Opinion
Parking problems
abound on campus;
clarification offered
Dear editor,
There has been much talk,
occasional explicative, and even
some screaming when it comes
to discussing the parking woes at
Be/Imnd.
As the Vice-President of
Student Government, I have been
giveu , The dubious honor of
overseeing the much "bombarded"
' Traffic Appeals Board. Believe
me; I am as tired as any of you
are when it comes to the lack of
parking here I have tried to do the
what I can to help out drivers and
the other poor souls on the
Appeals Board, that have to sit
through "umpteen" appeals that
come before us each week.
If your ticket falls into
violation of one of the categories
that I am going to cover below,
do both of us a favor and don't
appeal it; there is a good chance
it probably will not receive much
consideration if you do.
I spoke with Police and
Safeiy Manager Randy Hoffman
and tried to clear the air as to
where a driver can and can not
park their car. I will describe five
of the areas I receive the most
appeals on, and if I have, in my
infinite dullness, neglected to
address any question on the
"screwy" parking situation that
We have, please stop by the SGA
office in the Reed, and ask me.
I'll try to answer your questions,
and if I can't ask someone that
can.
1. Parking behind Perry has
changed as fast as politics in
Eastern Europe over the last few
weeks. There are now
approximately 24 more LEGAL
spaces available. There will be no
parking on the grass or next to
the building, since the area has
been blocked off. Although signs
aren't up yet, traffic will
eventually be one way down the
Perry turnaround and up the road;
I think its name is Aquarious Dr.
The Collegian Thursday, November 16, 1989
3. The third area deals with
the people who park on the side
of the road down at the lower
commuter lots. This is a
sensitive area and I didn't receive
a very clear answer on it. In the
end, the officers on duty are left
to their own discretion as to
when they are going to ticket
these cars. I tried to clarify this a
little. From what I could gather,
there are two factors officers take
into account. One is the lots are
not usually full on Tuesdays and
Thursdays, which means the
officers will probably will ticket.
The other is on Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridaisafterl I
am .
,the lots are quite packed,
meaning the officers will
probably will let cars go. Don't
forget that this is not carved in
stone, but more of a gamble than
anything else. You have to decide
if you want to take the chance.
4. Parking in the Reed has
received additional changes. The
upper Reed lot is still off limits
during the week. This means no
parking between 6 am and 8 pm.
The lower Reed lot, however,
will be open for an additional two
hours on weekdays. It will be
closed between 8 am and 8 pm.
5. There is no parking at the
studio theater! If you are
unloading something, make sure
turn your flashers on.
I hope this helps to keep
those tickets off your
windshields.
2. As far as commuter parking
up in the resident lot on week
ends, there is going to be an
informal non-ticketing policy in
effect between the hours of 5 pm
Fridays and 6 pm Sundays. Since
this policy is still informal, it
can be removed at a later date if it
doesn't work. On the other hand,
it possibly could become a
formal practice if all goes well.
Marty Cunningham
Vice-President SGA
LOVE ROB
Garbage on the shore
by Rob Prindle
"Yeah, I've heard all this shit before. I still
don't buy it, Rob."
What is it you are rambling about now,
Butch?
"Oh, all this BS about access to Erie's
bayfront. No way in hell. Just look what
happened to that gorgeous patch of beach that use
to be the Peninsula Inn right next to the entrance
to Presque Isle. That place was really sweet. A
bar right there on the beach. Doesn't that sound
fine? Now that was public access. Do 'you know
what's on that sweet beachfront property now,
Rob? I'll tell you what's there: Condos. Ugly
condos. I mean really ugly, make-me-sick
condos, all fenced in. That's right, so much for
public access. The dink of an owner sold out to
condo builders who had no taste. Damn wimp."
There were real reasons why the owner of the
property sold, though, Butch. You have to realize
that he just couldn't afford the property taxes
anymore. And he realized that the lakefront taxes
were just going to get worse.
"That's what I'm talking about, Bobby. Aren't
you listening to me? There is no more public
access to water. I don't know exactly what it is
that makes junior executives flock to water-side
housing like they do. Perhaps urban professional
types are more closely related to reptiles than the
rest of us. Whadda' you think?"
I think that you are in a lot of trouble with
the business majors here on campus, that's what
I think. •
"Yeah; ycah, yeah, I care. Anyway, what I'm
saying is that if you look at any lake around,
even the scummy ones like Canadhota, and you
will see a bunch of upper-income scumwads
floating around the edges. If you know what I
mean."
It just makes sense, though. Surely you
understand how it happens.
"Yeah, I understand. This rich couple goes
driving by a great- looking lake, like maybe
Chautauqua, and they like it. Boom, the guy
driving pulls a U-turn with his BMW and heads
straight for the first lakeside house sporting aFor
Sale . The guy buys the property and either
builds a $300,000 house or finds a bunch of
buddies and builds condos. Then the tax base
shoots right up through the roof and the poor
guy who lives next door with his 2 kids, his dog,
his wife and his 8-foot fishing boat all of a
sudden has to pay four or five times more tax per
year than he actually paid to buy the house 20
years ago. So the guy has to sell his house to
another rich water seeker and the whole process
feeds on itself."
"The tax base goes up and pretty soon the
local government realizes that if they sell all the
public access land like the parks and the boat
launches then they will make even more tax
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Rob Prindle
money. So what is the country left with? One
more private lake. That bites."
Sad but true, Butch. Sad, but true. And now
Erie is trying to interest investors in building on
the downtown bayfront. They keep promising
public access, but I sine wouldn't 'aunt - cid - that: "
"Public access? Do you knoiv what they mean
by public access? They mean that if a person can
afford to stay at the luxury hotel, or eat at the
expensive restaurant, they can have all the
freaking access they want."
Isn't that a rather cynical attitude? You have
exaggerated the situation a bit, haven't you?
I mean, at least we live in a city where you
can still sit on a beach at the Peninsula and see
one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world.
You can still rent a pretty decent lakeshore
cottage and you can still find a waterfront park or
two around.
"Yeah, but isn't it kind of funny that just as
the rest of the world gets so much better, just as
the Soviet Union eases its grip and the Berlin
Wall is being demolished, justas,walls are being
torn down other places, more and:more are going
up in this country?"
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