Story and photos by Abby White
Parking passes and tickets seem to be a constant topic of conversation among lower classmen and upperclassmen alike.
This year differed from previous as sophomores were not allowed to purchase parking passes until Aug. 22nd. This caused concerns among many sophomores.
“I was one of the sophomores who got a parking ticket on the 22nd and there were more people than I expected to get their parking passes. I have a feeling they will run out pretty quickly,” said sophomore Amarah Salerno. “Yes we’re sophomores, but if you can drive I don’t see why we couldn’t get our passes the same time everyone else did.”
“There is an increase of students and something needs to be done about the parking situation,” said senior Jared Vahrenberg.
Getting parking passes later also lead to annoyance among those who could drive before the date they were given out. “I was frustrated because I couldn’t drive myself the first couple days of school,” said sophomore Sophia Mitchell.
“The reason sophomores have to wait to get their tickets is that there is not enough parking. We have 840 parking spots and will sell about 940 total,” said Campus Supervisor Sidney Moore.
Some students do not think it makes any difference when y
ou get your parking pass. “I’m not sure if there is really an advantage/disadvantage to it, since LSW goes off a first come first serve basis. It’s not like since they got [parking passes] late they won’t have a spot,” said Vahrenberg.
Having to wait in line to get parking passes, however, did cause some students to be unable to get their parking pass in time to take it out to their car.
Salerno said she wasn’t allowed to go back outside to her car because by the time she got her parking pass, the bell had already rung. “I showed Mr. Honn my parking ticket the next morning and explained to him that I had just gotten my pass the day before. He took the ticket from me, crinkled it up and said ‘Have a nice day!’” she said.
However, sophomores were not the only students to be issued tickets.
“I got a ticket because I had done online registration and forgot to grab it that day I went in for senior pictures. I then went to student administration and other offices trying to get it sorted out and nobody was there to help me and I didn’t get it done in time,” said Vahrenberg.
Some students understand the necessity in being strict about tickets, “I think whatever they need to do to keep people safe is what they should do,” said Mitchell.
Salerno said that “giving out tickets can prevent students from thinking there won’t be consequences for their parking violations.”
According to Moore, the topic of tickets becoming popular has also lead some students to believing that there has been an increase in ticketing this year. “There has been an increase in tickets in parking tickets this year,” said Moore, “Just make sure that you get your parking pass and have placed in the appropriate spot in your car.”
