Roughly 16,000, or 35 percent, of MSU’s 46,000 students live on campus. This leaves 30,000 students as well as 11,000 faculty and staff who must commute to campus daily. This is an incredibly large portion of MSU’s workforce and source of tuition and income. Why, then, does MSU’s administration seem so intent on inconveniencing them?
MSU’s problem is a lack of parking — both affordable parking and parking in general — yet it proposed to remove and distance massive amounts of parking spaces.
Students who park in the commuter lot are being inconvenienced with incredible delays for the duration of the Farm Lane project, but there is now talk that when the project is completed the buses will remain on an elongated and delayed route.
The 2020 Vision plan calls for the removal of surface parking along Shaw Lane as well as the parking spaces near Erickson Hall, Engineering Building and the International Center in favor of parks and open space. This only will worsen the existing crisis and inability of students and faculty to get to areas on this part of campus in a timely fashion. Also, there are recommendations to remove parking from West Circle and other north campus roads and to move visitors and students to perimeter lots and garages.
This is absolutely unacceptable and shows the complete disregard the university administration has for its student body and staff. Proposing this elimination in the face of existing and acknowledged parking deficits is irresponsible and offensive, and the administration should seriously re-evaluate its priorities.
Brian Beck
computer science junior
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