Opimon
The Battalion
Page 7B • Thursday, September 30, 2004
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David Shoemaker thinks
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r every one
Perhaps people should realize that things might actually be
ingbetter, give Transportation Services time to work out
issues and focus on things that are of far greater impor-
w.Although there have been some issues with the plan
Jits implementation, there have been major steps
ward as well.
One area of improvement has been towed ve-
les. According to TS, during the first week of
tool last year, 379 vehicles were towed. For
not likelyik isame timeframe this year, TS towed just
fter 10 a.m.
lould park at
an ride the
the window
/ parking
ast year as a
a place inai
arely just ok
g students to
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DAVID
SHOEMAKER
ast year, a change was proposed that
caused a firestorm of indignation, much
'anxiety and general gnashing of teeth
among students. It would do away with the only
system students had ever known. It may have
been the most heavily resisted change at Texas
A&M in recent memory. And when the change
came, many were in agreement on its eventual
failure. But the issue was not traditions, di
versity, tuition or even student service fees
It was parking. Parking, it seems, may
be the most important issue facing this
rn is a sen*
cience trulk
vehicles. And Rod Weis, director of
said that this year, no cars were
vedbeforethe first football game.
TS has also held to its promise not
oversell resident lots and has only
commuter lots based on the
cupancy counts that it has done
dcontinues to do. For example,
oversold PA 50, the Zachry lot
ISpercent at the beginning of
mester. The lot did not fill
hut rather had significant excess
. Since TS occupancy counts
teiminedjust exactly how many
aceswereopen, it began to issue
those on the waiting list
(PASOand other lots.
TSissued notices to 2,200 people in
efirstround of moves, although only
ountUi percent of those offered their lot from
tie waiting list actually chose to move, said Weis.
hill ism notices to another 2,000 students
#ii,atidWeis indicated that the process will be
as occupancy counts will continue and
raeseniors will graduate in December.
Mike Walters wants
^ a plan students like
ver the course of
the first month of
the new school
year, complaints, ac
cusations, apologies and
excuses have been flying
back and forth between the
student body and Transporta
tion Services regarding the
new parking plan. TS radi
cally changed the parking
system to create a more
MIKE
WALTERS
Will Lloyd • THE BATTALION
side,
lenb
Transporta
parking
cessibleaw
ampus.
two plans;
fwelfth
h Man lot.
Ian lot on
The parking
TWatathat TS collects this year will help it improve lot allocations for next year and inform
identsabout their odds of getting into a particular lot when they apply again this spring. Consider-
jlowlittle hard data TS had on the parking situation, things have gone remarkably well. There
icven those outside TS who are happy with the changes.
Many students — residents and commuters — have been pleased with the changes. Southside
uage was a flashpoint of disagreement between TS and students last year, over matters such as
ing the policy of permit holders having a numbered, reserved space in the garage. The policy
Bended with the new plan, and there are some residents who like the unreserved system.
Jeffrey Yeung, a freshman in Appelt Hall, doesn’t mind the unreserved system since “the point of
jirageisto have a covered space. 1 like the first-come, first-served basis 1 can get the best spot I
find without having to worry about it.”
lany commuter students are also happy with the plan. Although those who park at Reed Arena
lynotlike it, those who parked in other lots such as PA 79 last year, and are doing so again this
ir,have noticed a major change.
kelly Gray, a senior accounting major in the PPA Program, was pleasantly surprised by how the
inworked out. ”1 thought the lots would be over-crowded and 1 would never be able to find a spot,
tinstead, I pull in 10 minutes before my class starts and park immediately without waiting or hav-
|to‘vulture.’” Fler only complaint is that the permits are limited to just one lot during the day.
However, the plan will continue to be reevaluated and changed to meet demand. As Weis said,
'e(TS) are trying to solve the small problems.” Students should give TS a chance to do so before
>lves arouiiJ ring it to shreds.
e to do with
idents twict
anged.
s the way
isidency
n. Red 1c
on seniorit) 1
:ry student
io permit
e essential
Parking does not shape the culture of Aggieland, now or tomorrow. It does not make up a major
mponent of tuition costs, which may be going up again in the future. It has no bearing on matters
campus safety, highlighted by the tragic University Apartments explosion. If students and faculty
led to other administration activities as strongly as parking, perhaps they could take a hand in
cuts, instead of having a sense of fatalism about them.
David Shoemaker is a senior
management major.
lot-specific parking system, and due to the
fact that few off-campus lots are actu
ally near anyone’s classes and the fact that
many students have to travel from buildings such
as Zachry to West Campus in 20 minutes, many
students have expressed outrage at the inconvenience. Some
Aggies began the school year expecting to find the same bus
routes that had existed for years cut without a word of warn
ing to them.
While TS has already made a few changes,
some Aggies are just as angry about the
administration’s performance. However,
there are those who say that Aggies should
forget about such problems as parking
and worry about more important things.
The excuse is that no plan will make
everyone happy, so we shouldn’t worry
about it.
Instead, it’s merely justifying a poor
attitude. Aggies should never settle
for anything less than the best and
always demand an end to inefficiency
and planning problems whenever they
are found, especially when it come to
such an important thing as parking and
transit around campus.
It’s easier for new Aggies to dismiss
upperclassmen’s complaints because
they likely do not understand that there
could be better parking and bus plans.
