To the Editor:
I was one of the 40 fortunate freshmen who were allowed to bring a car back to campus for Spring term. After driving the 348 miles from my home on Long Island, I was pretty tired. In fact, I was so exhausted that I almost fell asleep at the wheel on the way up. It was late when I arrived -- I think between midnight and one o'clock, so I wasn't exactly up for parking in A-lot and walking back, so I parked the car behind my dorm, New Hampshire, and unloaded the car. After class the next day, I walked out to the car, intending to move it to A-lot, and it had been ticketed.
Reading the back of the ticket, I learned that the campus is divided into two kinds of parking places: core and non-core. The fine for students is $25 for non-core areas and $50 for core areas -- for the first two offenses. After that, every fine is doubled. Apparently the parking lot behind New Hamp is a "core" area, since I was fined $50, though I saw no signs anywhere indicating it was a core area, nor have I seen any signs anywhere on campus indicating core or non-core areas.
The most interesting thing I read on the back of the ticket was that those fines were for students only. For employees, the first offense is met with a warning. After that, every violation carries with it a hefty $15 fine -- with no mention of core or non-core areas nor any mention of doubling fines after the second offense.
The reason I am writing about this now, months after it happened, is because it happened to me again a couple of weeks ago. Once again, I got back from Long Island in the wee hours of the morning and wasn't up to the trek from A-lot. When I awoke the next morning, I'd been ticketed again -- another $50. The thing that really angered me this time wasn't so much that employees don't have to pay nearly as much as students do, but that several cars were being parked in the very same parking lot by employees of the Hanover Inn, all without being ticketed. When I asked Parking Operations about this, they told me that the College owns the Inn and that when the Inn's garage gets full, that's where they valet park guests' vehicles.
I may be just a lowly freshman, but I have a pretty well-developed sense of right and wrong -- and this is just wrong. The College seems to be saying that anybody can park anywhere they want -- except for students. We can all park in A-lot. The College should seriously revise its policy on parking and parking violations. A $50 fine is not only exorbitant for a parking violation, but is way out of line considering students are the only ones required to pay them.
