As the 2005 school year has gracefully come upon us, it did not take long for Cabrini students to become disgruntled and upset, myself included.
In addition to rising tuition costs, we Cabrini upperclassmen were asked to fork over an extra $80 just so we can attain a parking permit so we can park our cars on-campus.
So why all the fuss, it’s just $80? Well, last year, Cabrini students were asked to pay $50 for the year to park their cars on campus, $25 a semester.
Now, we have to pay an extra 30 bucks to park our rides on campus, and there are less spots than there was just a year ago. In my opinion, something is not adding up.
Due to the construction project on the new residence hall, which is completely fenced in, taking away dozens of parking spots, many of us are forced to park farther away from our rooms, houses and apartments.
Some of us even have to park our cars over by the Dixon Center due to the lack of spots that are on this campus.
All the way from house seven, around the bend to Xavier, it is complete luck if one can find a spot to park their car. On several occasions so far this semester, I have found myself driving back and forth between houses one through six trying to find a spot and was unsuccessful, and I have seen many others going through the same situation.
Some students are now even parking their cars on the side of the road in front of houses five through seven and cars can be seen lined up in every single driveway from house one on. Some are even parking in handicap spots because there is nowhere else to go.
In addition to seeing cars parked in handicap spots, we can also see cars that are parked at house two in spots reserved for emergency vehicles only, my own car included.
The most outrageous parking fiasco that I have seen so far this year is when I actually saw a car parked in the grass behind house one. That is pretty bad that students have to resort to parking on the grass behind houses because they have nowhere else to park.
What really irritates me, and I know it makes others angry as well, is when I am driving around looking for a spot and see at least 20 parked cars that don’t even have parking passes, some of which are the cars of freshmen, who are not even allowed to have cars on campus, parked in our spots.
Then, we who have permits have to park illegally, and we are the ones who get the parking tickets, while others don’t even have permits to park on campus.
With all these cars and not enough spots to hold them, I ask what is going to happen next year when the class of 2009 is granted the right to have their cars at Cabrini College? Your guess is as good as mine.
With 601 freshmen and new transfers currently going to Cabrini, that means there will be a few hundred more cars on campus next year, depending on how many seniors graduate and how many current freshmen actually bring their whips to college next year.
When all is said and done, I just hope that our school has plans to get things straightened out by next year or at least lower the cost of parking passes.
Posted to the web by Tim Hague
