Why should students at Bakersfield College have to pay for parking? It is ridiculous that after all of the money we put into going to school here, we still have to pay to park on campus.

Considering other expenses college students have throughout a semester here, the thought of an added one like parking seems a bit over the top. Still, this would be fine if not for the fact that BC students are subjected to parking fees; however, BC staff is not.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. I understand the school uses those funds properly and effectively, but it seems unjustifiable to charge students for something you don’t charge staff for.

Yes, the BC staff is amazing, and I believe they deserve certain benefits accompanied with working here. However, with the amount of staff BC has, it just seems unjustifiable that you can give them preference with parking over students.

Most staff at BC makes literally thousands more than the average student. This allows for more disposable income to use for things like a simple parking pass. Average students can’t afford the $40 for the pass, so in turn they are forced to find alternative means of parking either off-campus or illegally on-campus.

This raises problems for students, considering that parking on-campus without a pass can result in a $35 ticket from the school. That is crazy considering that if a student can’t afford parking pass then how does administration expect them to afford the ticket. That’s basically adding insult to injury by telling students, “Hey if you can’t afford the pass that’s not our problem. Here is a ticket for being poor.”

A good number of BC students are on financial aid, and with the new disbursement methods splitting up the payments, students are getting it even later in the semester. Now imagine a student who relies solely on those checks to pay for expenses in a semester.

Forty dollars to them can be a real deal-breaker considering what little money they will have to work with after paying for books. It’s just not plausible for some students to pay for parking, that money is needed for things like groceries, gas or rent.

The staff at our school is made up of established members of society with careers and stability. They can afford to throw away $40 for a parking pass; hell, I bet they could even afford to pay for the $5 day-pass. The students, however, don’t have these luxuries.

I’m not saying $40 will make or break a person, but I do know that $40 is enough for a weeks worth of groceries for myself. Maybe I’m being too harsh considering every other school in our district has the same policy, but things change for a reason and usually change is for the better.