At the beginning of this semester, a new Instagram account was created with a simple mission: to record the less-than-stellar parking on St. Edward’s University’s campus. Each post from the account, aptly named @badseuparking, showcases vehicles uncomfortably close to other vehicles, taking up two spots or illegally parked. 

The account was started by two friends who were inspired by similar accounts they saw on TikTok. 

“Last semester, we would go out to eat and when we came back we would always see people who were terribly parked,” G, one of the owners of the account, said. “We left for winter break and forgot about it, but then my friend was like, ‘I made (the account)’ and I was like, ‘yay.’”

At the time of writing, the account has gained 800 followers in just over a month.

“The response has been crazy,” G said. “We were not expecting this.”

“I think (the account) is funny,” St. Edward’s student Patrick Richardson said. “I think it’s a good thing because it makes people park better.”

Abbi Poirier, another student, said she regularly submits photos to the account but has not been featured herself. Poirier also enjoys seeing if she recognizes the vehicles that get featured.

One student who was featured was junior communication student Izzy Garza. 

“I started laughing when I saw myself on the account,” Garza said. “I thought it was hilarious; it’s an honor to be featured.”

Students with vehicles pay up to $310 annually to park on campus. This is on top of tuition, housing, the costs of course materials, vehicle insurance, state registration fees and the other costs that come with owning a vehicle. According to the Parking Services Office, a parking permit cannot be included in the cost of tuition because not every student has a vehicle.

One way the university could help minimize the cost of attending college would be to provide free bus passes for all students. Currently, the university provides free bus passes to students who live on campus, which means just over half the student population still pays to ride the bus. 

Providing free bus passes to students and faculty who commute to campus would not only relieve financial stress but would also help reduce carbon emissions from vehicles and minimize incidents of bad parking as well. 

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