Many students have raised concerns about the parking situation at Siena Heights University. Some claim that there is not enough parking space for all of the students who live on campus, and for the students that live off campus when everyone is on campus.

Last year, if you remember, the part of the parking lot that is closest to the road across from Ledwidge Hall was exclusively for commuters and visitors. If anyone that was not a commuter or a visitor parked in this area, they would get a ticket. This year, the Department of Public Safety has been more lenient with ticketing this area, so it is often congested with both commuters and people living on campus.

Commuters complain that this causes them to park further away from their classrooms, and on campus students complain that they have to park further away from where they live, and they should have the close parking because they are on campus more often.

Let’s put this into perspective: the walking distances that we are talking about here is not that far at all. If we went to a larger school, like Michigan State, we would probably be very happy to walk the distances that we walk here at Siena Heights from our cars. Even if you have to park behind the Fieldhouse, it will probably only take you 3 to 5 minutes to get from your car to your classroom or dorm.

Now, if you were one of those students that chose SHU over other schools only because you have less of a walk from your car to the classroom, I have a solution. The University has a strip of grass directly west of the parking lot mentioned above. They already park people in that grass for football games and other events, so they could pave that area and make more parking for commuters to have their own area for parking. But of course, this would cost money.

For the time being, let’s keep it in perspective and remember that we are not having to walk 10 minutes or more to class. And for those who chose Siena Heights for the parking only, I’m sorry the university is not living up to expectations.