Off Campus Living: Parking

(As written for The Western Carolinian newspaper in my column "Off Campus Living 101")

After many nights of checking Catamount email for cancelled classes due to snow, spring is starting to return to Cullowhee. Hopefully, it will stay.

In the past week, temperatures rose and the sun emerged behind the thick mountain clouds to shine down on the Intramural Fields, Cullowhee Creek’s icy water, and the half of the UC lawn not surrounded by chain link fence. Honestly, I am more than grateful. It means I can stop worrying about one of the biggest concerns of my school day because I can bike in the warm breeze. I am referring to parking!

Parking is one of those diseases Western Carolina cannot get rid of. All the commuters complain that they can never find a space (at least not one that’s close to their classes). All the freshmen complain that their cars are too far away. The parking situation is literally a mess, and both commuters and residents suffer from odd, out-of-the-way parking spots and never enough spaces.

What’s the point in even having a car here if it is such a hassle? ...Have you looked around Cullowhee lately? You need a car to survive up here! Most people I know hate the walk from Reynolds to the dining hall. Now, imagine you did not have a car. Folks, it is a long walk from here to Wal-Mart. And, as an off campus student, I may not need a car to drive to school because my home is across the highway. But, I need groceries! Money orders for my rent! Without a car, I would have checked out months ago!

Commuters do have a few options to get them through the school day if parking is a problem. The Jackson County Community Transit bus rolls through the nearby off campus housing sites every school day, many times a day. Fare is free after flashing your Cat Card, and if you catch it right, the bus will get you to class on time. Another way is to make your friends wrestle with parking for you. Got a class together? Car pool and be free of parking duty thanks to your awesome pals!

On the other hand, Western Carolina makes parking more difficult than it has to be. When it snows, several parking spaces are eliminated for commuters because that is where the cleared off snow is dumped for the lot. Specifically, I am referring to the commuter lot next to Hunter Library. I have pulled into the lot to see over 20 spaces gone due to the lot was not cleared or cleared snow was dumped into the spaces. There have been complaints this school year that commuter lots have not been cleared at all even though classes are still in session. It is dangerous to drive on these crazy, curvy roads to get to class. If I am going to risk my life, I would at least like a snow-free parking space when I get there.

Speaking of dangerous, have you noticed strange, contradictory emails from the University? One was sent in February saying how there was black ice and snow on the ground, and travelers should take extreme caution. Directly under that, “changes to the university schedule have not been made.”

In December of last semester, a snow storm hit Cullowhee during the week of final exams. Classes were not cancelled, probably because it was exams, and commuters were forced to: a) drive and risk their lives in the snow and ice, b) take an incomplete on their exams and complete them in January, or c) reschedule their exams for another date before grades had to be submitted. I bundled up and walked through the snow and ice to take my exam. A 20-minute walk became ten minutes longer in the icy wind and slick sidewalks. Already suffering from mono, I risked my personal health to take an exam because the University was unaccommodating for their off campus students.

Why would Western do that? Is the off campus population that small? According to a representative at the Admissions Office, “about 50 percent” live in residence halls. However, the gap is even bigger when looking at Western Carolina’s website. On one page, Western posted the General Weather Policy that reads, “Since Western Carolina University is a residential university with more than 3,000 students in residence halls, the university does not… close its operations or cancel classes in Cullowhee because of bad weather.” It sounds like the majority of students live on campus and everyone else will have to suck it up. But then if you read the "About WCU" page, there is a different vibe. “A member of the University of North Carolina system, WCU now provides an education to more than 9,000 students…”

9,000 students! That means that there are 6,000 students who live off campus, take online courses, take classes at a different campus, or are studying abroad. Out of the four, two of these categories are affected by adverse weather and snow.

 While Western Carolina recommends that commuters stay home if road conditions are bad, I for one cannot afford to miss the majority of my classes either because of their content or because they only meet once a week. Every class is vital, and if Western Carolina does not cancel university activity during a bad winter storm, then Little Honda and I will just have to skid down the mountain to campus. Hopefully, there will be a parking space somewhere in all that snow!

(How's that for investigative journalism!!)