0
0
(Illustration by Vanessa Soto)
By
Here at Riverside City College available parking spaces are like lost treasures. Searching for them takes patience, determination and a certain amount of ruthlessness. During these treasure hunts, time loses all meaning and civility flies out the window.
Prospective parkers turn into hunters, stalking their prey through the darkened confines of the parking structure.
Now to add insult to injury, the entirety of Parking Lot A and almost half of Parking Lot B have been taken away for construction of the new Nursing Science building.
So, knowing that parking is already scarce and in high demand, the college decided to cut parking spaces and force students to drastically alter their schedules to make sure they have a place to park.
Because getting here at 7:30 a.m. for an 11:40 a.m. class is how everyone wants to spend their mornings.
“Currently, we have sufficient parking to accommodate everyone and we do not believe the construction will change this,” said Jim Mayashiro, chief of College Safety and Police.
First of all, what college is he talking about when he says there is sufficient parking, because he certainly can’t be talking about RCC. And secondly, they don’t believe construction will change this?
Really, closing one and a half parking lots on an already overcrowded campus will not change the parking situation?
This is a classic case of the administration being completely out of touch with the students.
Since faculty and staff have designated parking, they are sometimes unaware of the hassle it is for students to go on the hunt for parking, even when they get to campus with plenty of time to spare.
Now with all the parking spaces going away, students and faculty will be in the same boat when it comes to the search for parking.
Imagine 30 students standing outside of a room waiting for a class to begin while the instructor is circling the Lovekin Parking Lot for the tenth time. That would certainly be a change of pace.
Apparently to combat this possibility there are an additional 400 spaces at Third Street and Market Street.
Well, that’s convenient. Available parking is just 12 short blocks away from campus.
Basically, the administration will be asking students to park so far away from the college that they would have to park and then take the bus from their parking space to school.
Because everyone knows that once you get a car, you want to start taking the bus.
If you happen to be one of the lucky few who get to park on the actual campus, it doesn’t necessarily mean your troubles are behind you.
RCC parking lots are notoriously hazardous, with fender benders and accidents a constant threat. And if you somehow manage to park unscathed, don’t count on taking the elevator in the parking structure because more often than not, it’s not working.
While parking is a problem at most college campuses, the heightened stress of this semester and the non-stop construction combine to make it especially difficult.
This may be the only time in history when it has suddenly become cooler to not have a car.
Unfortunately, that’s all the time we have because it’s time to circle the lots in search of parking for tomorrow morning.