As you may have been bombarded with frustrations about the parking situation at the University of Houston these first few weeks of school, I unfortunately, offer you no respite.
What I have to offer is not just criticism but rather a bit of observation from a patient student.
Throughout the couple of years I’ve been at the University of Houston, I have been more than patient with the way many policies were handled. Parking, however, has been a problem since before I enrolled and will no doubt be a continuing nuisance.
Many students and faculty members pay for parking passes that provide a steady flow of capital to the University. However, we find that lots are often closed or blocked off with little forewarning.
The fact that the student body has grown exponentially has compounded the already frustrating problem.
With new parking garage developments all over campus and contract parking for special events, sufficient parking is still a problem for students with Economy, Economy Plus and Commuter passes.
It seems that Parking and Transportation is not just ‘going green,’ but is ‘going greedy green’ with power. This subtle, but not unnoticed, tactic of coercing students and spending more money for a convoluted parking garage that is not a guaranteed solution is simply sickening in this uncertain economy.
My statement is not without just cause. Over the past two years it has thrilled me to see more students adapting to this continuing problem by carpooling and taking public transportation.
However, many students not only rely on their cars to get them to class, but also to work.
Additionally, campus police are required to spend more time regulating traffic, thinning their resources against the troubling crime rate, when their primary duties are to protect the student body.
With that said, you may ask if I have a possible solution to all this. The answer is ‘no,’ because after all I’m not being paid to do Parking and Transportation’s job.
Furthermore, I doubt that having a UH Parking and Transportation Twitter update page is practical, nor is it a good use of a public institution’s resources.
Timmy Pham is a business sophomore and can be reached at [email protected]
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