brown to get downtown. The unpaid intern at Corus Entertainment in Toronto lives at his parents’ house in Cambridge, about 100 kms west of the city. “I have a saying,” says Brown, a 23-year-old broadcast engineer. “It’s two hours, each way, each day.” When Brown started his two-month intern gig in April, he pumped $20 a day into his blue, four-door, nonconvertible Chrysler Sebring everyday. It was the exact cost of his drive to work and back. Then gas prices spiked. Suddenly, his daily 200 kilometre trek was ripping a hole in his savings account. The Sebring was swallowing $30 a day.

Monterey Peninsula College students revolt against escalating gas prices - the Californian

Hundreds of students at Monterey Peninsula College are joining in an effort to boycott the high prices of gasoline, and are asking other community members to refrain from purchasing gas on Monday. "I am a parent as well as a full-time student," said Lorena Velasquez, a MPC student. "My budget is much more limited ... and gas prices has taken much of my budget. This needs to stop and the decision makers of gas-price increases should consider low-income families such as myself." Student leaders said in a written statement that they want to inspire consumers to not purchase gas for one day at a national level as a protest against the out-of-control price of gas, noting that up to this point, consumers have been "docile."

High gas prices bring out governor, savings strategies - Tyler Whitley, Richmond Times-Dispatch

Still, said Zijing Liu, a 19-year-old student at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College who was buying discount gas at the Sam's Club on West Broad Street, "Sam's Club is a few cents cheaper" than other retailers. McDonnell stood in front of the large Siebert's service station, convenience store and take-out café in Henrico where customers stopping to fill their tanks vented their frustration. Regular gas at the station was $3.919 cents a gallon. Latasha Austin, who works for the State Board of Nursing, said, "It's ridiculous. It's getting so you can only go to work and come home." She had just paid $50 to fill up her Nissan Altima.

Americans Spend $386.09 Monthly on Gasoline - Rachel Smith, US News

If you don’t keep track of your gas receipts, you might want to start. You're probably spending more on gas each month than you realize. A recent study the Oil Price Information Service did for CNNMoney found that the average American household spent $368.09 on gas in April. That’s college textbooks for one semester, two weeks of groceries or two 16 GB iPod Nanos. “The study, which compared average gas prices with median incomes nationwide,” writes CNNMoney, “also showed that U.S. households spent nearly 9% of their total income on gas last month.” That nine percent jump is $194.29 more than the $173.80 Americans spent in 2009.

Prices at pump may start dipping - Julie Sherwood, Messenger Post

Alisha Wheeler, a nursing student at Finger Lakes Community College, pumped at least $100 a week into her car this past semester. Commuting between home in Honeoye to college in Hopewell, clinical studies in Rochester and work in Clifton Springs put a dent in her wallet, to be sure. Like others when they heard the news of dropping oil prices Thursday, she breathed a sigh of relief. “I am very excited. My wallet will appreciate it,” she said. Though predictions abound about how low prices may go at the pump in response to the cost of crude oil plummeting, one expert said Thursday it may be a modest dip and it won’t happen instantly.

Commuters struggle to keep the car running - Anthoney Simms, Castleton Spartan

Castleton State College commuters are beginning to feel the heavy weight of the large numbers on gas prices. With prices averaging $3.84 per gallon for regular unleaded fuel, students are frustrated and upset."I think the gas prices suck. I drive a 1998 Nissan pathfinder. It costs 75 bucks to fill the tank and when you only make $8 an hour, it doesn't really help," said Sterling Nelson, a Castleton senior and commuter. Nelson is one of the many commuters who travel more than five miles to get to the college daily. Commuters are adjusting to the elevated prices in various ways-- one of which is by purchasing new vehicles.

With high gas prices, driving less may mean biking more - Melissa Daniels, Messenger Post

Already in 2011, bike sales are up 10 percent from last year, Blumenthal said, with the bike boom expected to be greater this year than in 2008.“We think this year, the trend may be even stronger, and the bike industry and bike stores are better equipped now than they were in 2008 to provide what people need,” Blumenthal said. Andy Thomson, store manager of RV&E Bike and Skate on South Main Street in Canandaigua, says commuting to and from work on bike is a great way to start, and end, the day.

Residents cope with gas prices - Erin Thompson, Pacific Daily News

"It's too expensive," Dededo resident Dennis Fejeran said while putting $20 worth of gas in his truck yesterday. The 18-year-old said he spends about $60 a week to fill up, and that only covers the commute between school and home.
"I'm a student at UOG, so I can't go out. It's just to and from school. That's it," said Fejeran. If the price of gas continues to rise, Fejeran said, he would consider biking or carpooling to cut down on the cost of gasoline. In the long term, however, Fejeran thinks Guam needs to come up with solutions to the high cost of energy. "Got to find other resources besides burning our own fossil fuels," he said.

Using alternative transportation could alleviate the parking stress at school - Jake Buntjer, UVU Review

International affairs are directly affecting student finances and some need alternate solutions to commute within their budgets. This campus, specifically, is a large commuter school, serving students throughout the Wasatch area. The university does not provide on-campus housing, so every student has a commute, whether it’s 10 minutes or an hour. Instead of students stretching their financial capacity, they could make joint efforts in finding alternate solutions for transportation.

Tight Budget? Ways to Save on Gas and Transportation - Felicia Logan, SMU Mustang

The economic downturn has hit just about everybody in the pocket, and college students already have plenty of things to be concerned with as far as their studies go. As gas prices continue to balloon, students are looking for ways to save money. Riding the DART, walking, carpooling, bicycling and using websites that provide information about where to find the cheapest gas are a few options that may help students pinch their pennies.

Drivers' anxiety rising along with gas prices - Melissen Dribben, Philly.com

The price of gas, inching back up toward its painful 2008 peak of $4.16 a gallon, is making motorists in the Philadelphia area miserable and anxious and angry. The pump price pinch has some vowing, as they did three years ago, to walk more, ride bicycles, and switch to public transportation. But for many who are locked into a lifestyle dependent on cars and can't afford to trade in their gas hogs for more fuel-efficient models to commute to work and school, haul groceries, ferry children, and conduct business, there isn't much they can do except stoically suffer.

Gas prices affect Eastern student, faculty commutes - Matt Dauzy, Eastern Echo

Students, staff and faculty members of Eastern Michigan University don’t always share the same concerns about budgeting resources, but with gasoline prices rising over $4 per gallon that are expected to continue rising through the summer, all segments of the EMU community face the same question: How can someone afford paying more for something affecting so many aspects of life?