Heather Madden
Published: September 11, 2006
Every school morning Beth Gindl, a 19-year old student at PJC, wakes up an extra 20 minutes early to arrive on the Pensacola PJC campus 30 minutes before her first class — enough time to find a parking spot and arrive in class on-time. Gindl is not the only student with parking problems. Many students are finding it difficult to find parking spots even after noon.
Because fall term is usually the busiest, students have been slowly adjusting to the parking situation on campus. But to several students, there seems to be too many parking spots for the faculty, and not enough for the students.
“There are too many teacher spots by Bldg. 1 and not enough student spots,” said Gindl. “There are more students than teachers and it’s vice versa on the parking.”
Gindl has, like many others, already been ticketed for parking outside the designated student parking area.
“People are rebelling with parking, and getting in trouble,” Gindl said.
Some students even park on the curb, or in other no parking zones just to get to class on time.
“I’ve been late to a couple of classes because of how congested it is. People are trying to get in and get out,” said Jennifer Schroeder, a philosophy student.
Schroeder also said that the parking situation should be reorganized to fit more parking spaces and suggests more time in between classes for parking.
It is no surprise that finding a parking spot in Lots 4, 1, 7A, and 7E is nearly impossible at 9:20 a.m.
“People have been parking at the mall and walking over,” said student Chris Ford. “The smart thing to do is ride their bikes.
“There should be more, highly designated parking for faculty and students,” Ford said. He also mentions seeing students parking in faculty spots and faculty parking in student spots. “Both should be penalized!”
Some students think that PJC should just completely change the way it controls parking.
“If you look at major universities, they have zoned parking,” Thomas Clark, 21, said. He also said that the parking lot by Bldg. 1 should be expanded.
The PJC Police Department recommends getting to school earlier and choosing a central parking location to your classes.
As far as any plans go to correct the parking problem, they said students will just have to get used to walking.
“With time, it will weigh itself out,” Ford said. “After the first couple of weeks, people know where they’re going.”