For the Iowa State Cyclones football team, the Iowa Hawkeyes will be the challenge this Saturday.

But for people attending the game, parking will be the main obstacle.

On an average school day, ISU Center parking lots just north of the stadium are filled with only a few hundred cars. Empty spaces can still be seen.

But when the Cyclones play at home the lots and the area around the stadium becomes a sea of cars.

The Department of Public Safety recently put up signs to help control the flow of traffic, but signs will not make more parking spaces.

Congestion near the stadium has always been a problem when we host home games.

Even students walking to the game have trouble crossing the street because of the high-volume traffic.

If students and residents in the area walk to the game it would decrease the amount of traffic and it would open up parking for out-of-town guests.

The university does not help the situation by only allowing rich alumni, who donated money to the athletic department, to park north of the ISU Center.

Loyal fans and spectators are forced to park on the lawn around the stadium, which is not only annoying for the fans, but it diminishes the beauty of ISU.

In addition, residents who live west of the stadium must take the brunt of the problem. After the game is over, they have to pick up trash left behind by angry spectators who had to park 50 miles away from the stadium.

Parking is an age old problem at this campus. Why don’t we stop giving the best spaces at the stadium to the people with the most money, and instead give some of premium spots to the true supporters of ISU — the tuition-paying students.