Jordan Bolker
News Editor
With more than 50 inches of snow since January, North Central College commuters and other car owners have become victims of the harsh weather through difficult parking.
Campus Safety has issued a total of 702 parking citations as of Jan. 1, 2014 with more than 90 of them involving student vehicles not being parked in the correct spaces.
“Because of the snowfall, when students go to park early in the morning, they want to see the spaces, so they park where they think it’s a spot,” said Emanuel Pavlopoulos, assistant to the director for parking and transportation. “If they leave their car where it’s parked in more than one spot, it blocks the entrance for two or even three cars.”
Pavlopoulos explained certain areas of the campus that have been commonly mistaken as parking areas because of the snowfall. The curves that flow around the parking lot in front of the Merner Field House, other curbs in front of the Residence/Recreation Center, and other parts of the College are areas that parking tickets have been issued.
“Other cars drive around the (Merner Field House) curves and they can’t move around because there are other cars blocking their way,” Pavlopoulos explained.
However, Campus Safety officers have come to be more tolerant and understand the difficulties that students have when they try to find hidden spots in the snow, which led them to reduce the fine of a parking ticket to $20-$50.
Students at the College, on the other hand, believe that lowering the prices of the fines may not be enough to satisfy parking controversies.
“If you park at a spot where you normally don’t park, you’re not familiar with the area and can’t always see how you should park,” said sophomore Samantha Neahring. “Especially Kimmel (Hall), where you can’t see anything, students will just park wherever they see free space. It’s also difficult when the snow is being plowed. It all gets piled up randomly and can sometimes cut off spaces for students.”
“When one student parks way outside the lines, then everyone else is off-kilter and susceptible to getting a ticket,” said senior Kevin Jackman.
In addition to charges on parking incorrectly, more than 200 of the overall citations have been dedicated to the failure of displaying a vehicle permit. Campus Safety policy explains that officers brush off the snow of the particular area where the temporary permits should be displayed and not the entire car in order to decrease time spent in order to check other cars. If the permit is not displayed as it should, a ticket is issued.
“It’s a uniform rule that we have for all student vehicles,” said Pavlopoulos. “But if there are incidents of permits being slightly off toward more of the center of the car, then we don’t give tickets.”
Jackman was one of those students that received a ticket for improperly displaying a permit but subsequently was able to have the citation revoked.
“I got it (my ticket) near the end of January a few days after the big snowfall,” said Jackman. “My permit was there, just under a layer of ice and snow. Thankfully, it was overturned but not without two trips to Campus Safety and a petition form.”
“I don’t think it really matters where a permit should go because there can be other things on the car like decals,” said Neahring, when considering if the permit policy should change. “It shouldn’t matter as long as it’s there.”
Until the snow reaches a halt, Pavlopoulos and the rest of Campus Safety strongly advises students to be able to identify where proper parking spaces are located as well as the correct way to display a permit.
“Be perceptive,” advised Pavlopoulos. “Look to where the lines are at. If you do not believe that your car is parked well, move or relocate the vehicle before leaving it.”
To learn more about where to park on campus or how to display a permit, contact Campus Safety at (630) 637-5911, visit the Campus Safety guidelines page on the College website, or ‘Like’ the Campus Safety Facebook page.
