It is well established that students are unhappy with the remote location of A-Lot, the absence of student parking near the Green and the restrictive rules governing the use of cars by freshmen. But what many students do not realize is that College employees are just as agitated about the parking situation as they are.
The value of a decal
The core parking areas, which include the lot behind Mass Row residence cluster and other lots in close vicinity to the Green, are reserved for faculty and staff with green decals obtained from Parking Operations.
But new faculty and staff can be put on a 200-person waiting list for years before receiving a decal -- and when they finally receive one, they may disappointed to learn that it gives no assurance that they will be able to park in their designated lots.
Under the current system, decals are given to faculty and staff based on seniority. All service employees hired after July 1, 1992 are restricted in their assigned parking, said Barr, until they can receive a decal off of the waiting list.
Despite the existence of this large waiting list, Associate Director of Administrative Services William Barr said more decals are given out than there are spaces in the close vicinity of the Green.
Those who do not have a decal or cannot find a spot in a core lot can park at a lot near Thompson Arena or a newly built lot in the location of the old Mary Hitchcock Hospital. Advanced Transit shuttles are offered from these lots to the center of campus every fifteen minutes during rush hour, according to Barr.
"There is plenty of parking. It's just not for where people want to be," Barr said. "There's enough if people want to ride a bus or walk."
Barr said there is definitely a "parking crunch" in parking areas at the core of campus -- but he said little can be done to alleviate the problem.
Acquisitions Services Assistant Suzette Fegan said if she does not come to work by 7 a.m., she has problems getting a spot near the center of campus -- although money is deducted from her paycheck every month for parking.
"If I come in at nine I can be circling around the College for a half-an-hour or an hour sometimes," Fegan said. "One of my main reasons for coming in so early is to find that parking space."
She said she does not mind paying for parking, but feels the College should ensure that she has a space to park.
"They need to build a parking area that is sufficient for the employees," Fegan said. "They spend money for a lot of things for the students but don't think a thing about the employees and where we should park."
An office with an attitude
One College employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said upon complaining to the Parking Operations office, the responses received were at times "frustrating and rude."
Alumni Relations Administrative Assistant Julie Lepine said when she attempted to inform Parking Operations that a temporary employee had illegally received a green decal, she was told "mind your own business and don't tell us what to do."
Lepine said the temporary employee told her that she had gotten the decal because she knew someone in the Parking Operations office.
"Before coming to Alumni Relations she had worked down the hall from Parking Operations and knew the people there," Lepine said. "When she came to our office her friends gave her a decal."
The anonymous College employee agreed that knowing the right person can effect the way one is treated.
"If you happen to know someone who works in Parking Operations you can park wherever you choose, whenever you choose," the employee said. "It won't matter."
Also, the anonymous employee said Parking Operations personnel single people out because they complain.
"I know from past experience, if you complain too much, they will pick on you and ticket you whenever they get a chance," the employee said. "I have gotten a ticket for parking in a 'creative' spot that someone parked in either the day before or earlier that day and didn't receive a ticket."
Fees and fines
Parking Operations receives approximately $400,000 from registration fees and fines from faculty, staff and students, according to Director of Financial Services Win Johnson.
Faculty and staff have money taken out of each check for parking based on their classifications as employees of the College. The classifications are based on "disparities in earning potentials," Barr said.
Higher-paid employees are charged $120 each year while lower-paid employees are charged $72 each year.
Students are charged $44 each year to park in A-Lot, which is more than a mile away from some residence halls.
Some students said they feel the ticketing policy is unfair because rules differ between students and faculty.
College employees are given a warning for their first parking offense, a $10 fine for the second offense and $20 fines for each offense thereafter. Students receive $50 fines for the first offense and $100 fines for each additional offense.
David Gacioch '00 said the policy "could better promote an atmosphere of cooperation if everybody had to abide by the same rules."
Lepine said she thinks the fines are "ridiculously strict."
"They ticket anybody and everybody," she said. "They just don't care."
Despite the large sum of money brought in through fees and fines, Parking Operations turns no profit.
"It's a break-even program," Johnson said. "All of the money brought in goes to maintain the lots and pay for the policing."
The Fab 40
Last week's A-Lot lottery to determine who would receive the 40 spots reserved for freshmen angered many students who feel that the process is unfair and all freshmen should be able to park on campus.
Freshmen are not permitted to have cars on campus during the Fall and Winter terms and only the 40 lottery winners are permitted to bring their cars to Hanover in the spring.
After failing to receive a parking space in the recent lottery, Nicole Dielo '00 sent an e-mail message to Robin Guay, parking operations coordinator, expressing her displeasure with a system she believes is unfair.
"It appears to me that this is another set of arbitrary rules imposed by the College without reasoning merely to aggravate and annoy a student body already discontent with the College's attempt to regulate every aspect of our life," Dielo wrote.
Dielo wrote that the parking policy was contradictory because it prevents freshmen from having cars in Hanover during the Fall and Winter terms because of a lack of available space, but then grants freshmen spaces during Spring Term which is "the most crowded term for cars."
"I feel I have the right as an adult, student, and most importantly licensed driver to bring a car with me to campus in order to ensure my ability to leave the isolated prison that Hanover has become," wrote Dielo.
Gacioch said he thinks parking policy "steps beyond what the College should be regulating" by telling freshmen they are not allowed to have a car in Hanover.
He said he plans to help organize a group which will attempt to elicit the help of class councils or the Student Assembly to "work on the matter and come up with some possible recommendations for improving policy."
