Parking is a headache for most commuting students, and not much has gotten better since the start of the Rhatigan Renewal. While there are plans to build a parking garage on campus, students are currently fighting reserved parking spaces, fewer lots closer to the buildings and tickets for parking in designated areas.

“There should be no reserved parking,” senior Michael Bergkamp said. “There should be no teacher lots. There’s no point. They come and go and aren’t always here. If they need a lot, they should have it by the education building.”

Bergkamp said that every time he drives by the reserved teacher parking lot south of Ahlberg, there are always numerous spaces available.

“Most of them don’t even park in teacher parking,” he said. “My English teacher parks where there is availability.”

It is the existence of these open parking spaces that frustrate students like Bergkamp, who do not have early classes everyday. He also said that he has received several parking tickets for parking in the NIAR visitor lot, which rarely has cars in it.

Wichita State Police Chief Paul Dotson said that the amount of parking tickets issued on campus has almost been split in half compared to last year.

There were two parking officers during the day in 2011, but this year there is only one. Because one person is in charge of issuing all citations, Dotson believes the number has decreased because of this.

Bergkamp’s issue with parking is that he does not understand how the parking police know he is not a visitor to the building, and how they keep track of which vehicles belong to students.

“I got a ticket for parking where there was a cone once,” he said. “It said I was parking in a reserved parking space. There’s no way they could know that I wasn’t a part of the reserved parking. Except I just drove over the cone and left it under my truck.”

Dotson said that it is at the discretion of the organization that reserves those spots to ask what kind of car(s) will be parking there. Also, if they notice a car in a spot before the start of their event, they will sometimes notify the police department to present citations.

“I think that social contract rules in society and folks comply, or they choose not to comply,” Dotson said. “All of life is dependent upon compliance.”

Students have been struggling with parking even since before construction started around campus. Bergkamp said there are a few ways WSU could easily fix the situation without much hassle.

“[WSU] needs to get rid of all parking restrictions,” he said. “Unless teachers are restricted to those parking lots, it doesn’t make any difference. Some of the teachers are parking where students do, defeating the purpose”

Dotson said that the yellow-permit parking areas would not be taken away until the need for them reduced. He said faculty and staff have a choice of whether they want to purchase their yellow permit, and most of them still are. Until there is a reduction in purchases, he said, there will be a need for these lots.

Bergkamp is a believer that the parking garage, currently in the works, should have been built before the RSC project was started because to him, the issue of parking is more important than expanding the student center.

“It should have been done 10 years ago at least,” he said. “Right now, more than anything, they should be spending our money on parking. They need to hold off on any other construction until they resolve the parking issue.”

He said that if the college would focus on this issue, the rate of crime would be reduced.

“There’s a reason why somebody gets mugged every week,” he said. “No parking up close–you’re always parking in the boonies, so when you’re going back to your car late at night, it’s ‘oh, look I’m getting mugged.’”

Dotson said he and the department always promote safety and situational awareness. He said people should always be aware of events happening around them and take note of individuals’ body language and appearance.

The WSU Police Department have a website that shows people how to practice safe behaviors, as well as gives tips on how to lower the chances of being the victim of a crime. This includes walking in groups, which can discourage attackers. Also, calling someone ahead to let people know the estimated time of arrival.

Being alert and paying attention to the environment can decrease the chance of a person being attacked while walking to his or her car late at night. For more tips, visit www.wichita.edu/police.