The Collegian

Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Chuck Grimmett

Security is upping the enforcement of non-student parking lots, Director of Campus Security Mike Wertz said, in preparation for winter. While security before would often let a student slide for parking in the faculty parking lot, now Wertz said it's time to be ready for when parking lots will get smaller due to the way the snow is plowed.

Wertz said he has noticed, despite stricter enforcement, that the number of tickets and appeals this semester is down from last year. By Christmas break last year, Wertz said, the number of ticket appeals were around 50 appeals - a number that is significantly down this year, though he said security doesn't keep an exact count.

"There's just a few who aren't getting the message," he said.

As for those who still haven't gotten the message, Wertz said security will not be as tolerant as they have in the past.

"I'm not going to be nice about it anymore. I'll do exactly what the words say," he said, referring to the parking policy security sends out every year.

Though security says nothing has changed in what lots are available, some students have experienced otherwise.

Senior Blake Halseide said he has gotten several tickets in the parking lot behind Koon Residence - a lot that Wertz said has always been off-limits to students. Halseide, however, pointed to the key for this lot on his parking map, Lot 19, which indicated that the lot is part faculty, part open.

"They're handing out tickets without warning," Halseide, who has gotten between 8 and ten tickets, said. "It's just absurd and arbitrary."

He went on to say that he would have at least expected a sign or e-mail informing them of the change. There is a sign that reads "Faculty Parking," but Halseide took that to be a partition, reserving one section for faculty and the rest for students.

Looking over the map, he said, "I'm mainly pissed because it's pretty clear that there's a dearth of student parking."

Wertz said parking in off-limits lots has not been the biggest issue this year - unregistered cars have, making up 90 percent of parking tickets they've handed out. This is a quick fix, he said, if a student just goes to the Fowler Maintenance Building and picks up a sticker, and he will usually write off the ticket.

Wertz also warned against parking on the grass, against which there is a city ordinance. He said if security doesn't get you with a ticket, the city police can.

For Halseide, another issue is the fact that his house is considered on campus even though it's near the downtown, directly behind the PS Mart and Citgo Gas Station - a designation that restricts his parking even more.

"They're trying to tell me I was further restricted on my parking," he said.

Further, he said, other houses closer to campus were considered off-campus according to the map he was shown.

"I would just like to know if they're completely arbitrary," he said, adding that he wondered if administration has ever calculated how much parking is needed for the number of faculty.

With a sigh of frustration, Halsiede concluded, "I've paid a lot of money. That's the long and short of it."

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