What I really said! My parking letter before “The Signal” censored it!
When I first saw the Parking Editorials in the September 9th issue of The Signal, I was ecstatic. Finally! Someone was talking about the commuter parking problems!
Ever since the first day of the semester it has been atrocious to find parking, and as a commuter student I have had no choice but to battle with the rest of the student body attempting to find a spot, not 10 minutes before my class, not even 20 minutes before my class, but an astounding 30 minutes before my class! That’s right—I get to campus a full 30 minutes before the start of my Monday-Thursday 2pm class, and what happens? Sometimes I hit the pot-of-gold-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow jackpot and I score one of the last five parking spots on the roof of Lot 6.
Believe me—I feel sorry for those other suckers who got to campus five minutes after me to find no spots left in any of the commuter lots. These students have to circle the parking deck, saying the Rosary, and praying that someone is going to leave so they can claim their spot and get to class on time. Two of my housemates carpooled and left approximately 20 minutes before the start of their classes. They ironically walked into class 20 minutes late, all because a parking spot was unattainable. I can’t even imagine how much worse this situation will become once parking on the top deck is eliminated due to snow removal practices. You can kiss even more parking spaces goodbye!
However, the main reason I decided to write this editorial is because of how infuriated I became after reading “SGA tackles campus parking issues” in the September 16th issue of The Signal. According to the article, “the number of parking spots (available) is right for the amount of students.” Ha! In most students’ experiences thus far in the semester that has yet to be seen.
The article also states that “114 parking spaces in various lots” should be available for commuter students. Note my use of the phrase should be. Could you please indicate where these 114 parking spaces are? Perhaps you can draw me a map, in which I follow a yellow brick road to the Emerald City equivalent of empty parking spaces.
In addition, the article states that Lot 15 will serve overflow commuter parking as well. However, as I drove past Lot 15, I noted signs by the parking spaces that indicate the lot is for Faculty/Staff parking only. Are you telling me that I can park in this lot, which has these signs, and Campus Police will not ticket me? Well then today must be my lucky day. I just hope I won’t be on campus when high school students and their parents flood the parking lots to take tours of our college.
