‘First come, first served’?

Are you one out of many lucky students with a driving license and a car that you can use to commute to our University? If so, this problem is also your problem. How many times have you been driving around, looking for ANY parking spot available? Probably too many… And this is not a ‘one in a month’ situation.

This is a problem that many of us - students — face almost daily. It was frustrating last year, and it is equally frustrating this year that new specialisations at our University have been offered. It is even more irritating because of the solution that is obvious and visible for everyone: quite a vast fenced green area right beside the University. Students are annoyed that it is always almost empty (you can find there 5 to 6 cars maximum), yet we are not allowed to park there.

We wanted to know why the situation is like that, and here is what we have heard in ‘Administration’ from very nice ladies who work there. ‘Some time ago this area was actually functioning as a car park, but there were complaints about the condition of the ground, especially ladies were complaining that it caused damages to their high heels.’ Well, if that is an excuse, there is no excuse at all. We don’t know about you, but we have nothing against leaving our cars there. We also think that we will not be far away from the truth if we say that a problem of damaged heels is not an obstacle for most students.

We have also talked to some of the students. Karolina — a second year English philology student — , said: ‘’I always have a problem with finding a parking spot. It doesn’t matter what time it is, I waste a lot of time, so in my opinion this closed area would be a really good option. The bad condition of the ground is not a problem for me because I wear sports and comfortable shoes. I believe that a lot of students — in particular boys — would say the same if you asked them”.

What we have also achieved is a greater awareness of University authorities about this orgy of accusation. There was also a promise given that the case of this unused car park will be brought up during the next briefing with University authorities. We are hoping that the authorities will actually talk this issue through and there will be some visible changes soon.

Żaneta Piwowarczyk

Aleksandra Wójciak