I am a senior and a RA on campus in McElvaney Hall. I have lived on campus for four years and have had a terrific time serving the residents of our communities, living in the residence halls and offering my time and effort to make SMU all it can be. This was until the night of Feb. 7, when my pride and joy (SMU that is) decided it was time that I should have no parking on campus and that I should instead be gifted a nice yellow piece of paper on my windshield saying I had a parking citation.

I love parking tickets. They are a way to educate the masses as to how many parking spots are needed on campus. The more spots that are needed, the more parking tickets are handed out. I’ve done a pretty good job at avoiding them (three tickets in four years isn’t too bad). I like to obey the rules and keep my options open. I’m flexible, I can adjust, and I like it when SMU builds me new things which promise to make the future better for our campus, thus creating a pit of pot holes of death. No biggie.

I’m not very flexible anymore.

I took a look back over my past couple of years, and I’m pretty pissed off at our parking situation. I often laughed at other universities for not having parking, but as I’m finishing up my last semester, I grow sad. Yes, I know a new parking garage is being built for next year, but I want a temporary solution that will work now. Something that will enable me to have a decent spot on campus for my friendly automobile that has served me well for four years.

Let’s have a quick parking history lesson: Over the course of the past four years, the number of parking spots on campus has been steadily declining while the number of students has increased.

Take a look at the lots that have been destroyed over the past four years. The north quad lot has lost about 40 spots due to fencing and the Shuttles remodeling, the lot behind McElvaney hall has been wrecked – and there go 50 spots.

The lot that used to be next to the tennis courts now is large mud pit (60 spots), and finally the lot that used to be where the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports is now… is, well, gone. That’s about 100 spots, to be conservative. Math says, 250 spots gone, zero spots added.

I looked through the regulations, and how about this: “The plan provides parking spaces as conveniently as possible within the available limits. No one is guaranteed a parking space on campus.” That’s fine, but people really need places to park. I have a job to do; people have to go to class.

I hope you take my side on this. If parking bullies have ever pushed you around, you should rally the troops. Go out and discuss, complain to the dean of student life, do what you have to do to get a parking plan that will help us out for the remainder of this semester. Parking is bad; we need a temporary solution until a permanent solution is found.

About the writer:

Chris Brooks is a senior double major in mechanical engineering and chemistry. He can be reached at [email protected].