Dear Editor:

‘

As a handicapped student of SIUC, I have an extremely difficult time quite often finding open handicap parking spaces.

As a senior in the Anthropology Department., I find myself having to park in the handicap parking spots in the cul-de-sac at the north end of Faner Hall.

I have been parking there for the past three years (6 semesters), as most of my classes have been in Faner Hall. There is just barely enough space to squeeze five cars into the blue-marked spaces along the cul-de-sac.

Under the overhang, outside door No. 13, there used to be two more handicap spaces, making a total of seven spaces for all of us who need to have access to this area.

Most of the time, unless you get there very early in the day or you’re very lucky, you can’t avail yourself of one of those spaces and you have to park in the handicap spaces for one of the other buildings (Woody Hall, for example) several hundred yards away.

As my personal handicap involves severe arthritis in my back and legs, I can’t walk such distances without difficulty.’ ‘

My problem is that this semester, for some unknown reason, the parking department has taken one of those meager seven parking spaces at the north end of Faner Hall and turned it into a parking space for ‘Service Vehicles Only.’

This makes no sense whatsoever because SIUC service vehicles do (and always have) park wherever they want to!

They simply pull up and park wherever they decide to stop, no matter where that might happen to be (at least this has always seemed to me to be the case).

What is the point of taking away a very precious and necessary handicap parking spot and turning into a parking space for service vehicles that don’t need it?

This makes absolutely no sense and is an outrage to those of us who desperately need those handicap parking spaces.’ ‘

Hopefully, those who took this action will reconsider it and return this space back to those who need it – those of us who can’t walk to class from way out in left field.’

Bob Rindfuss

senior studying anthropology