Imagine a campus where there are more cars than parking spots. Imagine a campus where you drive up and down each and every aisle of parking for 45 minutes while you hope that the student walking beside you does not cut across to the next row. Imagine a dog-eat-dog, survival-of-the-fittest kind of campus where you were forced to steal a spot from another student who had been waiting patiently, and you hung your head in shame.
Now, imagine it’s free.
Would all that much really change? Every time I fight my way through parking lots on campus, one thought bounces around in my head: what does my parking permit actually get me? It does not ensure that I will have a place to park, nor does it ensure that I have any chance of getting to my class on time. It does not even guarantee that I won’t have to pay a parking ticket, as I found out about a month ago.
About two weeks before the semester began, I came to campus for a couple of hours. The time between semesters is a weird nether-time for campus parking. Despite still being a continuing student, I was forced to purchase a one-day parking permit for the nearly empty lot. I put the parking ticket in my window, headed to campus and returned a few hours later to discover a citation on my car for $48.
It was then that I realized the sin I had committed: I put my windshield shade up on top of my parking pass — an mistake that was completely my fault, but one that should be easily remedied. I should have been able to appeal the ticket, show that I had actually purchased the permit and keep my 48 bucks.
It only took Parking and Transportation Services a couple of hours to deny my appeal.
If getting a parking ticket while actually having a permit is not grounds for a successful appeal, I am not sure what would be. But don’t worry, the Administrative Review said that I could still request a formal Administrative Hearing with the Administration, so long as I gave them the $48 first.
The thing is, for a state-funded university, the solution to every issue seems to be taking some more money from the students. ASI wants to create more activities, so the ASI fee increases. The University Student Union needs renovations — that’s okay, the USU fee can just be doubled. The state freezes tuition after doubling it in the last decade, so a new fee hits the students, and it comes with a ridiculous name: the “student excellence fee.”
So, this is my one request: how about if one part of this campus doesn’t try to squeeze dollars out of my already empty wallet? Let’s free the parking lots from the tyranny of parking regulation.
Let’s get rid of the need for permits and enforcement. If the parking situation is going to resemble a post-apocalyptic fight for diminishing resources, then let’s go all the way: paint over the lines in the lots, rip out the concrete dividers and let everyone in wherever they can fit.
