As a student employee, I leave my house 20 or 30 minutes early to find a parking spot. I find myself driving around parking lots often, unsuccessfuly looking for a place to park. It’s never easy. I work at McComas Hall, and I often end up parking “in the cage” or the Track/Field House parking lot. From these parking lots it takes about 10 minutes to walk to McComas, and by this time I’m late for work.
The thousands of students who work on campus should have a parking option other than commuter parking. Student employee parking spots should be offered, or student employees should have the option of parking in faculty/staff spots. Commuter spots are great for commuters leisurely going to class, but not for students who are paid to be on time for work.
I also work in the Media Building. When I arrive at 8 a.m., I can never find an open spot in the Squires lot, and with class right after work, I cannot park in a meter spot. I have to cross my fingers and hope I can find a spot on Washington Street. If I have trouble finding a parking spot on campus at 8 a.m., I can only imagine the struggle of students who work on campus in the middle of the day.
Students work on campus to serve other students. They work at all times of the day to provide food, recreation and administrative help. The university could not operate without student employees.
Since student employees already have the extra burden of working and going to class, they should not also be burdened with driving around a parking lot multiple times hoping to find an empty parking spot.
Hannah Wilson
Senior
Communication major
A version of this article appeared in the Dec 7 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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As a student employee myself, I totally agree. Usually I just have to take the bus. Still it'd be nice to have your car available to go elsewhere after work without having to ride the bus home first.
I wish student employees had the option of a faculty staff permit since wouldn't you be considered "staff". If not then who is considered "staff" ?
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staff spots are reserved for the cleaners, maintenance, administration etc.
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I hear the bus goes other places other than to your job.
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You people are so LAZY. Whine about it some more. LAZY LAZY LAZY LAZY LAZY. It's right about a mile to most off campus residences. Try walking - an extra 5-10 minutes compared to driving and looking around for a spot IS time that you have. What world are you living in? Parking is at a premium on campus for a reason.
Or will that hurt your feet too much?
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Well the logical answer is to just park in the cage and use the 10 minutes to walk instead of wasteing it trying to find a closer spot. They will never give students a F/S permit because students would abuse it, such as using it when going to class.
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Or, you could leave your apartment/house earlier. If you are getting paid to be here, don't complain about finding a parking spot, just leave earlier, get what you can find, and then make your money. The university shouldn't accommodate you anymore than any other student because you are working on campus - you get paid, that is your extra benefit.
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As a staff member, I have a faculty/staff pass. I also find it difficult to find parking in a F/S spot. Stop complaining and leave the house early just like everyone else has to. Like others said, instead of wasting your time driving around from parking lot to parking lot, park in the cage and walk.
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For some jobs they do give you a special parking pass. Furthermore, we have a bus system and you admit you can park but have to walk a little further. I'm not seeing the problem.
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For those saying "the bus goes other places" and "leave earlier" ect. You are right but think about it... yes the bus goes other places but not EVERY bus goes to the SAME places you have to get off and on at several stops sometimes and sit and wait. I've done this before and its not as fast as you think. Not to mention only 1 bus goes to Christiansburg mall and that's it. What if you have to go elsewhere in blacksburg where a bus can't go, what if you have to shop? In the warmer months it's not a big deal to take bus to bus and sit and wait for an hour but when it's 15 degrees outside and windy it gets annoying esp during rush hour when busing can take up to an hour to get to where you want just a few miles away.
Not to mention the bus system is getting more crowded.
By the way does anyone know if the parking garage allows you to pay for time parking there or do you HAVE to have a commuter or faculty staff permit?
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Sounds like the author could just take the bus home and drive if she needed to do shopping if taking the bus shopping isn't convenient.
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You answered your own questions. Arrive earlier. Leave yourself 10 minutes to walk from the cage to McComas. (also, how the hell does it take you 10 minutes to walk from the Cage to McComas? If that's the case, you should probably look into a handicapped pass which would help with your parking situation)
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everyday to work (which I have to pay for). Tech students are so lucky to have access to a FREE transpiration system that is clean, reliable, and pretty quick.
