Parking Corruption at the U
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Education
I’m looking to get the following Opinion/Editorial piece in the Daily Utah Chronicle. But that’s unlikely and I want some feedback anyway:
Allow me to begin my piece with a short story. Don’t worry, it’s very exciting and will only take one or two inches of this column. Besides, it’s a good story about the blatant money grabbing corruption going on right here on campus that is being facilitated by administrators. One day, I was walking back to my car after class and was surprised to see a parking ticket on my windshield for $15. I was surprised, because I was in a “U” parking lot and my “U” parking permit was prominently displayed in the window hanging off of the rearview mirror. Not wanting a parking ticket on my car’s record, I went to the Commuter Services office in the Annex to protest my receiving a ticket for no apparent reason.
The person behind the counter (which in case you didn’t know, has a sign above it saying “Cashier,” which I think is part of the problem) said that I either had to pay the fine or appeal it. Why? Why should I, after spending $125 for a parking permit, have to pay another $15 just because one of those men in shorts on a bike was to blind to see that I wasn’t parked illegally? In fact, why after paying thousands of dollars in tuition (I am currently classified as an out of state student, so I pay an obscene amount right now) to become a full time student here have to pay anything at all to park my car here?
But no, there is more to this problem. Last month, my car had to go into the shop for some repairs for a week and so I borrowed a car to use. By accident, I left my parking permit with the original car and so went to the same Commuter Services office and talked to a “Cashier” about getting a temporary permit for the borrowed car. I was told that I would have to buy a temporary permit. Why? I have already paid for a parking permit, why should I pay more?
I can hear their lame excuse right now, “Oh, well, you see, we have to charge for the temporary permits so that you don’t give ‘em out to people and they end up parking for free.” That is simply ridiculous. The temporary permits have expiration dates on them and they are linked back to my UnID, so they certainly should be able to catch something like that. I guess that it’s too hard for them to figure that out though.
And what does it matter anyway? Apparently, they will just stick a parking ticket on any car that they want. Which is why I recommend that no one do anything to upset someone who is a parking patrol officer, or whatever they are actually called (I call them “parking jackals” personally), because if you do, you will get a parking ticket. And from what I can see, there is no way to oversee such activity because you have to go through some appeal process, and how are you supposed to prove that you didn’t deserve the ticket?
Which is why I encourage all the students here on campus to consider the amount of money you are spending to be here. Whether you are full-time or part-time, undergrad or graduate, you are paying a lot of money to be here. Why do you have to pay even more so that you can have a parking permit? And why is there no oversight over the issuing of parking tickets and why do you have to go through an appeal process for wrongfully issued tickets? After considering these things, write to President Young at president@utah.edu, and voice your concerns about this issue.
