Parking garage still an issue for
many good reasons
ASU has spent all this money, which was raised by raising
tuition, to build this parking garage that no one uses. Maybe
we should take a look at a few of the reasons why it isn't used
like the administration thought it would be.
First of all, it is too far away from class buildings. Being
behind the Reng Center, the only buildings the garage is close
to is Chickasaw, the Nursing building, and the dorms. Chickasaw,
as we all know, is an administrative office building. The nursing
students are able to park in the garage and it is a benefit.
The International Education Center is the only one relatively
close to the garage, and that is still quite a walk.
If students wanted to walk a long distance to class, they
wouldn't gripe about the parking we had to begin with. If we
could find a space, it was a mile from our classes and we were
late. The garage did not solve this problem in the least. Sure,
there are more spaces now, but they are still really far from
class, especially with the Student Union construction going on.
Another issue is the $1 charge to park there. Personally,
since I have already paid for the parking permit, I do not want
to have to pay for the concrete I park on.
Some students choose to pay for reserved parking and that's fine,
but some of us don't. The meters are bad enough. At least they
can be avoided if you get here early enough.
Dr. Marburger's letter brought to attention the issue of the
Business building parking lot being changed into reserved parking.
This is not fair! I know there is a waiting list for reserved
parking spaces, but that doesn't mean you should take the free
ones away from those of us who do not want to pay for a space.
This is ridiculous! With all the green, blue, yellow and reserved
spaces we have now, there aren't many places we can park. Now
you want to take more away.
Being a business major, this affects me greatly. I am entering
my Senior year here at ASU and now I am going to have to park
a mile away so those who want to pay $400 or so can have my space?
How fair is that?
I know why administration wants to do this: to motivate students
to park in the garage. It isn't going to happen. There will just
be more griping and more students late to class.
The garage didn't help our parking problems because the administration
didn't think of how its placement would affect the students.
Now they want to do another thoughtless act to the Business majors.
What next, turning the HPESS parking lot into a training field
for ROTC? I'm not saying anything bad about any student group
or organization on campus, we all have our rights to have a place
to park. The administration is trying to take that away from
us.
Soon, no matter where you go, you will have a charge to park
there, whether it is at a meter, in the garage, or a reserved
spot. If they keep this up, there will be no more "free"
spots on campus. Leave us alone and let us park our cars! Don't
make us walk any more than we already have to.
Ashley McWilliams is a junior MIS major of Newport.