Hannah, you’re in for a rude awakening when you enter the real-world. There is simply no room for you and every other part-time student employee to have a special parking space. It would be abused, and it is a wasteful use of space. It is also not necessary when there are alternatives. Yes, driving would be more convenient for YOU, but it's time to be less selfish and look at the big picture. Leave 10 minutes earlier. Take the free bus. Save money on gas. Lower your carbon footprint.
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It is extremely difficult to take anyone seriously when you can't even spell transportation. It's okay, I am sure that your transpiration takes you back and forth to McDonald's just fine.
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It is extremely difficult to take anyone seriously when you can't even spell transportation. It's okay, I am sure that your transpiration takes you back and forth to McDonald's just fine.
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If you want to go all "real-world" then fine. I've worked several jobs in the real world and I haven't had a job where I couldn't park at. They've always had some kind of tag or sticker so you can park at their lot. Not at VT. I guess some workers are worthy and some are not. It's a broken system.
The thing that pisses me off the most here is that there are very few metered spots for the times I do have to bring my car to tech for just a few hours, they are never available.
In the real world or at least the city you can walk to any place you need in just a few blocks or take a subway system. In blacksburg you have the BT which is nice and free but the trade off is that it takes forever to get places with it since you need to jump to different routes often.
I find nothing wrong with the point of this author, the parking system is the WORST part of VT for many and it won't change anytime soon unless the build another parking garage or several.
It's easy for you guys to sit behind a computer and say "just walk" or "ride the bus, leave earlier ect." but maybe that works for you but some people don't have that kind of time.
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Just wait until you get a job and enter the real world.
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I've spent 3 years at Tech without a car and managed to make it to all of my classes AND work on time. Get off your lazy a$%, leave a little earlier and ride the bus and/or walk. Or GET A BIKE. You can literally make it from the north end of town to the south end in 20 minutes riding slowly. Even if you are working and going to school, you DO have that kind of time.
so LAZY.
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The average one-way US commute is around 30 minutes. If you live anywhere in Blacksburg, there is some way that you can get to work in that amount of time. Every densely populated area faces transit challenges. Much like the "engineering triangle," you can rarely choose more than two of the following for your transportation choice: cheap, fast, and/or adequate to accommodate everyone. Parking is probably the worst option, as it is pretty much just cheap at the expense of speed and adequacy. I still think Tech should drastically raise prices of parking passes and give out a limited number (maybe with exceptions or discounts to long distance commuters). Since students don't seem to realize that trying to drive to campus will only lead to frustration, maybe if they couldn't afford a parking pass in the first place, they'd be forced to actually explore alternatives to driving and make grown-up decisions.
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This is just another reason why students shouldn't work while going to school full-time. If you didn't have a job, you wouldn't have to worry about driving to campus or walking from the cage.
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Ummm...some students who are lucky to find a part time job need the extra money. It's called rent/bills/loans/food/tuition ect... We aren't working for fun. Unfortunately society insists that we HAVE to get a degree to be successful so we need that too hence going to college.
What would help is if tech had more night classes/sections so we can park on campus after 5pm anyway.
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i work for bt, when i report to my shift on campus i should be able to park ON the drillfield no more than 5 feet from my bus. i have a friend that works downtown, she should be able to park in any metered spot or the squires lot. none of us should ever have to walk, it is unnatural. i mean, who walks?! people concerned for the environment? people responsible enough to leave in time to use the bus? people who don't have a patience to stalk pedestrians in the commuter lots? what a bunch of schmucks.
if you are lucky enough to have found a job you need, then you should also be smart enough to figure out the most time efficient way to get there rather than being selfish thinking you and only you deserve a spot to park. give me a break.
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Welcome to the real world. You should be lucky everything in Blacksburg is so convienent. The BT offers fantastic service. Try living outside of a major metropolitian area and riding the bus. Leave earlier, walk, ride your bike, but don't complain. It takes me 45 minutes to drive to work because of interstate construction. It used to be 25 minutes. Maybe I should just have them stop construction so I can get to work on time. The world doesn't revolve around you. Suck it up and plan better, or quit your job.
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