This week's topic is one just about everyone can relate to. It is a topic that has affected a lot of us in some way or fashion. Today, I'm going to focus on an evil that is so ugly, that just the sheer mention of its name may cause some of you to get the chills. Of course, I'm talking about the dreaded . Parking and Transportation Department.
In the four years I've been on this campus, I've noticed that the more the student population increases, the less parking there is. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the simplest of algebraic formulas Ÿ "If you have 10 spots to fill, how many people can you give a permit to?"
As a paying student of this university, I feel that the use of any and all parking services on this campus should be at my disposal Ÿ even on the weekend. The weekend is when I do most of my research in the library or go to the computer lab to work on papers. If the parking is free then I should be able to park wherever I want. Granted, the football and basketball teams generate a lot of revenue, but they haven't cut me a check for interrupting my research time.
Now, the amount of parking spaces is just killing me! I get a feeling the Parking Department may have printed a few extra permits just to pad the lots to capacity. If they didn't, then why are people with passes not finding spots in their designated zones? If there are a 100 blue zone spots and a 100 blue zone permits, then everyone should be happy. The last time I checked 100 does equal 100, even at ASU.
I will give the department some credit for building two new structures in the past two years, but there is only problem Ÿ you built them in the wrong spots! There are two huge lots which could hold major parking structures bigger then all the ones we have now. The lot in front of the Coronado dorm is so big, Delta Burke, Shamu, Luther Vandross, Free Willy, and The Jenny Craig' classes of '90-'95 could roll around and still not touch each other. The other lot sits between Babcock and University Medical Center, off of Speedway and Campbell. How long has Parking and Transportation missed these prime sites for major parking complexes? Both sites could be serviced by the shuttle so students would not have to worry about walking back to campus.
It's all a matter of common sense Ÿ if your school is getting so big that you are building another dorm, then more than likely, some of those people may have their own mode of transportation. They just might want to use it while they are attending school, rather than leaving it parked in front of the dorm afraid of not getting a spot if they should entertain the thought of going out.
I've seen bulletins around the campus about three meetings that are to be held on this topic. They are asking for feedback from students on how they feel about the parking problem. Let me help them out by saying "We don't like the problem!"
How hard was that to figure out? Did they think we liked it? "No, we don't mind spending ungodly sums of money on a parking permit, then waking up at the crack of dawn to rush out the door by 6:30 a.m., find a spot, knowing our class doesn't start till 10 a.m."
Hello, are you reading the same script we are? If so, your next line reads:
Parking Ÿ "We are so sorry for all the troubles we have caused you, the student who has paid tuition fees, bought $100 text books with a $30 return value, waited for basketball tickets in a lottery, bought $10 ID cards, waited for the senior degree check to come in and wondered where the hell your financial check has gone. We are truly sorry."
Eric T. Watkins is an industrial psychology senior. His column appears every other Friday.