I have come to realize that on-campus parking is in need of serious help. The University is lacking in available parking near and in front of dorms, which in turn leads to more students being fined for parking illegally or not in their zone.

The Lakeside dorms are especially bad in terms of parking. There are around 100 spots in front of Lakeside West and East. Each dorm itself houses at least three times that amount.

If students are not lucky enough to find a parking space in front of Lakeside, they must then park all the way over at the Ferguson Center or Ridgecrest parking deck. This is extremely inconvenient, especially since we all pay more than $200 to park close to our dorm.

I know that if I have to go off campus, and I take my car, I will definitely not have my parking space when I return. Once I return, I end up spending at least 5-10 minutes searching for a parking space and then walking another 5-10 minutes to get back to my dorm. This may not seem like a big deal, but when I have to be in class at certain times, every minute counts.

SoRelle Wyckoff came up with the idea of just telling people to walk to their classes to help with the parking issue. I agree that this is a good idea for most people, and I do walk to all of my classes instead of trying to drive to them.

However, this still does not fix the problem of when people need to use their cars to go off campus and then return. I propose that the University start expanding the parking lots around Lakeside and make a parking lot where the pond is.

Emily McClain is a freshman majoring in kinesiology.