Ever been on your way to class in the pouring rain and as you search the endless rows for parking? And of course the only available spot is in the furthest corner of the campus.
You are then left with at least a 10-minute walk to your class that begins in about five. With over 17,000 students attending the great Mississippi State University, many would think our parking would be a bit more efficient. This may not seem like a huge issue to some, but to those of us who must drive ourselves to campus everyday it becomes a bit of a problem.
Last year, searching for a spot was hard enough, but with the recent building of South Hall and destruction of Suttle, many are at a loss on their quest for better parking places. The new freshman dorm has integrated into much of East Commuter parking and caused conflict for those not living on campus.
What happened to the seniority and the social ladder that we’ve been forced to climb all our lives? Parking has become like a game of musical chairs; whoever gets there first wins the prize of attendance, those who are left without a seat lose the game.
It’s the little things like this that slightly annoy pretty much everyone on campus. We wait for what feels like hours trying to just get to campus and are left with nowhere to park.
What about all of the cars that don’t have a sticker? What do we say to them? A slap on the wrist and a “please get off our campus” is all it seems to be. As much as we love to have visitors to MSU why shouldn’t we designate a parking spot for them as well? I’m sure they would be thrilled to pay for a tag too. Wouldn’t it be a lot simpler if we all shared? What happened to helping everyone out and not just looking out for ones self?
How can we be expected to participate in the learning experience when we are more concerned with the thought, “Where will I have to park today,” or “Will I get a ticket here?”
Sadly, there is little to no tolerance for where you leave your cars. Heaven forbid you park in the North zone, when you have a commuter sticker, or in front of your dorm for a few moments as you unpack. Regardless of the fact that everyone paid a pretty penny for a cute sticker on the back of their car, if yours isn’t the same as the color on the sign, you’re in a bind.
The worst is when your driving past a parking lot that you are “allowed” to park in and its full, but then you pass one that isn’t your zone and there are about a 10 fantastically located spots that you could pull into easily. But don’t do that, you didn’t buy that color.
Situations like this are occurring daily. Sophomore James Lang recalls an incident that took place around move in day. Lang said his roommate was parked in front of their dorm to unpack his car.
While he was inside, campus police surrounded the area asking him to come outside. When he came back out, the cops informed him he would be receiving a ticket that day for obstructing traffic.
“You could get by his truck easily. It was the three police cars and a golf cart that were causing congestion. They were so concerned about that one car that they slowed traffic more than necessary,” Lang said.
Situations like this probably make anyone who has a car on campus at any point in the day cringe. You never know, you could be the next victim of faulty parking. It’s not like everyone who is getting ticketed is being ridiculous with the way they operate this heavy machinery.
Some people are just a little too sensitive about the way college students park. It’s a college campus; it’s never going to be perfect and seems a little unorthodox, but what other choice do we have?
Unfortunately, traffic is always backed up in the mornings, there are never any spots in the zones you need them to be in; when we do resort to our creative thinking skills, we are penalized for it.
This creates unwelcome stress. Something must be done, because riding my bike four miles everyday is just not OK.
Sarah Ulmer is a sophomore majoring in communiation. She can be contacted at [email protected].