So there has been a lot of talk on campus about parking issues and how there isn’t adequate parking for commuters. As being a commuter myself, I agree. We get the option to park on the outskirts of campus, if you will and it is our only option until 3 p.m.
The parking fee is not an issue, $118.80 is a decent price compared to other SUNY school parking fees AND freshmen are allowed to have cars. This fee goes toward the officer’s salary so it’s not like it is a useless and overpriced fee.
The real issue here is space and where the spaces are located. Yes, faculty should have designated parking spaces and lots specifically for them. However, as far as students, I feel as though all lots should be fair game: commuter and resident. We are all paying the same price for the parking fee so we should all get a fair chance at parking spaces and shouldn’t be penalized for parking in a resident lot. Most of the students who do live on campus don’t use their cars on a daily basis anyway; they just sit there taking up space. Yes, some students do use their cars daily but others don’t and in most parking lots, a lot of spaces are still open and are open the whole year and commuters still get punished for parking there, with a $20 ticket.
One way to help alleviate this problem would be allowing only sophomore, juniors and seniors the option to have cars on campus. That way it opens up some of the resident lots and that open space could be used for commuter students.
This is my first year as a commuter but I know that the winter is going to be a long walk from the commuter lot to classes. We are on lake Ontario so it’s obvious that there are going to be strong winds and a lot of lake effect snow.

Okay, just kidding the snow doesn’t get this bad. But we do get a lot.
There just has to be some solution to this issue or parking. It’s not fair to exclude commuters just because they don’t live on campus.
**This blog is purely opinion and is not meant to degrade SUNY Oswego in anyway shape or form. Every college campus has their issues. I am only expressing my opinion**