What do you have to say?

Parking comes cheap at other schools

I found the recent stories concerning parking very interesting. I graduated from Temple last May, and like most students I refused to pay $240 a semester for a parking spot, especially one that’s not guaranteed to be there. I moved to Louisiana this past summer and I am now in my second semester of law school at Louisiana State University. I thought you might be interested to know that parking for a full year costs only $39 here.
When you can go to a school that can provide parking for as little as $39, it makes you wonder why Temple really needs to charge so much for its parking passes. Further, I hope that Temple realizes that those are public streets around the school and that unless the city puts restrictions on the parking, the school and the residents have no right to keep students from parking there. It is just one of those drawbacks to living in the city.

Nicole Viscomi
Class of ’03, psychology

Dorm policy changes cheat upperclassmen

As an alumnus, I was thrilled to recently discover the online version of The Temple News, but was immediately appalled at the lead story of the University’s decision to restrict on-campus housing to freshmen and sophomores.
Having worked in the area of student affairs for almost two decades, including several initially as a Residence Life staff member, I thought there was no way that such a decision could possibly be made at my alma mater.
The Temple housing Web page speaks of living on campus as a means of “enhancing your time as a student.” The site goes on to say that “research has shown that students who live in residence halls tend to achieve higher grades, feel more involved with their institution and are generally more satisfied with their campus experience.” Forgive me then, but how do you justify the rationale to exclude upperclassmen from that very experience?
I became an RA in Peabody Hall my senior year. That experience and others as a four-year on-campus resident helped me choose my career path in university administration. I guess if I were living on campus today, I wouldn’t have had that opportunity.
It is my hope that university officials will take another look at this particular decision before alienating so many current, and in my estimation, potential future students.

Mitch Fahrer
Class of ’76, sociology