Classes have yet to begin and already a collective (and familiar) groan has risen from the mass of students suddenly populating the grassy plains and concrete thoroughfares of campus: it is near-to-impossible to park legally at SMU.

With a total of 5,735 parking spaces on campus, you would think there would be more than enough parking to hold every luxury sports car and SUV mommy and daddy could buy. But with student enrollment now well over the 10,000 mark, and faculty and staff numbering close to 1,500, that makes for some tough numbers.

Now consider this: there are barely 2,400 parking spots designated for commuters, those students who actually have to somehow transport themselves from home to class and back every day. With housing available on campus for only 2,050 students, that leaves a whopping 8,000 students to fight over those 2,400 spots, let alone visitors searching for a place to park their car.

Granted, not every commuter is on campus at exactly the same time, and not everyone who matriculates at SMU owns a car and parks it on campus. But even under the best of circumstances, how does SMU expect students, faculty and staff to park legally on a campus not willing to provide enough parking spots for even half of its population?

Perhaps SMU should follow the lead of other universities and forbid first year students from parking on campus. We require them to live on campus to foster a community spirit, yet we make it as easy as possible for them to escape campus and go back home or to fraternize with people off-campus.

Eliminating first year parking would not only encourage public transportation via DART and establish more of a community spirit on campus among the first year class, but it would also open a minimum of 800 parking spots for those who really need them: faculty, staff and commuter students.