Students Should Come First
On Tuesday evening, I drove to the Fine Arts Center to attend my weekly class. I am fortunate that I left my apartment half an hour early (hoping to get in a little bit of practice on my trombone), as it took me somewhere between fifteen and twenty minutes to find someplace to park (I ended up parking in the A4 lot behind the University Press building). The parking lot and the courtyard were jammed with what must have been half of the female population of Logan (few of which appeared to be college age). I can only assume that some private community organization was holding a major event in the Kent Concert Hall. After leaving my apartment half an hour before my class started, I was barely able to make it on time. About a quarter of the class, however, was late, undoubtedly because they couldn’t find parking. If a private organization unaffiliated with the university is planning a major event on a night when university classes are being held, they should not be allowed to hinder fee-paying students. I suggest three alternate options: 1. no major non-university event be allowed on campus on class nights; 2. major events only be allowed at the Spectrum, which is designed to handle large numbers of people and cars; or 3. the community raise funds to build their own community events center (which would include a concert hall). Regardless, the university must give priority to students and faculty over private community organizations.Sincerely,Nathan Baker[517130105797-6425sln6n@cc.usu.edu]