On the first day of class each fall semester, parking on campus is pure madness. Everyone arrives at the same time and expects an excellent parking space, only to find a sea of vehicles and violent frustration. After a few days, everyone discovers how to park and when to leave their apartments. The chaos subsides and a routine begins.
However, when the first three weeks of class feel like the first day as far as arriving to campus, it’s safe to say the school has a bit of a parking problem.
With increasing student enrollment, parking must accommodate the university’s growing numbers. We, as staff members of The Reflector, disagree that the parking system on campus effectively accommodates students.
Students pay for parking decals in specific zones. Relying on students to leave campus is not always a reliable way to ensure parking spots for students who purchase decals with limited parking space available.
Many students leave their cars parked in their zone the entire time they are on campus, not just when classes take place.
Those who are completely unsuccessful in finding a parking spot will sometimes park in the commuter coliseum zone to escape the wrath of a parking ticket. Although the coliseum zone is an overflow lot, the decal costs the same as any other parking zone decal.
The parking lot in front of Griffis Hall is rarely full. While it would be much more convenient to park in there instead of the coliseum lot, only north zone residents are allowed.
Director of parking services Mike Harris said keeping the Griffis lot reserved for north zone residents was to protect them and allow them adequate space for occasional visitors.
 We understand parking accommodations are very expensive. According to Harris, it costs around $4,000 per space to construct a surface parking lot. The budget for parking areas under construction in the summer of 2012 is $2,590,962, along with maintenance costs. Regardless of how the parking problem is resolved, financing the lots is a necessary evil.
 Although parking services created new lots to try to make up for space lost due to  new residence hall parking, the problem is simply not solved. Students should not have to leave home an hour before their first class to ensure a parking spot, and students with work schedules should not have to build them around the extra time it takes to park on campus.
Harris also said motorcycles are allowed to park in any valid vehicle space on campus. With motorcycles being allowed to park anywhere, does that not give a group of students priority over others? This contradicts the idea of protecting resident parking as well as zone parking.
One of the blessings and curses of attending MSU is we are not in a large city.  A solution to the parking problem could be to not allow freshmen to have their car on campus, but that is not a realistic option for students at MSU. Because the need for vehicles among the student body is greater than at most universities, MSU should do more to accommodate parking for commuter students.
The current state of parking on campus seems to be a lose-lose situation. There are not enough parking spaces on campus for students who stay the entire day, students who work and commuter students who don’t want to leave for class an hour before they have to be in class.
A solution to the problem or a successful compromise must be found for the future of students, faculty and staff of the university.