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Loss of space forces parking reassignment

Sherrie Huffman Reporter

Reconstruction of the parking system may leave some students struggling to find prime parking spaces on or near Appalachian State University's campus.

Approximately 400 parking spaces were lost due to construction on campus, said Roy Tugman, director of Public Safety and University Police.

Student parking assignments have been reassigned to accommodate the large number of incoming freshmen and returning students who wish to bring cars to Appalachian, Tugman said.

According to Tugman, previous policies allowed freshmen to park at State Farm and Horn in the West parking lots.

Sophomores and commuters typically parked at South lot or other "outlying areas," such as the Legends parking lot. Juniors and seniors could park at South or Stadium lot.

Parking assignments have changed for the 1997-1998 term. According to Tugman, freshmen and a majority of sophomores must now park at State Farm or new lots, such as Holiday Inn on Highway 321, Greenway Baptist Church, located on Greenway Drive or University Hall on University Road.

The University Hall lot has been used in past semesters for student parking, but Greenway Baptist Church and Holiday Inn are two new areas used for parking, Tugman said.

Tugman said juniors and seniors can park at lots Horn in the West , South, Greenwood or Stadium.

Tugman said sophomores will be greatly affected by this change due to the loss of South lot parking privileges.

Parking for this semester was primarily assigned by the pre-registration process that was held at the end of the 1997 spring semester.

Pre-registered automobiles were then entered into a lottery, although residency and class status did have some bearing on the assignments, Tugman said.

Tugman recommends that students deal with the changes in parking by finding alternatives to driving, such as riding the Appalcart, biking or walking to close destinations.

Student views on the parking problem are varied. "I'm not really happy about (parking) because (my car) is so far away," said Ashley Jones, a freshman from Murfreesboro, Tenn. "But I'm willing to sacrifice transportation to have a nice campus," Jones said.

Sophomore Dan Carroll of Raleigh said, "I think it's ridiculous to put upperclassmen farther from campus. They should raise costs of parking or eliminate some spaces."

"Upperclassmen deserve priority because (some people) already parked at State Farm for a year."

Until changes are made students, faculty, and staff will have to adjust their lifestyles in order to deal with the parking dilemma, said Tugman.

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