Image from web.
You want to know what really chaps my ass? Aside from the sandpaper that our school substitutes for toilet paper, it’s the parking situation. There are many disgruntled idealists on this campus with wondrous ideas for the future, but they rarely attack everyday issues head-on. As much as I would like to say I have done this, the truth is that I’ve tried, and nothing has happened.
As a senior, speaking for my fellow seniors, we have waited four years to get the best parking spots on campus. Last night after an excruciating club hockey practice filled with Herb Brooks-style skating punishment, my fellow senior teammates and I wanted to walk as little as possible. We drove by every potential student spot and all were full. Among those cars, I recognized six juniors and one freshman. This year alone, one of my senior friends has had to park in South lot eight times. While this may not seem like a lot to some, he has waited his turn over the last few years and deserves a spot on campus.
This is not the fault of all underclassmen; most of the blame is with the administration and Campus Safety. There are clearly not enough spots, especially for seniors in south campus. Creating more spots near the tennis courts is the easiest solution, but that would take money. Where could that come from? Maybe from the parking registration fee, which was doubled since last year, from $75 to $150.
I will say we have made progress. On Wednesday, SGA President Nate Cornell met with Director of Campus Safety Stewart Smith and Vice President for Administration Ulysses Hammond to address the issue. They came to an agreement: seniors can park in Cro Boulevard (in front of Blaustein, Shain Library and Cro) from 8:00 PM to 2:30 AM without being ticketed. This will be effective starting today. This is a step in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go.
The whole “green campus” thing has not worked and will not work as long as the automobile is the main source of transportation in the United States. We, as students, should not be punished because we are simply acting as most Americans do. We should not be getting absurd tickets, especially when we have paid double to register our cars.
I would like to see some consistency in Campus Safety’s ticketing. If they ticketed everyday, seniors would never have a problem parking in south campus, since they’re the only ones allowed to park outside Freeman, JA, Harkness, the admissions building and Knowlton. We also shouldn’t be ticketed for parking in faculty and staff spots when most of the faculty and staff are not on campus, like on weekends.
I am not trying to make underclassmen’s lives miserable, but unless we address the real parking situation by scrutinizing ticketing habits and the number of spaces on campus, nothing will be accomplished. Clearly SGA has done its part, but we need more students to speak up. Parking in front of the library at one o’clock in the morning will not get me tickets anymore, for which I am grateful, but it may be up to the underclassmen to help fix the real parking problem. •
