By Nick Amon

 

As many of us can relate, college has the tendency to make us lose our sanity from time to time. Whether it’s being late to class because of a never ending train crossing through campus, or waiting in a 30-minute line to get a Subway sandwich between classes, losing your mind doesn’t seem like such an estranged thing to do every now and then.  It’s these little idiosyncrasies that push us college students closer and closer to the edge as each semester trudges on.

For the ordinary student like myself, it remains somewhat difficult to avoid sounding hypercritical when going on about negative things regarding the University. But when a public institution feels the necessity to increase meal plan and student recreational fees, along with the ever increasing tuition, the thought of not voicing my complaints baffles me to an uncomfortable measure.

Sadly enough, parking options have been downsized since the beginning of the fall semester.  So as many students dig in their shallow pockets to scrummage up an extra $100 for a mere purple parking pass, they might as well grab their hiking boots while they’re at it, considering they now have to park on the opposite side of the bridge near Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

Purple parking pass owners last year had the option to park in the main parking lot of Papa Johns Stadium, and purple plus parking pass owners had the ability to do so as well  across the street.  However, now that U of L has decided to completely rid the option of purple plus parking this semester, only purple passes are now sold to commuter students.

The cause for the relocation of purple parking pass owners is said to have happened due to yet another daunting construction project being administered by the university: a reason that rings a bell of unbecoming familiarity.

Unfortunately, this is all too familiar in terms of the University once again putting a good portion of its students on the back burner, all the while taking care of issues like entrance renovations.

So as many of us are in awe at the mockups of expansions U of L plans on starting in the near future, it’s hard not to feel like we’re being spoon-fed how great things will look “one day,” while once again we learn the hard way what these expansions really mean for us all.

As more and more expansions are set aside for dorm contracts and athletic renovations, and I walk down the halls of Davidson to see students sitting on floors, the confusion that follows such a realization becomes hard to shake.

There’s a difference between U of L continuing to expand and accommodating for inconveniences brought forth by such to its students, in comparison to expanding while turning a cold shoulder to the students who are paying thousands of dollars each semester in the first place. It’s unfortunate that our university can’t decipher between the two.

Expansion, in theory is great–but when the reality of it is me dropping $100 to hunt for a parking spot, then walking almost another half mile to a bus, the glitter behind the words “expansion” and “renovation” seems to fade away pretty quickly.

Artwork by Maddie Weiner / The Louisville Cardinal