Last week I returned to campus not quite ready for my seventh semester at Mississippi State University. Because I kept pretending school was forever away, I waited until it was too late to get a parking permit in the lots closest to my classes.
Two weeks before classes began, I stared at my screen in disbelief as I read, “Commuter Northwest lots sold out,” and hung my head as I completed the transaction for a Commuter Coliseum permit.
Coliseum parking is notoriously far from most of the academic buildings on campus. The extra time and distance it took me to get to my 8 a.m. had me grumbling and sweaty by the time I actually got to class.
The one perk of Coliseum parking is that there are supposedly always open spots, but I found this was not the case.
After circling for several minutes, I walked past many cars without parking decals or with residential decals taking prime commuter parking spots.
According to MSU’s U.S. News school profile, 73 percent of MSU students are commuters—I feel they should be more highly considered in the formation of parking policy, and in the actions of other students.
Clark Kerr, former president of the University of California, once wrote, “I have sometimes thought of the modern [U.S.] university as a series of individual faculty entrepreneurs held together by a common grievance over parking.”
I would say this is definitely the case at MSU this semester, with my classmates and professors alike continually bemoaning school parking.
Despite hearing horror stories about the endless circling of lots from friends who park in the lots closest to the hub of campus, I have always had a fairly rosy view of parking at MSU because I parked near the less-populated art buildings.
Last year when construction began on the new dorms, things got more frustrating because half of the lot between Giles and the new dorm developments became occupied by construction equipment.
Football weekends have always been a sore spot for Commuter Northwest students because an entire lot is closed on Fridays to accommodate RV parking.
Now that the new dorms are completed, most of that lot is co-opted for residential parking, making it even more difficult to find a spot in time for class.
In theory, parking permits should guarantee students decent spots to park, but this is far from the case.
When students lose parking to alumnus tailgating, it seems as if education is less important than donor convenience on game days. This is clearly unfair to current students.
Going beyond just policy, student drivers should also try to be more courteous to each other. We all have to get to class; we all have important meetings, but we need to stop thinking solely of ourselves when we get to campus.
It baffles me how many drivers will park with their truck taking up two spots or even just park anywhere they want to, regardless of whether they may be ticketed.
Not only are they robbing themselves of 30 or more dollars every time they illegally park, they are also taking spots from students who purchased parking permits in an effort to abide by campus rules supposedly meant to ease parking.
If more parking was available, maybe students would be less cutthroat and more considerate about where and how they park.
The general difficulty of parking this year has led many of my classmates and I to conclude that MSU needs to be more considerate of its student drivers. Parking needs to be a highly prioritized consideration in the design of new buildings and campus improvements.
When establishing parking policies, MSU should first consider humble commuter students trying to make it to class instead of making moneymakers like new residents and returning alumni the first priority.
