Parking tickets put price on responsibility
By Editorial Board: Britt Johnsen, Leslie Andres, Kristen J. Kubisiak
The issue: Summer parking is scarce, despite there being a lesser number of students, and students are complaining that they should not be ticketed.
What we think: Students should take responsibility for finding out where they can park during the summer
A common complaint among students and visitors to SCSU is the parking availability or lack thereof. This is one reason students may be inclined to park anywhere they want.
As a result, several hours later, or even the next day, disgruntled students pour through the doors of the Public Safety Department after peeling pale gray tickets from their windshields, demanding an explanation.
This situation is one that could easily be avoided.
It's true that the parking is not nearly enough to accommodate the students on campus, the students off campus, as well as faculty and staff. But, upset students have to realize some things.
First, the main thing that separates college students from high school students is independence. College students are, for the most part, masters of their own destiny.
This fact is even recognized by the law which identifies age 18 as old enough to decide whether or not to buy tobacco products, permanently scar their body with tattoos, or pierce their skin.
As such, students should not have to be reminded that they should make themselves aware of the rules and regulations at SCSU. And this includes parking.
After all, if you are old enough to decide almost anything for yourself (with the exception being the ability to consume alcohol if you are under 21), then it is only reasonable for PSD (and the university) to expect you to know the rules and regulations.
Secondly, student parking lots are open during the summer. But many students choose to park their vehicles in faculty and staff parking lots.
Students should realize that there are still many faculty and staff working throughout the summer. These people need their parking spaces. It is unfair for students to think they can park their vehicles in these lots and expect the working members of the SCSU community to give up their spaces.
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