The age old battle of who will get the closer parking spot is relentless here on campus. A lot of commuters get to campus early just to avoid having to park in P25 and P24 (the baseball lot), and on campus students park in the wrong lots in order to avoid a walk in the dark. Here are some tips to help parking on campus be easier.

• It might just be me, but my absolute biggest pet peeve is when people sit in their vehicles for hours just so they can have a close spot. There would be times when I was walking back from my 8 a.m. and the people who were parked next to me were still in their car. First of all, this isn’t good for the environment at all. Also, you can waste almost a gallon of gas if you leave your car idling for more than an hour and it burns up oil. Leaving your engine running for a long time causes more motor oil to be circulated and burned up. If you are going to get to campus early you can go to the Dick Smith Library or Barry B. Thompson Student Center.
• Try to park closest to where your last class of the day lets out so when you are done with classes for the day you don’t have a far walk.. If you have to drive to the Tarleton Agriculture Center park closest to your class before that, so you can get to the farm faster. Some professors will push their start time back a few minutes so you won’t be as late. Parking closest to your last on campus class can be a real lifesaver.
• This may sound weird, but map how far your house or apartment is from campus if it is closer than the walk from the baseball fields to your classes you might want to just start walking from your home. This will help you save gas in the long run as well as help set you up for a more productive day.
• Car pool! This is a great thing to do on campus. Sometimes you and your roommates will have similar schedules, so on days when you both will be getting to campus and leaving at the same time you can car pool.