We’re UH football fans. Seasoned ones. Hard ones. The kind that get half-naked and paint up regardless of the weather. The kind that get up and shout at the top of their lungs in Pink’s Pizza when O’Korn throws a 60-yard touchdown pass (sorry, other patrons). But before we are fans, we are students, and as students we find the parking situation on game days to be simply abhorrent.
Let’s be fair, though. The University has done a great job at trying to resolve the issue. Our hats are off to the Game Day Logistics Committee and Entertain Houston for developing plans to help alleviate parking. We’d also like to thank the University administration for working with Minute Maid Park and the Toyota Center to accommodate displaced faculty, students and staff. As students, we also are quick to forget that our alumni contribute to the vibrancy and culture of the campus and deserve the opportunity to utilize our facilities and ogle at our shiny new tectonic architecture.
With that said, students that bought a stadium garage pass or normally park in one of the closed lots are getting screwed. No one that invests an extra $200 per year in order to avoid the already-packed lots around campus wants to be told that they need to park elsewhere. “Elsewhere” means that those other lots and garages will be under an even heavier load than usual, unless students actually take advantage of parking at the off-campus locations. It has worked so well for ERP. Side note: Why not offer a cheaper parking pass specifically for ERP if the parking department wants us to go there so badly?
As one can guess, many students will simply avoid campus altogether. Most of us don’t have the option to or refuse to let hard-earned money spent on classes go to waste. The day is likely to be rampant with tardiness and behind-schedule meetings as a result of trying to hold a full academic day and a Division 1 football game simultaneously. If we’re going to functionally shut down part of campus, we may as well shut down all of campus and make an event out of it.
What should disgruntled students and faculty be doing? The same thing they should be doing at games: making lots of noise. Flood your SGA representative’s inbox. Do the same for the Office of the President. Or, if you are feeling particularly angry, don’t go to the game. Nothing gets administrative attention quite like a half-full student section during a televised game (UCF at UH on ESPN at 6).
The football schedule doesn’t creep up on us out of nowhere — we know well in advance who we will be playing, and dates and times are lined up soon after. We have ample time to take what we have learned so far this season and start planning for 2015. It is as great a time as ever to get involved and be part of the changes in our rapidly growing University.
Regardless of the solutions anyone may propose, it is time for us to talk. As for us soon-to-be graduated seniors, we’ll enjoy the convenient parking that you all have already paid for when next season rolls around. Thanks.
See you at the game, and GO COOGS!
Camden Kirkland is a chemistry senior and may be reached at [email protected]. Anjay Ajodha is a computer science senior.
At other institutions those that live on campus and have assigned lots are still made to move on game days. While you may complain that the parking sucks, you get into the games for free. It’s not an optional thing that you pay more for again as many other universities make their students do. I on the other hand spend $1600 a year just to come to my Alma Mater 7 days a year to cheer them on. If neither of us live on campus why shouldn’t we both have the same access to parking?
I currently pay $24,000 a year to go to school here. You are telling me that I shouldn’t get priority over your on-campus game day parking spot? Why couldn’t you park at Minute Maid after you come from work? How is that inconvenient to you and not to me? I don’t appreciate being stressed out when I have an exam on a day that there is a football game. Since when did Athletics override academics? On that note, I was also a student athlete here at UH and now go to grad school. I was treated as an Athlete-Student as well with my sport coming first and on numerous occasions my school suffered because I had to go to practice or I had too many away games in one month. UH Athletics is not considerate of “regular” students time or their athletes and this parking situation is a perfect example.
No you shouldn’t get priority of people parking on game days, sorry but your measly $24000 is nothing compared to someone that bought a suite for $150000 and donates thousands and thousands, some millions to this school.
They donate to the school, of which the primary function is for academia. If they are donating solely for the purpose of sports then maybe it’s time we more thoroughly separate the two can stop equating them. Athletics are very important, and they can be great for schools, but when they start overshadowing the primary function of the main entity then they aren’t boosting anything but themselves, it ceases to be about helping the school. That 150000 going towards the school is awesome and all, but what’s the point if in the end it’s just used as an excuse to interfere with the learning.
Look parking on campus was an issue in 1966 and appears to still be an issue in 2014. Would it be easier to ask the faculty to not schedule exams on game day? That would only address one area of contention. Academia versus athletics has had its separate camps and battles on that bone of contention in conversation for decades at the Univ. of Houston. Would it be simpler to provide athletics on the collegiate level for social development only, eliminating the demands of a competitive sport program? In other words, these issues are old, old, old. Obviously they appear not to be able to be resolved by continuing to talk and kick around the same issues…. stop crapping, use that energy to solve the problems then let’s win some football.
Thank you for actually contributing a useful response.
