There is no shortage of parking at DePauw, however deciphering when and where students are allowed to park can be somewhat of a challenge. I have a car on campus, and although I've tried to avoid getting these tickets, I still keep finding those little white ticket slips under my windshield wipers. It seems like if you have a car at DePauw, you are inevitably going to get a ticket.
The parking violation tickets are expensive, ranging from $25 to $50. My friend got one for simply blocking the sidewalk when she had been parked in her driveway over Spring Break, when there were very few people even on campus. Another person I know received a ticket for having the parking sticker in the wrong place. These ridiculous citations are absolutely unfair. While I realize that students are able to appeal these tickets, how often are people's appeals accepted? Wouldn't the more logical solution be to not issue these tickets in the first place?
I think that the campus should first begin with giving students and others warnings instead of going straight to the $25 ticket. Warnings would still let the person know that they have parked their car somewhere it should not have been. It will deter them just as much as a ticket. Oftentimes, a student receives a ticket when they're unaware of the certain restrictions of a parking lot or street space. A warning would let them know, and hopefully the same mistake would not be repeated.
DePauw's public safety should issue a "three strikes and you're out" policy. If a student violates parking or some other ordinance that has to do with their car three times, they are clearly knowledgeable of campus parking restrictions and have deliberately chosen to ignore them. Their defiance isn't as innocent as accidentally blocking the sidewalk.
As the system is now, students are learning relatively nothing from the fines imposed for parking violations. Twenty-five or $50 is a hefty price for a college student, and I venture to guess that most students don't pay promptly with cash. Instead, they wait until it shows up on their student university account and have their parents pay for it. The money is not coming from their pocket, so there's no real accountability taken.
Students at least deserve a fair warning to learn where they can and cannot park. Being a student at DePauw, as we all know, isn't cheap - and when parking tickets are distributed so liberally, it makes students wary of our own university. Being able to have a car on campus is a privilege, and the privilege comes with rules. But slamming students with hefty fines for a first-time offense doesn't teach them anything. DePauw is our home, and we shouldn't feel like it's a hostile environment. So let's at least try to help students correct their mistakes. It's a simple courtesy.
- Konicek is a sophomore from Geneva, Ill. majoring in sociology and education.