Mumbles of parking can be heard anywhere and everywhere when walking onto campus. This can be heard from the last student that walks into class as the professor begins the lesson, every student turning their head to slightly judge them for walking in late. 

Students have to arrive by 8 a.m. in order to get a decent spot when trying to park on campus. That is a nuisance because, by 11 a.m., the parking lots are completely full. This is especially difficult when the sun is bearing down as students are walking to class or to any building.  

Students will purposely stay in their car, waiting for others to pull away as they ready to park in the spot. This is infuriating every time. It causes the person who is trying to park to be unable to do so because someone’s blocking the way. This causes more stress and problems that are unneeded, along with the stress that college students already have.

Parking in certain spots is also an issue. For example, the parking spaces in front of the Orr Center only authorize one-hour parking. Public Safety is patrolling constantly, giving tickets to anyone who doesn’t abide by this rule. 

This is unfair to the students who may have a longer class and who may want to park closer because it’s later in the evening. If there’s to be a time limit, it should be at least three hours, the longest that a class can go at USI. Lengthening the time for these certain parking spots could benefit many students, especially if their class is at night.

The parking rules for housing residents and visitors are also infuriating. Residents can’t park on campus until 3 p.m., but what if they have to stay on campus all day? They are then forced to either walk or wait for someone to pick them up, especially when the buses stop running. 

Then there’s the issue of visitor parking in the housing area. Visitors have assigned parking, but they can only park there at certain times. If visitors do not leave by 7 a.m the next day and they aren’t registered as a guest, they receive a ticket. 

I’ve had an incident where a friend had to stay for her safety and still got a parking ticket despite the circumstances. This isn’t fair to anyone but Public Safety. 

There should be designated lots for residents, commuters and faculty instead of all of us intermingling. Not having certain spots for each vehicle causes all of the front parking spots to instantly be taken. 

I feel like USI could do a much better job when it comes to parking, especially with how strictly enforced it is.