Yahoo! GeoCities
Rachel Lincoln Ms. Gokturk
Expository 3 12/4/02
Argument Essay #2
When Steep Steps Causes Steep Problems
Have you ever tried to climb Mount Everest in high heels and a heavy bag loaded with schoolbooks on your back? Just use the stairs by the Monfort parking lot and you�ll have an idea of what it�s like. Everyday teens dread going up and down the disheveled steps that lead to a barely organized parking lot, which I believe, has been and will be a problem for our school system and must be fixed soon.
There have been many times that I have gone down the steps of Monfort and I blatantly lost my balance or tripped. One fine afternoon, I was with my friends, it was the last day of school and the final bell had just run. We ran down to the steps and while we were engaged in conversation, we had forgotten that the steps were not at 90 degrees and fell all the way to the bottom. We were lucky we didn�t get hurt and at the time we had a good laugh at our own expenses. But I thought to myself, "What if I had gotten hurt? It would not have been so funny after all." Someone who attended Schreiber High School even fell as she attempted to get down the stairs to safety. Leaving a school club on a dark evening she fell and required ambulance assistant, on that event alone, attention should�ve veered into fixing the crooked steps. In harsh weather, the stairs are a trap of death. In rainy days, puddles are hidden in surprising places since the stair�s geometrical shape is distorted, causing you to be soaked by surprise and unfortunately, slip and fall. During winter, patches of ice form, causing very high risks of injuries, and hopefully not, death. So far people have only received injuries, but one of these days, we may not be so lucky. So why do we want to leave room for opportunity?
Aside from the casts or gashes the child may receive, there may be a huge gash in the school budget, thanks to the Monfort Stairs. The Monfort stairs lies on the Schreiber High School property and therefore having a hurt child on those stairs may result in very angry parents. If things go too far, the parents may take the situation into their own hands and slap a lawsuit on the school, causing the school district to be out of a lot of money, if they lose. If a child were seriously hurt and ended up at the hospital, s/he would have medical bills to pay, if the insurance did not cover them. Not only does it cost the school and the injured child�s money, it also cost the school, people�s trust! Why would they put a potential death trap in the middle of school grounds? Why won�t they do anything about it if people had complained about Monfort for so long? Isn�t the safety of students and teachers alike, important?
Beside the dangers of the steep hill, there is the frustration of the distance from the school to the parking lot. After a long, tiring day at school, the last thing students want to do is trek a considerable amount in rain, snow, or the unbearable cold to the parking lot where their cars are parked. Students are often out of breath by the time they finally get to the car. The morning is also wasted with these parking spots. Students have to get up earlier, park in Monfort and run up stairs that stand at 179-degree angle without being late for class. The parking lot is so far from the school that I might as well walk to school and not drive, since I am going to end up walking anyway!
Speaking of parking lots, the Monfort parking lot is tiny and hard to get into. There isn�t much space, it�s basically many tight spots squeezed into one mini-sized parking lot. Since it is such a small lot there is also not enough spaces to go around for the entire grade and that leaves out a few unhappy licensed seniors that attend Schreiber. Another problem with the Monfort parking lot is� think about this for a moment: It�s 3:05, everyone is thrilled to be out of school, and they all go to Monfront at the same time. Everyone is in a rush to get off the school property and everyone can�t leave at once, chaos often occur as everyone seems so impatient, and leaves really large risks for fender to fender or other such accidents.
All in all, I�ve come to the conclusion that the Schreiber High School parking system is absolutely horrible. I am not the only person who feels this way about Monfort, all the other students that attend Schreiber, and most of the teachers have been complaining about the steps since the 1980�s. If the complaints have been circling around for so long, it�s about time the problem gets fixed. The system is dangerous, time consuming, and extremely annoying! It is strongly suggested that a permanent change is needed and that we need to do whatever it takes to make the school environment a better and safer place.