Editorial:

RHA has far to go with parking proposal

The proposal needs concrete requests if it is to be taken seriously.

Published Oct. 20, 2009

Driving becomes a nightmare for students who are required to move their cars on game day.

Students parking in lots WG1, SG4, SG5, SG7, SG9, RP10, CG1, Maryland Avenue Garage and Parking Structure 7 must move their cars for every home football game.

At last week's joint session between the Missouri Students Association, the Legion of Black Collegians, the Graduate Professional Council and Residence Halls Association, RHA proposed a resolution in which parking permit fees would be reduced for students in those nine lots.

They propose if fees cannot be reduced, the university should be more lenient on handing out parking tickets on game days. This is also fair.

In theory, this bill is great for students who park on campus. Students should have the fees reduced for the days they are not allowed to park in their assigned lots. These students experience a burden other students parking on campus do not, and they deserve compensation for that.

The real problem lies in the resolution passed by the student governments. It is full of generalities. Nowhere in the bill does it say the number of students who have permits for these lots, nor is there a recommendation stating how much fees should be reduced.

RHA has done its research into which lots are affected on game days and other factors, but there is still work to be done.

There is no way this legislation is ready to go to administration officials yet. When Director of Parking and Transportation Services Jim Joy met with RHA, he essentially laughed at its proposal. He made the point students are inconvenienced every day for one thing or another.

RHA needs to show exactly how many students are being inconvenienced and set a monetary value for that inconvenience. Until that happens, it is essentially submitting a wish list to the administration.

It is hard enough to get the administration to listen to students and enact policies to benefit us. When student governments are sending vague proposals to people, such as Joy and Vice Chancellor Student of Affairs Cathy Scroggs, they need to have a fully formulated plan. Administration will not take them seriously without it. Even if they have a plan, it is still up in the air whether the administration will actually listen.

RHA has a great start on this. Without additional research and logistics, though, nothing will get done. They should look up some more facts and figures and formulate a more specific proposal. Once that happens, RHA has the potential for real change to benefit a large number of students.