Monika Starling woke up drenched in sweat with a 102-degree fever. She slowly pulled herself out of bed but had to sit down quickly and wait for a wave of nausea and dizziness to pass. Her roommates had already left for the day, and it took all she had to drive herself to the Amelia T. Wood Health Center.
Once she arrived, the Ball State University student was dismayed to see all the parking spots were full. After five minutes of driving around waiting for someone to leave, she turned toward home. Once she got back, she began to place desperate phone calls seeking a friend available to take her back to the Health Center. After 15 minutes of agony, she succeeded. She was later diagnosed with a kidney infection.
"I was overwhelmed with rage," Starling said. "It was to the point where I just wanted to go home and lay in bed and be sick instead of dealing with the hassle of being seen."
This is just one of many horror stories of students too sick to walk to the Health Center only to cope with the inconvenience of an already filled parking lot. Starling's story occurred in mid-July, when the student population was low.
Just imagine how difficult it is to find parking now, with classes in full swing and the flu being passed around. It is bad enough being sick, but being sick and unable to obtain medical services because of parking issues is simply unacceptable.
There are 15 parking spaces behind the Health Center and close to 19,000 students on campus. Medical Director Kent Bullis said the Health Center sees, on average, 140 students a day. This number does not include the patients who use the Women's Center, Physical Therapy Center, Employee Health Clinic and the Working Well Clinic, which are all in the same building.
The Parking Services map shows the nearest parking lot to the Health Center is the R4 lot between the Health Center and Irving Gym. Students who do not have parking passes for this lot can't park there from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Health Center opens and closes during that time frame.
According to Phil Deloria, an assistant archivist for digital projects and university archives, the Health Center was built in 1964 when the campus had only 10,000 students.
Jim Lowe, the director of engineering and operations, said when the Health Center was built, the lack of vehicle use and the size of the campus at the time were all considered prior to construction.
It is now 2008, and our campus has kept up with new technology and has constructed more buildings to keep up with the growing Ball State population. In the past three years alone, Ball State has added Park Hall, the McKinley Avenue Garage and the David Letterman Communications and Media Building.
On campus, parking as a whole is an important issue, but having a place to park while you are sick is more important than having a place to park while going to class or running to the library. When Ball State students feel ill, they should not have to deal with anything except recovery.
There has been some positive talk about the parking issue at the Health Center. The tentative plan is to expand the parking lot when North Hall is built in 2010. So far the plan for the extension of the Health Center's current parking lot looks to be successful, Director of Public Safety Gene Burton said.
But until then, the next time you feel ill, remember Starling, and plan ahead by finding a friend to drop you off at the Health Center. If you try to drive yourself, chances are you will have to search long and hard for a spot to park your car.
Although the plan is to add more parking spaces, students need to know what Ball State will be doing in the meantime to help them when they are sick.
Students should not have to wait until the 2010 flu season.
Sarah Payton is a senior public relations major and writes 'The Paytonator' for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Sarah at sspayton@bsu.edu
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
