With spring break still in my mouth, I rolled through my daily commute on Monday, March 24 to finish out the remainder of my semester. I turned in my normal go-to parking structure, B2, to claim a space in one of the two student parking rows as my car’s home for the day. The farther of the two rows was completely filled up, while the other had only a couple of cars in it. I parked in the empty row, wondering why the other students had parked in more inconvenient spots while there were plenty closer.
Once I had parked my car, I saw the freshly-painted yellow font that read: Staff Parking. What do you mean staff parking? I have parked here every day since the first day of the semester. Wait a minute; make that parked in this exact row since 2004, when I was a freshman. Was my mind playing tricks on me? Had this row been staff parking all along, and the short break had made me miss this fact? Unfortunately, no one was playing mind tricks on me and it was too early for April Fool’s.
An entire row of parking in the B2 structure by Manzanita Hall was magically transformed from student to staff parking over the break (unless it was really well-done graffiti) without any sort of notice to students. I managed to escape the accidental tragedy of using my parking sticker in the wrong lot. Others probably were not so lucky. Over 50 percent of the cars I saw parked in this newly reconstructed row had student stickers displayed on their windows. Without looking at the ground, one would have no way of knowing that this row, which was student parking since I came to CSUN, was changed into staff parking. It is evident that students have picked up on the change, because at peak times (when cars slowly follow students to their cars and ask them if they want a ride to it), the new row can be seen questionably empty.
There are many constructions going around on campus right now, with the hopes of many more parking spaces to come to fit our needs. I know that faculty deserves parking so that they may get to class on time and teach without any external hassles. I also know that I rarely see the faculty portion of the B2 lot full. It is usually one of the emptiest faculty lots I have seen during my time as an experienced empty parking spot hunter over the past four years.
It seems in the battle of the alphabetical parking structures, a row of student spaces had to die for new faculty spaces to be born. Was this change really necessary, halfway through the semester? If it was necessary, due to parking changes that hurt the faculty, then maybe another row of student parking had to be installed in a different parking lot to compensate for the loss.
The college of arts and communication is an impacted college, as many students living in the Los Angeles area aspire to have a job that involves music, film, photography, writing, or radio. It makes no sense to pull parking from one of the busiest lots. Though, that also means that the professors who teach classes for this college also need parking close by as well. So who should win the compromise? Are we going to see more spots (both for students and faculty) magically disappear as construction cranes close in on our campus?
Students should be informed when any changes on campus happen that could affect them and potentially cause a monetary loss (such as a citation for parking in a newly designated area for faculty). However, I searched on the CSUN Web site, took a jog around the parking structure, looked at ads in all publications that this campus provides, and even looked at the cup sleeve on my Freudian Sip coffee (which informs me of when Matador Nights is happening, so I automatically assumed it would enlighten me on other breaking news information). All of these were wasted efforts because no one informed students, unless I missed a blue bird that was delivering memos.
I don’t mind having a longer walk if I cannot get a spot close by Manzanita Hall, as long it is not the B3, which is worse than parking at Disneyland on Christmas. I just mind that I was not informed (which seems to be a pattern, as dorm residents were not even informed that someone was carrying a gun by one of the buildings, but that is another story).
Rest in Peace, B2 student row. May you find happiness in holding spots for faculty and staff, as well as your new yellow detailing. I hear it’s a good color for spring.
