11-3-17
Parking Problems
College can be a very stressful time in many students lives,
with all the school work they are given, but perhaps the most stressful is the
one students can’t control.
Many students at Michigan State University don’t have a
problem of going to class but more a matter of how they’re going to get there.
Sure, many students walk or bike to class but with the cold weather upon us
there are going to be more students who have access to a car wanting to drive
with the heat all the way up rather than being outside in that cold Michigan
winter. When those students finally decide to drive to campus the next question
they ask themselves is, where am I going to park?
Many students have different
approaches on how to get to class and for MSU student Kelsey Johnson, she does
a mixture of things.
Although she only drives to class a
couple times a month, Johnson said she has a parking pass to Lot 63 near the
Breslin Center but because it’s further away from her classes she’ll use
parking meters that are closer. Her basic routine right now is generally biking
or walking to and from class but expects that to change once winter hits to
avoid slipping on the ice.
THIS IS A GOOD SPOT FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM JOHNSON
Cole Koretos is a student at MSU who
drives every day to his classes but doesn’t have a pass for one special
location. Koretos said he parks in the Communication Arts and Sciences parking
ramp which is pay by plate and spends an average of 4 dollars per day.
THIS IS A GOOD SPOT FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM KORETOS
There are many complaints about parking because you’re
required to pay just about anywhere on campus without the risk of getting a
ticket. But universities all around the country don’t just do it to take more
money away from their students.
Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Urban
Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles and parking expert Donald
Shoup said colleges need to pay off the parking structures they build on campus
and that sometimes takes decades to pay off.
THIS IS A GOOD PLACE
FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM SHOUP
A lot of students don’t think about the university’s side of
the story, as most are just concerned about themselves and what’s convenient
for them.
Koretos said “Yeah, it
would definitely help,” when asked if parking should be free.
However, some students understand why MSU must charge people
to park at the university but still wish it was easier to park.
“I wouldn’t say free, but I’d say if you have a pass it
should be easier to find parking and not like force you to pay for a meter, or
have more accessible student pass parking lots on campus,” Johnson said.
There are schools around the country that put a parking fee
into every student’s tuition so that they don’t have to worry about having
extra change with them and is also supposed to make the students feel like the
parking is free. HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS? ATTRIBUTE!
Shoup said that’s a horrible idea because “it’s unfair to
students who don’t drive or even own a car… it would also increase the demand
of parking as many more students would be driving to get to class.”
Because the students have no choice in paying for parking,
everyone that can would feel the need to drive and get their money’s worth,
Shoup said it would be a horrible idea because it would release even more
carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere causing an increase in
air pollution.
Students at UCLA used to cheat the system and lie about where
they live so they could get a better parking spot. The further away you lived
from UCLA the better parking spot you would get, but the university caught on
and abandoned that policy and started assigning parking spots based on your
status at the university, from employees to graduate students and then
undergraduate students, Shoup said.
Word Count: 714
Sources: Donald Shoup, Distinguished Research Professor in
the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA
Cole Koretos, MSU student
Kelsey Johnson, MSU student
john5920@msu.edu, (616)648-8165
ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (redacted)
INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS:
NICE ANECDOTAL SOURCES AND A GOOD NEUTRAL EXPERT, BUT HOW CAN WE DO A STORY
ABOUT PARKING AT MSU AND NOT TALK TO THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF PARKING AT MSU?
THAT’S A HUGE MISS THAT AT BEST IS UNFAIR (IN THAT WE DON’T GIVE THEM A CHANCE
TO GIVE THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY AND TO GET DATA FROM THEM ON HOW MANY SPACES,
HOW MANY PERMITS SOLD, ETC.) AND AT
WORST CAN EEXPOSE US TO LIBEL CLAIMS (IN THAT WE DIDN’T GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO
RESPOND TO CLAIMS ABOUT THEM). WE ALWAYS NEED TO GET A HOLD OF PEOPLE AFFECTED
BY WHAT WE ARE REPORTING ON AND PEOPLE WHO ARE IN CHARGE OF WHAT WE ARE
REPORTING ON. A VERY NICE JOB IN ALL OTHER ASPECTS BUT FOR THAT ONE BIG MISS.
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