Dear Editor: I am writing this letter to address the parking situation on campus this semester. I realize that enrollment has increased and we lost some resident parking due to the building of the new dorm. I completely understand these previously listed problems but what I don’t understand is why the university allows the residents to park anywhere they like, and therefore take all of the parking spaces on the Burgin Dossett side of campus. I completely understand the need for the residents to have transportation. I do not think it is fair to tell them they can’t have a vehicle on campus like some universities do, but I do think that there should be some rules enforced upon the residents.

I commute from Elizabethton and I get here at 7:30 a.m. and still have to park in the parking areas that are the longest distance from my work and classes, which are in Rogers-Stout Hall. It is not fair to commuters who have to not only drive 15 or 20 minutes and sometimes even 30 or 45 minutes to get to campus to then have to walk another 15 minutes to get to class. The residents on the other hand get to park right in front of where they live and they never have to drive to class and find a parking space because they walk.

In my opinion the residents should have to park in the outer parking areas and then when they do need to use their vehicles they can either take the BUCSHOT or walk because they are not in constant need of the use of their vehicles. The commuters attending this university pay their tuition and fees just like the residents do and we should not have to give up parking so the residents can park right in front of where they live and only use their vehicles when they leave campus. I would like to know why this is being allowed to go on and I would like all of the commuters on campus to stand up and express their opinion because I know they have one because I have heard them complaining since the start of the semester.

– Kim Woodring

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