Traffic and parking : The truth they don’t tell

Students across Southern University have recently been having issues with parking on campus. From passes to fighting for parking spots, it’s been a daily struggle for students.
Most of these issues stem from parking tickets. If you’ve brought a vehicle on campus or tried to park close to campus, you have most likely either gotten a parking ticket or have heard the horror stories about getting one.
According to sophomore nursing major Jasmyn Tobias, the parking situation is less than ideal for students getting with cars on campus. “It’s inconvenient when you have a car in college to still have to walk everywhere because parking is so limited around campus.”
But where, exactly, do these tickets come from, and where are the funds to pay them going? To get to the bottom of this issue, Southern Digest spoke to an anonymous source from Student Affairs. “Things need to change around here because it’s embarrassing,” says the representative as they express concerns regarding parking and traffic.
According to the source, traffic and parking personnel will go to the dormitories before students wake up in search of cars to tow and tickets to hand out. This has reportedly been a very lucrative strategy in collecting money for the parking department, according to our source.
If tickets aren’t paid, a student is left with three avenues. They will have to scrounge for the funds to pay these ridiculous expenses, be prohibited from registering for classes during their next semester, or the money will transfer directly from a student’s bill; out of the student’s pockets.
Before students are faced with their options, typically students do not get an option and the money is transferred “before the student even realizes,” states our source. “It’s like guaranteed money (for the traffic and parking department).”
Even in the designated areas to park, students still receive tickets regardless of if they have a parking pass or not. It’s because the administration has failed to clarify where students can and cannot park. In certain dormitories, such as Horace G. White Hall, students were informed that the parking lot in front of their dorms is off-limits.
Senior and White resident, Zavian Dulaney, has experienced these issues first hand. “It’s like everybody getting a ticket, even if you have a parking pass,” he explains. “My whole thing is, where is this money going to? I’ve been to other universities where the parking is free. Talledega? Parking is free. Alabama State… parking is free. Where do you expect me to park?”
Mr. Dulaney makes an excellent point. Why should the struggling students be forced to pay for parking on their own campus?
When asked for his take on the parking situation on campus, long time commuter and senior engineering major Devin Raby had this to say: “I feel parking has not made many improvements for students. With campus repairs going on we should be notified ahead of time. There’s 100s of teachers and faculty here compared to 1000s of students, so why is it that teachers and faculty who are likely going to be in one area the entire day have many close parking lots but the students have to park far in one or two lots, even though they’ll be walking all over campus?.”
Raby continued by noting that other universities have made necessary adjustments to accommodate their growing student populations, so why not Southern? “Why is it that I as a student have to park at the stadium or mini dome just to walk to the front of campus, At least other schools accommodate for their many students to park such as parking towers or multiple commuter spots,” said Raby.
To combat these issues, resources do exist. Our anonymous source suggests getting involved by addressing Southern University’s board of supervisors, which exists solely to address issues on campus. “We have to increase prices of permits and add students, parents, faculty (to the board of supervisors).” Once we as a student body assemble and speak out against these wrongdoings, only then will we see a change in the campus parking.