The parking division of the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety serves as a prime example of enforcer-student problems at MSU.

Academics at the university are exceptional, the sports are invigorating and the campus is one of the most beautiful in the nation. However, for anybody who owns a car, the campus experience is one of constant fear.

The parking police loom around every corner, giving tickets to seemingly every car possible, sometimes even giving incorrect tickets. Granted, they're enforcing university policies, but often these policies are outside student knowledge.

For example, the parking police (after sparsely or not ticketing at all in the fall semester) decided to give tickets to students parked overnight on weekends in front of Abbot Hall. Their argument was that the area is a parking bay off of a main road and that no parking can occur in such bays between 2 -6 a.m.

There are no signs indicating that this lot is under such restrictions, although the lot right across the street in front of Snyder Hall has many.

Did I mention that the parking police didn't ticket for the same thing in the fall semester?

The Parking Division needs to do a better job of informing students of parking policies on campus. In addition, they need to do a better job of training officers.

I recently received a violation for parking in a lot for which I clearly had the correct permit. To make matters worse, I was unaware of this citation because I never received a ticket. I only learned of the violation when I received an e-mail two weeks later telling me that my payment was overdue.

DPPS needs to fix something about its Parking Division. Students don't deserve to live in fear of a division that doesn't care enough to communicate or properly train their workers.

Kyle Martin
English senior