...me being one of them. Now I don't like to complain (at least publicly or even just to friends), but this has been an ongoing source or frustration for me as well as almost everyone who owns a car on campus. Driving around for 20 minutes searching for a place to park where I would not get ticketed wastes gas, and that gas isn't cheap (and I could go on forever). It's even been suggested that we park on the grass if we can't find a single open space, since parking in a handicapped space would result in a far heftier fine ($20 vs. $250). Oh, and some people park their scooters or mopeds in spaces designated for cars--one per space, even. Extremely insulting, especially considering how much we pay for decals.
Students paid $110 for the privilege to park on campus this academic year, and we are subjected to a game reminiscent of "musical chairs" or "searching for a job" every time we take our cars out for a drive. If I weren't graduating this semester, I would have to face competition from an enormous 2008-2009 freshman class. They're letting more freshmen in than ever before, yet they build over old parking lots?
My Business Chinese instructor must park at the mall several miles away and take the bus to campus, so this problem is not restricted to students. Most students, anyway. In Fraternity Row, there must be a pretty low ratio of students to parking spaces compared to the rest of campus because that parking lot is enormous. Despite that, there is no way hell I would park in Frat Row. A parking lot of roughly the same size, which isn't far from where I live, is nearly always full.
The parking lots surrounding my residence are are not 24/7, so that means after a certain time anyone could park in them and avoid tickets as long as they move before 7:30am the next day. Something's being done to change that, but the changes probably would not occur before I leave for good.
The Administration doesn't seem to take this seriously, but they each have their reserved parking spaces, so how would they understand?
