It’s hard to wake up and go to class every day. It’s even harder when you live off campus and you can’t just roll out of bed and stumble into a classroom.
The commuter student struggle is real.
With the closure of the Hart Lot, that struggle has become a full-on fight. LSU has once again shown disdain for its students, especially those who live off campus. Whatever the University’s motives are, one thing is clear: LSU hates commuters.
Hart Lot is set for closure through spring 2015 for construction of a new residential housing complex, with any unused space reserved for residents and faculty and staff.
LSU’s official policy on the matter regarding commuters is that they “utilize other commuter lots available on campus.”
Okay, so all we need to do is adjust to the changes and use other lots available to us.
That would be fine, if the other lots did not fill up faster than Tiger Stadium on game day.
I myself was in a situation last week where I drove around campus, scouring the area for parking for more than half an hour, only to come up empty handed, and late for class.
The lots by the Natatorium, Field House, Tiger Stadium, School of Coast and Environment, across from Patrick F. Taylor and on South Stadium Drive were all filled to capacity. My alternative — if you could call it that — was the lot near the hay field.
Needless to say, I was not pleased.
Now, I’d like to take a moment to apologize to the poor, unsuspecting brunette that happened to walk right out in front of me as I searched the lot in front of the Coast and Environment Building. While I maintain that you should be able to see a moving, two-and-a-half ton vehicle, she seemed rather engrossed in her iPhone, and for all I know, it was something important.
I digress.
When the young lady stumbled out in front of me, I slammed on my brakes, rolled down my window and promptly gave her a harsh, bilingual tongue lashing.
Your mother is probably a nice lady, and you have my sincerest apologies.
This inordinate rage would have never been present, were I able to find just one open space in the time I spent desperately roaming campus like a DKE searching for tragedies to mock.
LSU’s careless closure of a major commuter lot has put parking at a premium that will leave some students without space for the next two years.
This will force commuters to make an unnecessary decision: be late for or miss class, or park where you are not permitted, and get a ticket or be towed.
This is repugnant and should be offensive to every student at LSU. We are in a situation where we are paying exorbitant tuition and fees to go to a university that doesn’t provide adequate parking that we are owed by merit of us purchasing our permits.
Their solution? Leave your home or work even earlier than you already do and trek more than half a mile to class.
Ridiculous.
I call on the University to reverse its policy regarding commuters in the Hart Lot. Allow us to park right alongside residents, who can literally walk to class straight from bed, and faculty and staff.
If you want us to love purple and live gold, start by treating your tuition payers who choose not to live in your overpriced housing with a modicum of respect.
Ryan McGehee is a 20-year-old political science, international studies and history junior from Zachary.