Page 52 - Phoenix2003

Wednesday, Novemeber 12,,2003 - Page 8 COMMENTARY ~ change of McDaniel's parking problem and ticket Imajor policy revisited bv Ba lev Fannin A student responds to For the past three years beginning i igh school l have slept, lived, and breathe previous editorials and iology. I loved the knowledge, the passion nd the pure and utter excitement that i offers a differnt view rought to my life. J loved the random fact Safety didn't enforce the parking regulations, they will learn to be more careful. If their nd being able to understand the worl by Krysti Durcholz chaos a disorderly mass or jumble would un- tround me in a deeper more concrete an doubtedly be the result. Even with the threat car ist affecting traffic or causing damage, then Campus Safety should let them alone. ntuitive way. It made me think about my OWl I would like to say that I am appalled at of $25 parking tickets, students still park in If Campus Safety doesn't agree with (his ife and how Ifit into the scheme of the uni and ashamed of the not one, but TWO stu- the dumbest, most dangerous, clearly ob- policy, then perhaps a student board shou~d dents who have made THE SAME gross structive places anywhere from the end of a be formed to work with Campus Safety III But in my sophomore year the major too row of spaces to the middle of the sidewalk. tol! on me that [ did not expect. I began t oversight in their arguments about parking. I can't imagine what people would do if re-analyzing our current parking conditions, On their behalf, question my path and the path J set out be gize to the Department I would like to apolo- the threat of a parking ticket was eliminated. determining what spots should be considered Safety. spots accordingly. of Campus legal, and remarking ore myself after college. The work was n [ dare say we'd have cars parked in the Responsible students are well aware and may Somehow, adopting the above-mentioned ouger fun for me and the advanced classe. middle of Red Square. have even kept the memo regarding "Park- policy just seems a lot easier than having to became a burden. r began to write to fue In fact, sometimes I think that Campus ing on campus" that Michael Webster, Di- go through all the steps of forming a board rente of my frustrations and dreams into' Safety is too lenient. You know those cars rector of Campus Safety, sent to the entire and physically remarking the lots. oncise entity and realized that I was study student body via campus mail during the first that are actually, physically blocking the Is also sad but undeniably true that, if any- ng Biology for all the wrong reasons. I wa road? Campus Safety has the right to imme- week of classes. thing, to improve the safety of campus roads, nudying it because I was good at it and no After reading the memo, Isaved it in case diately have the car towed at the owns ex- some parking needs to be eliminated. I get ecause it made me happy or because 1coul I needed to use it in my defense if I got tick- pense, but do they? No. nervous every time I drive behindANW and ee myself in the field for the rest of my life Instead, they call the owner and ask them eted for parking in the grass around the sta- the library during the day. The idea to change my major hit me lik (0 move their car immediately. If the owner When the parallel spots are filled, which dium. I highlighted a portion of the memo, moment of'divine clarity. It was the middl which is still pinned to my bulletin board. is not in their room, they do some sort of is every weekday and frequently on week- f June 2003 and I was working a borin After commenting on the changes to mysterious McDaniel College Secret Service ends when there are sporting events, the' eceprionlst job that required no thought 0 Harrison Lot, the memo states, "Addition- business over the walkie-talkies and amaz- stretch of road that runs behind ANW and ctivity on my behalf. I began to bring t ally, parking is available on the grass around ingly, almost always seem to find the owner. the library is reduced to the size of a one- ~ork some short stories I had written. I ha the Bair Stadium." This is a very clear, very And guess what? Most of the time, the owner way street, while still serving two-way traf- een writing on the side wben I had th specific change to the parking policy made that comes and moves their car from an ille- fic. Parking should not be allowed on a tWO- chance. or the inspiration, for as long as at the beginning of the semester. Every stu- gal space doest even get a ticket! That's how way road where, when spots are filled, people an remember and although it was not th forgiving they are. must drive up over a curb when passing a rrst thing l thcugm of when I thought of III dent, including commuters, has a campus I do agree, however, that there are some mail! box, which means every student re- car on the opposite side of the road.needs !O ~Ients it was something that has been a sav flaws in the parking policy. I know for sure ceived this memo. come before convenience. ng grace in times where lillie could brin Thats not to say that some students didn't that there are quite a few spots on campus ls quite obvious to me that our parking re hope. just chuck it into the recycling slot with the that are not considered "legal" spaces, but problem doest really lie in policy ambigu- What I found in the pages I had writte onslaught of campus "junk-mail" they got that are perfectly safe and non-destructive ities, vengeful, unfair Campus Safety offic- as that Ihad a talent. I sat there in awe star the first week of school without even read- places to park. ers, or inattentive administrators. JtJies sim- ng at the words written and Irealized that For example, the small spot in the far ing it, which it would seem is the case with ply in the fact that the student populatiOn has or only had a talent for explanation but comer of the Whiteford Lot, where there's capacity. eve for it as well. Irealized that my adora the authors of the two previous parking ar- usually a Volkswagen Bug or motorcycle outgrown the campus parking too many s.tu- ticles. has admitted The college ion of writing was different from my lov