LETTER: Parking citation wrongly given

To the editor:

    Recently, there was an article written about parking on campus.  There were some statements that were said by the parking department that I felt were misleading.

    To start off, my husband and I were recently given a ticket for parking in the Spectrum parking lot on a game day after the designated time, noon.  We were disappointed to see that we had a ticket after being in class from 8:30 to 1:30 with no breaks in between, making it difficult for us to move our car.

    We went to get the issue sorted out in the parking office, but that wasn’t the end. After paying our ticket, we asked why the parking lot was closed so early for a football game.  We were answered abruptly by, “We need to set up for the game.” To my knowledge, all the parking authorities had to do was set up cones in the exits and entrances.

    The parking department said that they “take education into consideration when handing out citations.” I felt in no way when we got our citation that our education was put into consideration when we have to miss a class to move our car for a game.  Noon is too early to be kicking students out from parking lots on game days.  It was also said that the “vision for parking revolves around service – this is one of (the) primary concerns, and the customer comes first.”  When talking to the parking department about our ticket, again, I felt like our feelings were disregarded.  They were more concerned about reprimanding us about parking in the parking lot.

    The parking office didn’t help us with our questions, and after being yelled at by everyone behind the desk, we went to higher authority. It was only then that someone listened to our concern.

    The parking office can’t close the parking lots at noon and still expect to keep “education into consideration.”  I’m not writing this to complain about getting the ticket, we parked in the parking lot after the designated time, and we deserved the ticket.  I am writing in search of change; I seek for fairness to the primary customers of the university (the student body) who have paid to park in the parking lots during their school schedule.

Candace Knight