CHANGE OF SEASON; FALL CLASSES BEGIN AT LOCAL COLLEGE.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

There's still a month of summer left on the calendar but the fall semester began Thursday at College of the Canyons, where officials predicted record high numbers of students and class offerings.

About 7,200 people have registered for the 948 class sections, up from 868 offered last spring, officials said.

``Our enrollment is up 10 percent over what it was at this date last year,'' said Carole Long, assistant dean of instruction, noting that history, math and English classes have long waiting lists.

Enrollment will continue to grow, Long added, as students sign up for short-term classes that begin in September and October.

A sea of cars filled campus parking lots along Rockwell Canyon Road, but sophomore Michelle DeMont, 19, took the jam in stride with the knowledge that the turnout eventually will thin.

``For the first two weeks it's crowded, and then everybody drops out,'' said DeMont, a Canyon High graduate who had carpooled with her best friend, Julie Riggs, 18.

Josh Peters, 19, was struck by the difference between fall attendance and summer school. ``I was parking all the way up here,'' he said, recalling the prime spots he found during his summer philosophy class. ``Now I'm all the way down there.''

Campus security supervisor Tammy Castor suggested that students arrive about a half-hour early for class the first few weeks to allow extra time to park. The campus has about 2,600 student parking spaces, not counting those that are metered or set aside for visitors and the disabled, she said.

Long said a combined 3,776 people signed up for the college's three summer sessions.

Although many students noted the $12-per-unit fee makes community college a bargain, they said textbooks still are expensive. At the campus bookstore, there is a 25 percent difference between the price of used and new textbooks, said assistant manager Robin Cotter.

``Used always sells the most,'' Cotter said, as clerks rang up cash, check and credit card purchases. Many students, she added, bought their fall semester textbooks during summer school, and those advance purchases were helping keep crowds to a minimum in the store. Even when lines get long, the average wait is about 15 minutes, Cotter said.

On display in the bookstore were gray T-shirts with ``COC Football'' spelled out in navy blue lettering. This will be the first season College of the Canyons has had a football team since 1981.

``We have a lot of good athletes,'' said Michael Good, 18, a receiver on the Cougar squad. A graduate of Kennedy High in Granada Hills, Good decided to commute to Valencia rather than try out for the Valley College football team. ``I think there will be better opportunities here,'' he said.

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Photo

PHOTO (Color) Suzanne Alex, 19, studies a College of the Canyons schedule Thursday, the first day of the fall semester at the Santa Clarita campus.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News