The previous article(s) question the use parked. Another example why in the world dents. Iam glad Iam graduating in the spring or biology. Biology was a pass! ion [ ere of the term chao" by a McDaniel official. To are those huge end spaces at the back of Gill! and wot be around next fall when all the ted it was not necessarily a natural gifl me chao" is nor "deceptive rhetoric," as jun- in front North Village not spaces? MAYBEE members of this yeas enormous fresh~~n f>riting on the other hand was both. ior philosophy major Bradley Groover im- if two Hum Vs happened 10 be driving around class bring their cars to campus. Yes, It IS I was absolurety thrilled that I final! plied in his article about parking. that parking lot at the same time, headed in clearly stated in a memo sent to all students ound what was missing in my life but I wa According to Dictionary.com, chaos is "a opposite directions maybe then that much that parking is permitted on the grass around rising junior and taking on a new majo space would be needed at the ends of the Bair Stadium, I am sure m not tneant not only choosing the correct major disorderly mass; ajumble." who has experi- rows. money we pay but you know what, for the to go to this we school, on campus the only person or there is no room for mistakes in ones jun enced this chaos. And the North Vi llage residents need all shouldn't have to park our cars in the grass. or year of college, but also choosing a rna For example, we've gotten stuck several the spots they can get back there. m not lazy, They dot even have to park in the grass or that could be done in two years. times trying to drive through the parking lot but I certainly wouldn't enjoy walking from at Carroll Community College, and we're a r pondered over this for weeks in my ow Harrison Lot to North Village, especially in houghts. Struggling with continuing th behind Whiteford because cars have blocked the rain or snow. These spots the end spots "private liberal arts college" that is supposed The students on the end of to be rapidly gaining prestige. illegally the road by parking oad already set before me I came to the con the middle section of spots. There's a reason behind Gill, and some end and corner spots at Yale or Harvard don't park their BMWs lusion that something needed to be done why the row of spots stops where it does. all over campus are perfectly good spots that and Jaguars in the grass. We shouldn't have his obsolete something turned out to be t This has been as late as 9:00pm, and I for no logical reason are not marked as legal to get stuck in the mud when it rains. The ot only changing my major in my junio doubt that the drivers of the cars check spots. THIS is what needs to change. condition of Harrison Lot last semester was ear, but change to a self-designed Profes I propose a simple, logical policy: tick- Harrison Lot or the grass around Bair Sta- a disgrace, and I cat believe it was allowed ·ional Writing and Media Major in my jun ets should be given only to cars that are dium before parking illegally behind to be in such a state for so long. or year. I) obstructing traffic (pedestrian or ve- Whiteford. I have no doubt that they were What we need is more parking, not l am not ashamed that I left the Biolog hicular)or either headed for Whiteford, Decker, H.ill, clearer parking policies, and we need it fast. epanment and followed in the footsteps 0 or the Garden Apartments. If these assump- . 2) damaging school property (this would Is up to the administration to figure out where o many before me. I am more relieved tha tions are correct, this scenario supports the include parking on the grass). to put it, but in that case, it'll be at least a his epiphany came to me at a lime when campus official "student laziness" take on Why ticket that Bug harmlessly parked few years before a decision is made, and ould still do something to change my cur the matter. i~ the comer Spot behind Whiteford? Why another few years before the decision is acted ent situation. I think that a lot of fresh me I am also sure that these drivers dot think ticker the desperate North Village resident 'orne into the college experlenc twice before parking there, and if they do, it parked in a perfectly harmless place? I upon. Look how long it took them to finally Lot, and even then they deco- pave Harrison nowing,like J did, exactly what they wan is only because there worried about getting thought the whole idea of the parking ticket rated it with pretty little landscaped isla~ds ut of the major and subsequently have th a ticket, not about blocking the road. Park- was to punish those who cause hann or dam- of trees that take up a few essential parking ext 10 years ortbeir lives planed out to fol ing illegally is dangerous, and for this rea- age, or who create dangerous driving condi_ ow that tield of study. son, I think the price of parking tickets is tions for others. spots. A[lhoughjt is excellent to be mindful an justified. Is it possible at all, just slightly I~ this ist correct, then please tell me, repared for the future, many of us may for possible, that the high cost of parking tick- what IS the purpose of Ihe parking ticket? If - Krysti Durcholz is a senior et that college is about exploration and witl ets is meant to discourage illegal parking? ~am co,:ect, then even if cars are not parked Literature and Creative Writing xploration may come shifts in previousl Sadly, we're like dogs that keep running III technically "legal" Spots, why ticket them Dual Major onceived plans. Do not be afraid of thes to the end of their leash. They get choked, if they are doing no harm? This hiwever does hanges instead embrace them. It may be th but they just keep doing it over and over ~~:~.the burden on students to park in proper ast lime you have the opportunity to do so never learning that while it hurts, the leash Bayley Fannin L<> a junior is there to keep them from running into a . If st.udents choose wrong and their car rofessional Writing and Media busy stre~t, is meant to keep them safe. [s aifectlOg traffic flow or harming college h is quite clear to me that if Campus property, let them be ticketed, and hope that