By Hannah Ketcham

I hear a lot of students complaining about the apparent lack of parking on the academic side of campus. Having had a car on campus, I know firsthand how packed the parking lot in front of the Student Center can get, as well as the ones in close proximity to the Wellness Center. Students invent spaces in dangerous places, such as the middle of the road, or drive in circles until they find one. However, this lack of parking is not caused by lack of spaces. It’s caused by laziness. Just from walking around campus, anyone can see that the parking field next to Constitution and Vander Poel Halls is almost always empty, the only spots filled being the ones in the first rows right next to the towers themselves. This parking lot is a five minute walk from the Student Center, maybe eight minutes if you park on the side closest to the Netherlands and Oak St. Another parking lot that is always three quarters empty is the one between the intramural fields and the soccer stadium. Again, the only spots filled are the ones closest to the Student Center, maybe seven or eight rows of cars. These parking lots are designed to hold hundreds of (correctly-parked) cars. Right now, they’re maybe holding 50.

I’m a resident student who lives in the Liberty/Republic housing complex, and while I used to have a car on campus, I no longer do due to various reasons (among other things, I’m pretty sure I save a ton of money solely through the use of public transit). I walk from Liberty/Republic to the academic side of campus every day in order to get to class. And, because I have such large gaps in between all of my classes, I walk back in between each and every class, making the trip a total of four times on Thursdays. Each direction is maybe a 15 minute walk and is excellent exercise. Therefore, I can’t understand why commuters complain about the lack of parking. Are you seriously that lazy? Settling for a space a bit farther away would save you gas that you would spend driving in circles looking for a spot close to the Student Center. It would give you exercise on your way to and from class and would allow you to even sleep in a little later, as you wouldn’t be worrying about getting here at the crack of dawn in order to get a front row parking spot. Also, the less driving you do, the more eco-friendly you are; with all of our effort to “go green” these days, wouldn’t this small change be a no-brainer? If nothing else, parking just a bit further away would give you a little extra of this amazing spring sunshine before you’re stuck in a small classroom for an hour. So instead of speeding in circles and nearly hitting those of us who do walk to class, inventing parking spaces in the middle of the road that obstruct traffic and just generally complaining, why don’t you park where there are spots? I, for one, would hate to see a multi-level parking structure on the north side of campus. Apart from being just generally tacky, it would disrupt the aesthetic quality that this side of campus has. Commuters seem to forget that people actually LIVE here-this side of campus is not a shopping mall parking garage. In response to last week’s letter over the “parking crisis” that will likely be a result of the presidential debate held here next year: Would you rather all of the photos of Hofstra that are going to be circulating next year have a wonderful view of a parking garage, or the trees that currently populate campus?

Hannah Ketcham is a sophomore speech language student. You may e-mail her at [email protected].