Freshmen adjust to new parking regulations

Students wait for the Lion Express shuttlebus to transport them to the off-site parking location on Darby Drive. Students are picked up periodically at the Harrison Plaza entrance to campus and transported to their cars.

In order to solve parking problems at UNA, university officials have asked freshmen to park at two off-site locations to ease parking issues on campus. They must either park in the downtown parking garage or at the UNA-owned parking lot behind Lauderdale Lanes bowling alley.

The new parking situation has been something to get used to for most students involved, as well as the UNA Police Department.

“I am not sure how many tickets I have given out to off-campus freshmen, but the parking situation has not been a problem so far,” said UNA police Chief Bob Pastula. “No one has caused any trouble.”

Pastula believes that the parking situation will be worsened by the renovations being made to the university.

“The new student building is going to knock out even more parking,” he said.

While most of the upperclassmen appreciate the new regulations due to the opening up of parking spots, several freshmen have a different opinion.

“It is ridiculous for off-campus students,” said UNA student MacKenzie Kimbrough.

She has been late for class because of the parking situation.

“There is nowhere to park without walking a mile,” she said. “There should be designated parking spots for off-campus freshmen. If I have a three-hour break, I can’t go back to my apartment, because I do not have a car, and the buses come at random times.”

Other freshmen, like Matthew Davenport, are unhappy with the time intervals of the buses’ arrivals.

“It takes too long for the buses to get here,” he said.

Many students are concerned with the fact that they have to be on campus longer than they would like. Also, some students have on-campus jobs that prohibit them from riding the bus when it arrives to pick up students.

“It is hard for students with jobs,” said UNA student Russell Kershaw. “Many of us work late or participate in band or other athletics. So, we have to wait on the bus, and it is not always there to pick us up.”

In order to stay positive about the change and adapt to the situation, students like Nathan Rickles park their cars in the morning and do not move them the rest of the day.

While most off-campus freshmen would rather not park off-campus when attending classes, there are several universities, such as the University at Albany in New York, that do not allow on or off-campus freshmen to purchase parking permits or have vehicles on campus at all, according to the university’s website.

University of Alabama freshmen must park in front of the residence hall that they live in, while upperclassmen have specific zones to park in.

“It is not too bad for freshmen because they park their cars at their dorms and walk to class, but upperclassmen’s specific zones may not be anywhere near their classes,” said University of Alabama student Katie Langsford.