College Athletics is more important than Academics. Why would they give full rides to illiterate morons who can’t even read at a Junior High Level? This is all a scam to make a few people rich off of taxpayers and students.
CNN analysis: Some college athletes play like adults, read like 5th-graders
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/us/ncaa-athletes-reading-scores/
Athletics cost colleges, students millions
The Knight Commission says Division I schools with football spent $91,936 per athlete in 2010, seven times the spending per student of $13,628. Division I universities without football spent $39,201 per athlete, more than triple the average student spending.
Nearly every university loses money on sports. Even after private donations and ticket sales, they fill the gap by tapping students paying tuition or state taxpayers.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/15/athletics-cost-colleges-students-millions/2814455/
Most NCAA Division I athletic departments take subsidies
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2013/05/07/ncaa-finances-subsidies/2142443/
While it is true that we get get into games free, which is awesome, it’s not the point. While you may lose some money and time being inconvenienced visiting your alma mater, as students part of our class day and schedule are disrupted by games during the mid-afternoon. We should also keep in mind not every student wants to go to the game, but every student and faculty member are affected by it regardless of whether they are just showing up for classes.
Like the other replies, I attend the school as well. It’s great you choose to come out and show your pride on game days. But personally I paid almost 500 to park in the garage. and then I’m told that I have to park somewhere 3 or 4 miles away. “But it’s okay because we will have shuttles running for your convience all day” and “You can park in a different lot but have to move your car again at 3pm” they told me.
The problem with those alternate solutions is that I had to be at school at 5:30 am (as usual, I am there mon-fri at that time) and the shuttles that would run for my convience didn’t start running until 7:30. Since I was also part of the honor guard at the beginning of the game that means I couldn’t just simply go home at 3pm, I would have to move my car somewhere else, but had practices all day and had jam packed schedule so had no time to spare to move my car.
MY ONLY SOLUTION WAS TO PARK MY CAR IN THE GARAGE WEDNESDAY MORNING WHEN I ARRIVED AT 5:30 AND SLEEP IN MY CAR OVERNIGHT. To some people it’s more that “parking sucks”. But hey, how about next game with your nice parking pass you pick me up and drop me off at 5 am so you can have my parking spot on game day, because I pay extra money so I don’t have to depend on shuttles that don’t even operate when I need them to.
Stadium Garage permit holders had the option of parking in any ungated student lot Thursday. At 5:30 a.m., there were plenty of spaces available!
All the surface lots were full by midnight on thursday
No, that was not the case at all. I was here at that time and spotted quite a number of spaces in student parking lots.
Ok what about if I don’t have class until 1? I’m expected to wake up several hours before hand just because of a game? I come at noon on Thursdays to get a parking spot in the garage and I already have to park on the roof. There were no open lots alright, so don’t try and tell me otherwise.
Noon is not the same as 5:30 a.m. But I am sure you know that!
All that for a football game? Wow. Imagine if that energy would be put into something useful for humanity
Super Happy Fun Land has parking for around 30 cars at 3801 Polk st. They are on the bus line as well. I am sure they would be happy to work something out. Super Happy Fun Land is a non-profit and could use the revenue. They can also do viewing parties and have a $1 beer donation bar.
Since I teach on Saturdays, this has already affected me twice. I don’t mind the extra walk (I need it), but still it’s annoying. I can only imagine how students must feel dealing with this on the other gamedays. The question I have also is, will this affect us on days that there is a basketball game? What did I pay the extra money for if I can’t use the garage on gamedays?
No, the garage doesn’t shut down for basketball games. At least last year it didn’t. Probably because a lot less people go to them
There’s a difference. Football games get 30,000 plus visitors. Basketball games? A few hundred.
Parking was terrible. Very simply? We need more parking or another parking garage. That way, most are happy. The situation today was just ridiculous. So long as student’s had purchased a parking permit, regardless of the kind (economy, commuter, garage), we should have been allowed to park ANYWHERE on campus where there was parking. Lot 16 by architecture for instance should have been free. ANY available space not used for the game should have been free admittance for students as it interfered with their studies for the day. That is only fair, especially to those that had already purchased a parking permit of some kind. In the meanwhile, let’s make sure that our tuition money is going towards building more parking lots or vertical parking opportunities please. Thanks
Don’t like the breach of contract with parking? Sue the school.
All that has to happen to get a constant decline in student turn-out at games is to simply let the football team keep going down the path it’s going.
I just love that there’s actually people who are defending UH’s move to tell its own students to piss off to charge people $10 to park in the very same garage that the students paid $441 to park in exclusively.
UH’s main focus is not education for its customers/students.
For those who have obviously gotten distracted, the article is about the parking situation on game day, not the role of athletics in academia. Save that for another day.