Cruise around campus and you'll see them.  They're pretty unavoidable. At the most convenient dorm parking spots to park at, you'll find the glaring orange letters: "RA."  These spots reserved for our wonderful resident assistants taunt and mock those who are not hand-picked for this elite crew.

        You know the scene. You're coming back from your late night Adalberto's run, usually with something containing carne asada in one form or another, and the campus that was deserted when you left suddenly resembles the parking lot at the Super Bowl. Suddenly, a bright light shines upon an empty space and the angels sing for a split second before you see those cursed orange letters again.

        Many people ignore the restriction and park there anyway, and most of the time, you can get away with that. Occasionally though, you'll be taking the space of an RA who really doesn't want to park down at Lucky's and walk back to his/her dorm.

        When this happens, there are a few alternatives the RA's can rely on. We've all heard the famous all-calls to "move your cars out of those spots or they will be towed."

        Also, the they can, and are supposed to, give tickets to those who take the coveted spots. But, I know quite a few of the RA's.  Most of them are pretty nice people who really don't want to do that. In addition, security has problems with the spaces because not even the most dedicated officer is going to remember the car of every RA on campus.

        Are the spaces really necessary? The ASB Council doesn't get personalized parking spaces. Neither does the staff of Spiritual Development. Most of the professors only get a parking lot that they have to share with commuter students. The Cabinet doesnt get parking spaces either. The "Friends of the President" have some spaces specifically marked, but apparently PLNC Security doesnt think that we are the friends of Dr.  Bond, no matter what he says in the chapel addresses that he gives.

        Also, the spaces don't serve any practical purpose. RA's usually dont have any major emergencies in their wings, floors, or units, so they don't need immediate parking. At least, I have never had a violent disagreement with my roommate.

        I'm certainly not trying to suggest that the RA's don't deserve those parking spaces.  I'm simply stating that normal students and other people deserve them as well.