This is in regards to the Parking Division’s decision to convert Lot O from a commuter/resident student lot to a faculty blue lot.

Lot W, which is far off behind Lot O, will be expanded, however; they’re even adding 100 extra spaces! What a consolation prize.

I attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, which was located in a cramped spot just west of downtown Chicago, and never were heard as many parking lot bickerings as there are here in the wide open spaces of DeKalb.

Parking on campus was a privilege, and treated as one—a parking sticker was nearly $80 per quarter. Here at Northern the whole thing seems to be some big take-a-ticket-next-please fiasco.

Lot O, more commonly know at the Gravel Pit by its fans, is far off to begin with, but it’s well lit, and close to busy Annie Glidden Road.

Lot W is about three lots to the west from O, and as a resident on this campus, I do not relish the idea of leaving my car way way way out there, especially overnight, every night.

Faculty come and goes on a daily basis, so the chances of their autos being vandalized, stolen, smashed with bricks, etc., are far less than my chance, or the chance of my fellow orange lot people.

Leave the Gravel Pit to the students.

Maybe the Parking Division should also consider selling stickers on a limited first-come first-serve basis, and just charge more for them.

And maybe those people who only use their cars to drive home every weekend should just Cut It Out! Leave your car back in your parents’ garage and invent a life for yourself in DeKalb. How about that?

Ellen Dahlberg

Senior

Studio Arts