Letter to the Editor: Parking not 'ample' for CMU freshmen


opinion

To the Editor:

I am a freshman living in Emmons Hall. So far, my Central Michigan University experience has been fantastic. It’s a great school, has nice facilities, has countless registered student organizations and events for students every week. I get a great feeling CMU has an objective to make incoming freshmen feel welcome and wanted on campus. However, this objective is not accurately represented when it comes to parking on campus.

In the aspect of parking, as a freshman I feel ostracized and mistreated. We are only allowed to park our cars in the big freshman lot behind the football stadium. It’s understandable; we are freshmen and are not as privileged as those who have earned credits and have been around longer. The situation is worse than just having to park far away from our residential colleges. 

The university claims there is “ample” parking on campus. If parking is “ample,” why are freshmen forced to move their cars during a narrow time frame every time there is a home football game? It is a huge hassle walking out to the lot to move our cars and once we do move them, it becomes an inconvenience for all students with cars on campus. Various lots on campus get filled with freshman cars and quickly reach capacity. Once lots are filled, students look for other lots that have space to park. 

Often times the only parking lots that have room are for staff/faculty only. These staff/faculty-only lots become traps for students to get parking tickets and pay a fee that is extremely high for a simple mistake. It is also evident that profit generation is a big concern for CMU. In their 2014-2015 Operating Budget it states the university made $485,000 from parking violations, $175,000 in parking meters and $1.9 million in registration fees. There is nothing wrong with making money, but at an institution of higher education, it is not right for parking to be a money-making plan, and it is not respectful to the student body. 

On East Campus, Lot 52 and Lot 53 are often full. However, the staff only-lot, Lot 50, always has a huge amount of parking spots available. The CMU staff does not need such a large lot; I have never seen it even half full. Parking is not ample for freshmen, particularly on game days. Something needs to be done to help the situation. One simple solution I have for East Campus is to use Lot 50 more efficiently by allowing students to park in the significant portion not being used.

MITCH BAILHE

Freshman

Lansing 

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