Saint Mary's students who commute to campus returned from break to find they will have a longer walk from the parking lots to the main parts of campus.
The Science Hall parking lot, on the northeast side of campus, has been restricted to students and is only open to faculty and staff.
Students may park in the parking lot on weekends and on weekdays after 5:30 p.m., but many students expressed frustration with the new restrictions.
Senior Kristen Edelen, said the new restrictions are "ridiculous." Since returning from break she has had two warnings and one parking ticket. The two warnings were a result of being "improperly parked" in the newly restricted science lot. Edelen said the parameters of the lot were not clearly defined so she parked in multiple places only to be warned or ticketed. The new parking directions "do not clearly identify the first three rows," she said, and that the e-mails sent to explain the rules "just don't cut it."
"Mass e-mails to students are efficient but not the most observed form of communication because we get so many," Edelen said. "I delete most of mine."
Senior Kristin Amram was also frustrated with the new restrictions, and said parking in the Opus or Angela lots means "it's a hike" to get to class. She said student parking should not have been eliminated from the science lot because "for the past two days since we've been back, the new lot for faculty hasn't even been half full. They could consolidate the faculty into one lot."
Especially with the winter weather and winter weather warnings into effect, the new regulations may bring even more student complaints to a head, Edelen said.
