Opinion

“I vote to put this FIT Center venture off until the parking situation is resolved.”

As a former Marine and exercise enthusiast, my first reaction to hearing of new plans to place a new FIT Center under construction was “hmm…cool.”  I have been using the facilities for many years now with complete satisfaction.  That reaction only lasted seconds until I then considered the other issues that in my opinion should take priority over this venture, namely parking.  For years now, I have had to deal with an insufficient and inefficient parking situation.  In order to make it to class on time, I am generally required to start looking for parking nearly half an hour in advance of my class.  Most weeks, I burn at least a couple of gallons of high priced fuel, circling around and around parking lots in search of a vehicle leaving a space.  I have had grades lowered, had less time on tests, and have had to deal with dirty looks from classmates, all due to tardiness caused by having to park on the complete opposite end of campus from my classes.  I have also had to pay several fines when the only parking left is in a faculty spot.  In my opinion and that of nearly every student I converse with, TTU needs to consider this parking situation a priority.  People can always modify their own personal free time to use the FIT facilities during a time of less student/alumni frequency.  Unfortunately, most students cannot modify the time they have between classes just to find efficient parking.  Additionally, the creation of more parking spaces is a drastically less expensive venture than that of constructing a new FIT center.  I vote to put this FIT Center venture off until the parking situation is resolved.