Dear UA, quit messing with my campus routine.
Since the beginning of the school year there’s been a lot of talk about aggravation with the terrible parking situation around campus, the useless new bus routes and the constant and widely spread out construction sites around the UA grounds. The truth is plain and simple. While some adjustments need to be made as time goes on, why is this all happening at the same time?
Most students are more likely to accept change that is gradual and has been well communicated. Just take a look at a national issue that happened recently.
GAP tried last week to drastically switch up their logo without telling anyone and consumers took to the Internet in a frenzy demanding the change be reverted. Needless to say, GAP had no choice but to admit defeat and apologize for “back-handing their faithful shoppers.” And that was just about the makeover of a company logo. The University is defacing our campus and dragging us through the mud with it.
Ok, maybe that’s a little harsh, but coming back to a torn up wasteland isn’t completely fair either. I moved back to campus only to find out that my residence hall had lost an entire parking lot and then some, as well as finding out that the construction of a new dorm would be taking its place. Not a single e-mail did I get A) when I re-contracted for this semester or B) when they must have finalized the deal.
They didn’t even start the construction until the academic year had started, so we get the full brunt of the grinding, truck beeping, and dust clouds. Everyone here was blindsided and now has to deal with the consequences of constant, window-rattling vibrations and musical parking spaces.
Then, to top it all off, I-don’t-know-who refuses to get rid of the faculty parking circling this residence hall and ditch the zip car spots. That alone would open up at least 15 more places for residents to park. Seriously, faculty shouldn’t be parked here in the first place and half the spaces allotted for them are empty most of the time.
While the zip cars are definitely useful for those students who don’t have a car of their own, finding another more available place for them, a spot that doesn’t interfere with the already cramped parking of other students’ vehicles, would be a little more optimal.
We’re all aware that this residence hall is not the only place suffering through this kind of an ordeal. I can’t get to Farrah without walking through clouds of kicked up dirt and whatever else.
A person has to walk in the street when heading towards the back of the Ferg because of whatever that building is and I purposefully chose classes that weren’t in Shelby because I didn’t feel like walking through that mess too.
In addition to all of these hassles, as many letters to the editor and articles have stated, the UA student body is less than pleased with the new bus routes. I waited for a gold bus for almost 40 minutes the other day and the poor students coming from ten Hoor have had the lovely opportunity of being passed by completely.
The routes themselves take forever to circle around, because they cut down the total number of busses. So, in the end, each bus has to circle around an area maybe three times before moving on so that they can “get to everyone.” Not cool, people. Not cool.
I know these route changes and buildings may all be necessary at some point in time, but again I ask, is the hassle of all of them really needed at the same time? College is hard enough as it is. We, as students, don’t need the extra surrounding stress of not knowing where we’re going, not knowing where we’re allowed go, and being woken up at 8 a.m. to the chaotic mess that is explosive vibrations and power tools.
So, in conclusion, I beg of you, dear UA campus, give us a little bit of a break. We’re all just not that bad to you.
Sincerely yours, angry student #30,000.
Debra Flax is a junior majoring in journalism. Her column runs weekly on Thursdays.
