The 101 on Parking

Jonah, Valerie, and Kelsey

English 101-012

Background

The parking at AWC is everywhere around the campus. There are 17 different parking lots on the campus. Most are a viable to everyone but a few are restricted for dorms and living cottages. The biggest parking lots, #1-#5 are located on the South side of the campus. Lots #7-#9 are located on the East side of campus and #10-#14 are on the North side. Parking lots #15-#17 are restricted parking lots for the dorms and cottages. The newest of all 17 parking lots are lots #1 and #2 and are also the biggest on campus. Lot #1is covered parking because of the overhead solar panels that act as covered parking also making a great use of the surface area. Parking lots #4, #7, #9, and #10 are decently sized parking areas on campus where as the rest of the of the parking areas are a smaller sized area. You can always get a map on campus or get one here.

Dorm Parking Problems

If you’re a student that parks in the dorm parking, this might be a very controversial topic for you especially if you live in Kino. The dorm parking lots are supposed to be private but for some reason, Kino’s parking lot seems to be an exception for off campus students to park in Kino’s parking lot. The students in Kino, which includes me, have a very hard time finding a parking spot on school days between the times of 8am-8:35pm which is the last class of the day. There has been many times that immediately when I leave my parking spot, someone is already in the process of moving into it. The really need to build a bigger parking lot on the Northwest side of campus because those two parking lots on that side are always packed and let the on campus students have their parking lot to themselves. It would be a lot less stressful on the on campus and off campus students.

Pros

The much appreciated shaded parking by the 3C building.

The much appreciated shaded parking by the 3C building.It’s FREE!!!! Some of the pros that are offered from the free parking by AWC is that we don’t have to worry about paying for parking fees or passes on top of the money we are already paying for tuition and books. The free parking allows students the ability to come to school knowing that they don’t have to worry about coming up with the amount of money it would cost for a parking pass, permit, or other transportation. Did you know that some schools charge anywhere from $60-$230 per quarter for a parking permit? So let’s all appreciate the FREE parking that is provided for us here at AWC. Student Input

Student Imput

When a couple of students that attend AWC were asked their thoughts on the free parking, a variety of answers were given. Mia, a student here at AWC for her 4^th semester discussed how much she appreciated the benefits of the shade parking by the 3C building. “After my car would sit in the sun all day, everything would be blistering hot by the time I left my final class at around 2. The shade has helped keep my car cooler.” Mark who is in his 1^st semester at AWC stated “I love how it is free and you can park anywhere but the long walks to class and back can be kind of a pain.”

Cons

One of the many uncovered parking lots.

Let’s look at our free parking situation and its cons. (Remember, it’s FREE.) Yes, there are many complaints about the few parking spots for the many students that attend here. I understand where you’re coming from for I am a student here also. It doesn’t matter if you are here all day or if you only have one class on campus. The parking lots are always full with very few spots open. Unless you want to park all the way at the other end of campus in the 3C building where there are a few parking spots in the very back. Another con is that there is only shaded parking in part of the 3C parking. If you park anywhere else on campus, your car will be parked in the Arizona heat. So your parking choices pretty much are: 1. Park in shade and walk to the other side of campus or 2. Park in the hot sun, closer to your classes, but your car is scorching hot when you come back. Which will you choose?

Solutions

Now that we know things that need to be fixed, we can discuss how to fix them. One solution could be, but probably rather not to be, is pay for a parking pass. This could get expensive and still doesn’t fix the heat of parking anywhere but in 3C parking. A second solution could be to have more shaded parking in more of the parking lots. Another possible solution could be is to simply just add another parking lot or two but that’s not something us as students have any control over. Students could buy themselves a sun reflector for their car to help keep your car a little bit cooler. Another idea is car pool with other students to help save the parking spaces. If four students all car pooled together in one vehicle, that would save 3 parking spots for other students. For more tips on how to keep your car cool while its parked visit this site. And last but not least, the solution that’s not really a solution, just get over it and continue to look for a good parking spot when you come to class and always remember, at least it’s FREE!!!!

When you find that perfect parking spot. (: