Unless you’ve been living under a rock, most students are not oblivious to the fact that parking around campus is a nightmare; particularly if you are a commuter student with a C zone pass. It is not uncommon for students to leave 45 minutes to one hour prior to class, spending precious time driving aimlessly around campus scouting out a parking spot, or sitting in park, in your lot of choice, hoping a fellow student happens to leave their spot at just the right moment.
Not only is SGA aware of the problem, but parking services is also aware; however, there is nothing to be done. Adding a 600 spot garage, solely for C zone, is too expensive and not feasibly possible in any location relatively close to campus. Most every Auburn student is fed up but goes about their day anyway; accepting the defeat and finding other, more innovative ways of getting to campus. That is until one student decided that enough is enough. Meet Madeline Lazenby Choi, a senior studying microbial, cellular, and molecular biology (with a minor in business). Some have even deemed her “the Parkingjay” (as in Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games). Madeline started a petition on Change.org less than two weeks ago and received over 1,000 signatures in that time frame. Both SGA and the Parking Services Director himself, Don Andre, have reached out to Madeline and even requested her presence at a Traffic and Parking Committee meeting. She will be representing the student body as a whole, and make our concerns regarding C zone parking known.
Madeline says she had been toying with the idea of starting a petition but was pushed over the edge one day; “I wrote the petition simply out of frustration while I was waiting for my Organismal Biology class to start. I was on the phone with my husband, who is also a student here that spent 30-45 minutes trying to find a parking spot. That pushed me to the edge, and I knew it was time to gauge interest on how many students and alumni are frustrated with the C-Zone parking situation.” Madeline did not expect her petition to gain the momentum that it did in such a short amount of time, exclaiming, “I never thought this petition would get 1,000+ signatures. I don’t even think I know 1,000 people!” However, one petition is not going to automatically create enough parking spaces for the frustrated commuter students. Madeline assures me that there is still work to be done but she is seeing things through; “Despite its popularity, [this petition] is meaningless without action. I won’t stop campaigning until some short-term goals are made to compensate for long-term goals to benefit commuter students now and in the future.”
We applaud Madeline’s efforts and will continue to stand behind her as the fight for commuter students continues. From the Parkingjay herself, “C-zone fire is catching and if we burn, you burn with us.”
Sign the petition here: http://www.tinyurl.com/auczone