COLUMN: Did I really just get a ticket?
A $10 parking ticket just added insult to injury.
Here's the story: My 2003 Ford Taurus is in a state of limbo after its transmission suddenly stopped working on my way home from Mount Pleasant last week. Luckily, I was close to home, but when it's all said and done, I'm going to have to fork over about $1,500 to get driving again.
Needless to say, I'm a college student saddled with thousands of dollars in student loan debt, so $1,500 is a ton of money for me. To make matters worse, I chose to go into journalism and work at a newspaper, meaning I'm not exactly swimming in cash at the moment.
So, I'm frustrated. My parents were nice enough to let me borrow one of their vehicles for the week so I could drive up here in time to edit this fine newspaper yesterday, so I parked outside of Moore Hall as I always do, not realizing this car lacks a parking permit.
As I leave for lunch, I see the parking enforcement car driving off after putting a brand new ticket onto the car as if the parking gods were taunting me for my troubles.
Make that $1,510 because of a faulty transmission.
I know that $10 isn't too much money in the grand scheme of things, and yes, I was in violation of CMU's parking policy, but is it that big of a deal to be parked on campus at a time when only a fraction of the university's typical students are on campus? There were three open spots directly to my right and couple directly to my left. Not to mention, most of the Moore Hall parking lot is empty during the summer.
CMU should re-examine its parking policies.
Parking tickets bring the university a whole lot of money, of course, so I'm not expecting any big changes, but can we at least start with summer parking? Unless someone is in gross violation of basic parking rules (blocking a lane, illegally parking in a handicap spot, etc.), what motivation is there to give out tickets in empty parking lots besides money?
Beyond that, parking passes are a huge pain for most students. Maintaining a car and paying for gas is bad enough for students who are already paying a ton in tuition, but having them fork over hundreds of extra dollars just to park seems excessive.
I know the money the university receives through parking passes and tickets might do a small bit to keep tuition down, but students are hurting right now financially. Can you give us at least a little break when it comes to parking?
