Parking is a mess

Jan. 27, 2005
By Andy Burman
Guest Writer

On December 9, 2004, all students received an email from Mr. James Hannon regarding parking here at St. Ambrose University and the surrounding neighborhood.  The email asks that “In an effort to keep in good standing with neighbors of SAU, please seek out parking on campus before parking in front of neighboring houses along Ripley and Brown Street."

As a student, I understand that nearby residents are upset by the fact that students have been parking in front of their homes.  After all, when many of them bought their homes 10, 20, 25 or 30 years ago, St. Ambrose was blocks away from them.  This is not what they signed up for.  At the same time, as a driver I ought be allowed to park anywhere I please except areas marked as no parking areas or permit only.  However, this is not the point.

After paying forty-five dollars for a permit that does not guarantee me a place to park, I don't feel sorry for St. Ambrose if it gets a little bad press.  I actually hope that it gets more, because it really deserves it.  Ambrose seems delusional when it asks the student, who pays thousands of dollars a year, to do it’s public relations work.  I don't feel sorry for the school that can build two buildings simultaneously but can't give it's students a lot to park their cars in.

I don't feel sorry for a school that builds a building supposedly for the students (I'm not sold on this) but won't allow students to park in the lot directly in front of it.  I don't feel sorry for a school that has a parking lot with 50 spaces vacant in the Rogalski Center on a daily basis just because it is convenient.  Meanwhile, SAU has failed to be proactive by not building "temporary lots" before construction begins.  Another reason not to feel sorry for Ambrose.  Students understand this.  Neighborhood residents understand this.  Why doesn't St. Ambrose?

As a student with a permit, I don't park five blocks from my residence hall because I enjoy making neighborhood residents miserable or because I like to cause problems for the school.  I park there because there is a problem with parking at this institution.  It's time for Ambrose to take responsibility for the parking problem.  Students have been asking for the cooperation of Ambrose for years regarding parking on campus and now Ambrose has the nerve to insult it’s students and ask them for help.

You don’t need a Ph.D. to realize that this problem isn't going away unless a drastic measure is taken by administration.  Sure you could allow some parking in the Rogalski Center parking lot but it's like putting a band-aid on the flat tire of your car, filling it with air and driving down the street.  It's only going to get you so far.  I understand that this problem is not easily solved, but don't insult the student body when the truth is that Ambrose as an institution didn't do enough proactively to help the situation.  Stop acting like Ambrose is the victim of this situation, when in truth the students of SAU and the surrounding neighborhood residents are the true victims.

Andy Burman

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