Pass: Messages around campus bring joy

If any students have noticed the messages written in chalk on the sidewalks around campus, they should pay attention to them.

The beginning of the school year is always my favorite time of year. There’s a ton of on-campus events, free food and of course, the cheap advertisements that let students know there are clubs and groups they can be a part of.

Not only are the messages funny — sometimes — but they are a great way to get people’s attention. Freshmen don’t always know what things they can get involved in on campus, and what better way to catch their eyes than putting it right under their noses.

Plus, it gives campus some color and decoration. It feels like I’m a kid again when I see chalk drawings on every sidewalk. Oh, what a time to be alive.

Freshmen, pay attention to those messages. They might be the key to making your college experience fun and unforgettable.

Fail: McDonald’s offers semester parking

Parking spaces can now be purchased at the McDonald’s, 545 E. Lincoln Highway, which is an indication that NIU’s parking situation has gotten out of hand.

It’s a bummer that I will now have fewer parking spot options when I drop by for my daily McDonald’s Diet Coke. It’s an even bigger bummer to spend $200 for a McDonald’s parking space for the semester — $350 if I plan to park there for the whole year.

If students are being forced to buy $200 parking spaces from the home of the Big Mac, then NIU’s parking is worse than I thought. Furthermore, if the home of the Big Mac needs to charge someone $200 for a parking spot, there’s a big picture problem we’re all missing.

I urge students to think twice before spending money on a reserved McDonald’s parking space when they could spend a lot less at parking services. Sure, parking on campus is never guaranteed, but neither is parking at McDonald’s, and that is not worth $200, no matter how much I’m lovin’ it.