Recently, an email was sent out to students regarding the problem of students parking in the teacher parking lot. Though not a driver myself, I still found my eyebrows raising and a question mark forming over my head. Students who park in the staff’s lot will have their license plate number recorded, which could hinder them from parking on campus. However, teachers can park in the student’s lot without any repercussions.
The student parking lot may be bigger than the staff parking lot, but there are a lot of teachers that park in the student’s lot, taking space allotted for student drivers. Sitting in my friend’s car one morning before class, I counted ten teachers parking their cars and walking to their classes. While it’s understandable why they park in the student’s parking lot, what’s the point of having a “staff parking lot” if the staff doesn’t park there?
The student parking lot may be bigger than the staff parking lot, but there are a lot of teachers that park in the student’s lot, taking space allotted for student drivers. Sitting in my friend’s car one morning before class, I counted ten teachers parking their cars and walking to their classes. While it’s understandable why they park in the student’s parking lot, what’s the point of having a “staff parking lot” if the staff doesn’t park there?
The issue I have with this whole fiasco is that there is a restriction for students, but not for the teachers. Many teachers park in the student parking lot because it is a lot closer to their classroom, and I get that, but if it’s a student parking lot, then it should be for the students. If the staff parking lot is only for the staff, then it should work both ways.
A really simple solution to this is to just take away the “student” or “staff” label and just let people park where they want. Students can park near the gym if they have class in the U building first thing in the morning, and teachers can park near the football field if their classes are right there. This eliminates the need to record student’s license plate numbers that park in the staff lot and student drivers don’t have to be so worried about finding a spot in the already crowded student lot because there is an alternative. |