You know what really grinds my gears?
The Parking here at Mines.
First of all, it seems the entire goal of parking services is to pit students against each other. They avoid condemnation by sending one of our own to do their dirty bidding. In their parking services lair, they slowly turn the innocent work study students into parking death eaters, in an attempt to gain more money.
That brings us to the money issue. Last year I read that hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on putting those self-pay parking machines up. Hundreds of thousands? Why not spend that money on maybe building a new parking lot, or buying those kids who go around barefoot some shoes (we know that you want attention but it is the wrong kind of attention and it is less hygienic than the dreadlocks of the people at occupy Wall Street)? Now, even if these machines will turn a profit in 40 or 50 years, I would rather have a visitor’s lot with a single kiosk, rather than the numerous machines all over campus.
Another problem is that I do not see any new parking popping up even though the student population is constantly expanding. The Weaver Parking lot is closed. The paved lot at the entrance to the dirt lot is now restricted. Half of the lower CTLM parking lot is closed. The former Sigma Nu parking lot is closed. Even the Guggenheim parking lot is now inaccessible to vehicles after hours because you need to drive on a sidewalk to get there. Parking services is playing a musical chairs game with us. It starts off that there are plenty of spaces for everyone, but parking lots slowly get taken away, leaving more and more students without any place to park. Sure, a few more spaces may have been added to the Ford Lot, but adding parking spaces to the boonies of campus does not add convenience to anyone; not to mention that it is often like a game of Frogger to try to get in and out of the Ford lot.
The solution? Mines needs a parking garage. Either that or have one of the mining classes blast us an underground lot under the current dirt lot. Honestly, this would be a great addition to the campus. Those who park there would not have to worry about having to brush off ice or snow due to inclement weather, Mines would not have to plow acres of parking lots if it snowed the night before, and construction could not fit their big equipment in a parking garage to take up space that students have paid for. I am tired of having to arrive at school earlier than I want just to find a parking space; I am tired of feeling that if I drive anywhere during the day, I will have to add 20 minutes of walking to my schedule because I will have to scavenge for a spot; and I am tired that the limited parking that does exist is being taken away from those who paid. A collective group of engineers can build bridges, blast caves, and get oil from many miles below the ground, but I guess building a parking structure is just too hard of a project.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what grinds my gears.
