We are all adults here and we all learned certain things when we were children. We learned to flush the toilet after we went; to say, “bless you,” after someone sneezes; and look both ways before crossing the street. Unfortunately, sometimes the toilet is broken, sometimes we forget to say, “Bless you,” and sometimes looking both ways is not enough to ensure our safety. Let us concentrate on the third phenomenon.

The situation is always the same. You are standing on the curb, confident that a car will not hit you, and you proceed to cross the street. Then you see a Buick bearing down on you and you have to double-time it to get across. This is the fundamental flaw with the look-both-ways-before-you-cross system. Just because you see the car, doesn?t mean the car sees you.

This University can find the money to employ what seems like millions of parking enforcement officers to make sure that we stay between the lines of the parking spaces, but the people of this school have to hustle across the street to avoid a collision.This campus has almost 27,000 students with most of them driving their own cars to school. Quite simply, this school is too crowded and we are too dependent on automotive transportation. Now we can keep on erecting parking structures, or we can find a way to cut down on the cars.

Carpooling is the most obvious way to trim down the autos around here. With carpool spots in front of Foley Hall and on the first floor of the parking garage (the one already built), students can have a shorter walk to class and cut down on the traffic. However, with relatively few carpool spots, car-poolers will need to show up early.You learned how to ride a bike when you were a kid, so why not put that knowledge to good use? There are a variety of places to park your bike around the campus along with lockers towards Riverside Hall for those who don?t like others looking at their bicycles. People who live around the campus can take the Hornet Shuttle. It?s free for students and faculty and it will open up a couple of spots for people who have to commute in.

If free transportation is your thing, then go to the Sacramento Regional Transit System and get your fill. By showing a valid Sacramento State One Card, you can ride the RT buses and the lightrail for free. This is because students pay a nominal fee as part of the cost of registration, and since you are paying for it, you might as well use it.

When all else fails, walk. Get some fresh air and work off the beer that has no doubt accumulated over the weekend.

Finally, since I am a graduating senior I have no problem recommending the following to the administration: raise the price of parking permits. If the price was doubled, or maybe even tripled, it would make students think twice about parking on campus. By making driving to campus expensive, students won?t want to take their cars.

Ryan Flatley wants to hike your parking fees. Give him a peice of your mind at [email protected]