Student safety at Sacramento State is being compromised to make way for the future.

Reports concerning the $55 million building that is currently under construction to replace Foley Hall are old news; however, many students aren’t aware of the other changes that have taken shape – namely, parking.

Lot No. 2 behind Shasta Hall was made up of student parking, faculty parking and carpool spots until last semester.

In what seems to be a move to entice more students to live on campus, Sac State switched the student parking in lot No. 2 to residential parking only. As an added bonus, the construction in the area took away the carpool spots as well.

I don’t think I need to impress upon anyone how unwise it is to take away parking spaces from the general population on campus.

Additionally, these are the very spaces many students on the J Street side of campus used to shorten the distance they had to walk after emerging from night classes.

After sunset, Sacramento State transforms into a virtual ghost town, a very dark ghost town, lacking much in the way of security.

The conditions are ideal for the set of a horror movie, but are not particularly choice for many of the female students on campus.

“Our only options now are to walk all the way across campus or walk to overflow,” said Marcella Mojibi, speech pathology graduate student. “It’s not a safe environment. It’s really an issue of safety for many of us.”

As if this wasn’t bad enough, here is an interesting twist to the story: Many of the parking spaces that were re-designated for residential students go unused every day.

Parking that is close to campus is sitting empty Monday through Friday.

“If the spots were being used, we wouldn’t mind,” said Mojibi. “But the spots are empty and we are left walking across a dark campus. It’s infuriating.”

Mojibi has lodged numerous complaints with University Transportation and Parking Services without success. She has essentially been told the parking situation would not change and to walk in groups or wait (in the dark?) for the school shuttle.

One UTAPS worker even told Mojibi that current trends show most students stay on the University Union side of campus, so that is where the focus for student parking would be.

What is going on here?

How can walking in groups or, basically, trying to take classes on the other side of campus be the only solutions available? Especially when so many of the parking spaces that were taken away remain empty?

My attempts to ask UTAPS these very questions went unanswered as of press time. Several phone messages were not returned.

I wanted to present both sides of the story, but was shut down. Now, I’ve been forced to tell it like I see it.

Sac State is in a period of metamorphosis. The aforementioned construction and plans for a $77 million Recreation and Wellness Center are a testament to that.

School officials are hoping to increase future student enrollment and counteract the image of Sac State as, simply, a commuter school.

That’s fine, but you should not counteract the idea that Sac State officials still care about the current student body.

I’m all for creating a better Sac State, but not at the expense of students who already call this campus home.

Jake Corbin can be reached at [email protected]