Some of the students believe it can be better
because they remember when it was.
“I have been a member of the student body
for more than six years and have never expe
rienced this kind of trouble associated with
getting a permit,” Tim Shaw wrote in an Aug.
31 mail call to The Battalion. “Since the summer of 1998, I have seen the parking on campus
go from bad to worse.”
It’s true that in six years the campus has added new students and employees to its population,
but it has also added new parking lots and even a new garage as well.
The parking issue is also important because it deals with wasting the most valuable thing
an Aggie possesses: time. Adam Shephard wrote a mail call published on July 28, in which he
estimated losing 68.3 hours this school year due to the new parking plan. “Multiply 68.3 by the
thousands of students in the same situation I am in and multiply that by the average value of a
student’s time,” he wrote. “That comes to several million dollars.”
Assuming that 68.3 hours were spent working a minimum-wage job, that comes out to
$351.75, which is a conservative estimate, given that many students make much more than
$5.15 per hour. Whether you pay for college and your living expenses or not, that’s a great deal
of money that could best be spent elsewhere. And even if you didn’t choose to spend that time
working, 68.3 hours is a lot of time that could be spent studying, exercising or relaxing, which
all may contribute to better grades.
The last excuse many can make about why students shouldn’t complain so much about the
parking situation, is that imperfect parking plans exist outside of College Station and students
should just get used it. “Even in the outside world,” columnist David Shoemaker wrote in a
May 4 Battalion column, “parking is an issue with imperfect solutions. Ask anyone who has
tried to park in the downtown of a major city recently.”
Anyone who has had to work downtown in such cities as Houston and Dallas can confirm
this. However, simply because bad parking situations exist doesn’t mean they have to or that
students should learn to be content with anything less than perfect. The attainment of excel
lence requires constant vigilance, and Aggies must always be ready to react whenever they have
problems that aren’t being solved by administrations that exist to serve them.
Mike Walters is a senior
psychology major.
Parking won't improve until the faculty budges
ds to leave
c able to
:ned lot, H
lesignated
regardles
park inai
r a permit
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are cus-
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JONATHAN
SMITH
is a stuirf
educatin' 1.
T here’s little doubt that many students
are frustrated with the new parking
plan, especially those who did not
get a parking lot they wanted. Instead of
blaming the often unlovable Transportation
Services, these students should consider
other causes for their parking woes.
One of the primary reasons for the
magnitude of parking angst is not that the
new plan was poorly conceived, but rather
because some campus commuters — faculty
and staff— refuse to play along. The park-
igsituation won’t be fixed until they do.
The new parking plan was halted last January because
lere were concerns about how the faculty parking would be
andled. In the end, the plan was allowed to go only involving
Indents, and the faculty part was cut.
At the time, the faculty complained that the new plan would
lake their lives tougher. Some faculty expressed concerns
bout finding parking space and arriving late to class.
In all honesty, it would be a surprise if the plan allotted few-
spots for faculty; the spots would probably be farther away
lanmany were accustomed to. Of course, if a faculty member
late to class, no one complains, but if a student comes in late
> ecause of transportation trouble, he might expect a reprimand
tom the professor.
The fact of the matter is that in any new plan, faculty only
have ground to lose. Looking at TS student parking map on
its Web site tells the whole story. In the main part of campus
(from University Drive to Texas Avenue to Wellborn Road to
George Bush Drive), there are only six
student lots available, not including ga
rages. Some of the lots, such as Zachry
and Kyle Field, are fairly large. Yet,
this is nothing compared to the space
taken by the 35 small faculty and staff
lots. Also, the student lots are all on the
perimeter of the main campus.
Selling 24-hour reserved spaces is not
the answer. Many of those are needed
around the clock. Instead, the faculty
should be forced to give up at least one
yellow lot, as during the day, many of
these lots have vacancies. These spaces
could be counted and consolidated,
leaving an extra lot or two for seniors
to jump in. “When you make the first moves, then you open up
space for additional people to park,” Weis said.
It’s easy to see why the faculty won’t budge by just looking
at a parking map. Unfortunately for them, this school serves the
undergraduate students’ interests as well as their own. Every
year a new parking plan will come through that will try to
erode their strangle on the good spaces. It is up to students to
demand the faculty give up some unused ground.
4 4 One of the primaiy reasons
for the magnitude of parking
angst this semester is not that
the new plan was poorly con
ceived, but rather because some
campus commuters—faculty
and staff— refuse to play along.
“(This situation) allows us, this coming year, to talk to fac
ulty and staff, to calm their fears, basically, and find out what
they really want,” Weis told The Battalion in April. “If what
they really want is to maintain these
reserved numbered spaces in the core
of campus, we can do that. But the cost
is going to be considerably higher than
it is now, like 50 percent or more.”
This statement was Weis’ best attempt
to say nicely “Either you faculty give up
some ground you never should have had,
or we will charge you so much for your
special parking passes that you won’t be
able to afford one anyway.”
For the sake of all commuting
students at A&M, it would be nice if
the faculty decided to play along in
the parking game next semester. Until
that happens, the new parking plan
will continue to perform like an all-star football team with its
quarterback chained to the bench.
Jonathan Smith is a junior
political science major.