Shannon KeoughCan Cabrini max out our parking anymore? Literally, you leave campus for 10 minutes to run to Wawa and come back and the closest spot is in the Dixon Center.
And poor commuters, they have to make their own parking spots and pray they don’t have a ticket or have been towed when they leave class.
Campus parking is just getting out of hand. With all of the students going to Cabrini, we need to expand in some way to fit all of the drivers.
A brief overview of parking regulations and violations follows: Residential Drive and the Dixon lot are designated for residential students. Residential students are not allowed to park in Founders, because that is designated for commuters, faculty and guests. Many parking violations are a fine of $30, such as parking in an unmarked area, which may also result in towing if considered endangering to the campus community.
And poor commuters, Founders and Dixon are jam packed from 8:15 a.m. until about 4:30 p.m. in the afternoon. I guess if commuters do not get to Cabrini before 8:15 a.m., they are out of luck. Either they have to park in “makebelieve” parking spots and risk getting a ticket or driving around in circles and be late to class.
Students, mostly commuters, are going to continually be late to classes and possibly miss classes due to lack of parking. The only answer is to expand. If the number of students accepted to Cabrini is increasing, parking needs to increase as well.
Parking in Dixon is not the end of the world, but it is a pain. As much of a pain it can be, Dixon is filled almost all day during the week with residents, commuters and faculty, so there are not parking spots available there either. I idiotically came back to Cabrini on a Monday morning and drove around Residential Drive twice, Dixon once and Founders twice, even though I am not supposed to park there. I found a spot in Founders finally after about 30 minutes and a car pulled out. Sorry commuters! I was desperate!
We pay $90 for an annual parking pass but aren’t even guaranteed parking. Where does that put us? Driving around in circles stalking people getting into their cars so we can steal their spot? It’s like the mall at Christmas time!
Public Safety starts regulating parking as soon as school starts. New drivers to the campus, like me, are still learning where and how to park. Tickets are being slapped on our windshields like we are parked on a timed Philadelphia sidewalk.
The $30 fine goes after the $90 we are paying for the pass. Talk about going broke!
We are poor college kids who really don’t want tickets or a boot. We just want a place to park so we can get to class and get our education. And we don’t want to have another thing to complain about everyday, and I am sure Public Safety and other authorities don’t want to hear it.
Let’s make all of our lives easier and not have to yell, “Where can I park?”
