Confusion over where to park this summer could have some students driving off with a ticket. With many dorms being unoccupied, there is temptation for people to park in empty spaces. What students should know is that summer parking rules are no different from rules during the fall and spring. For those who are not enrolled in summer classes, parking on campus will put you at risk - no matter what your excuse is.
Taylor Clay, senior, finance major said he has at least eight tickets. He said they were issued for parking in one of the lots on Zack Curlin while attending U of M marching band practice. The band member said he thinks most of the tickets were completely ridiculous.
"I parked in the parking lot on Zack Curlin one time and the white lines for the parking spaces were not painted and they gave me a ticket for not being parked in a parking spot. How was I supposed to know where the parking spots were if they weren't painted," Clay said.
Because Clay was not enrolled in summer classes, he was not issued a summer parking permit. Other band members who are not enrolled in summer classes have also complained about being ticketed while attending mandatory band practice. Having a written note from the band director was not enough to get Clay out of his tickets.
"I was doing a good thing for The University, and I feel like I got penalized for it," Clay said.
Clay and other students have said they were basically forced to park illegally due to their being a need for more parking garages and lots on campus. But knowing that one would not sprout up over night, the band member looked into other ways to solve his problem.
"It actually got so bad to where I decided to move within walking distance to the University so I wouldn't have to worry about parking on campus at all," he said.
For some students, moving close to campus may serve as a great way to deal with on campus parking - others opt for a more verbal approach.
Danny Weaver, who graduated from The University this past spring, said he worked for parking services nearly three years. During his employment, he worked as a parking assistant, which are the people who actually write the tickets. Weaver said he encountered people at least once a day, who got enraged after receiving a ticket. He recalls one time when an angry driver got so out of hand over receiving a $25 dollar ticket, that he just had to laugh it off because it was so dramatic.
"I gave one guy a ticket for not having a permit and as he got ready to leave the parking lot, he pulled up next to me and started cursing and spilling his life story to me saying he works 40 hours a week and won't be able to eat for a week now that he has to pay his ticket and that he hopes everything I love dies in my arms," Weaver said.
Regardless, students who yell at parking assistants, or try to plead with them after being ticketed are out of luck. According to Weaver, giving the parking assistant a hard time does not solve anything since they cannot void a ticket after it has been issued. At that point students should turn to parking services for information on appealing the ticket.
A current employee for parking services, who wants to remain anonymous due to the scrutiny that parking assistants receive, said they are not out to get students. The current employee said the issuance of citations is completely random, and that he or she monitors the campus in a different sequence everyday. Still, some students said they feel like parking services could be out to get them.
"Please understand that we are not out to get you. We are just trying to protect those who do park legally by issuing citations to those who don't," the anonymous employee said.
However, former employee Travis Weaver said otherwise. The need to fill daily quotas could have some parking assistants on the prowl.
"Me personally, If I saw someone about to park illegally I would go up and tell them, but some of the other employees didn't do that. They would sit back and watch them park there so they could get their quota for the day," he said.
Although some students admit to knowingly parking in lots where they are not allowed, others say they are just plain unsure where students are allowed to park.
Catherine Hammons, U of M graduate student, said she thinks parking can be very unclear.
One example of this might be residential streets on campus. With it being summer, there are no U of M students living in dorms such as Rawls or Smith Hall. During this time of year those dorms normally have several open parking spaces nearby.
One might think parking over there is acceptable because residents will not need them but that is not the case. If caught, parking there will guarantee you a ticket.
Angela Floyd, director of parking services, said The University hosts various programs and camps during the summer where the attendees reside in those dorms for the duration of the camp or program and the spaces are occupied by them.
However, with most of these camps and programs being geared towards a younger age group, some attendees do not have cars. Therefore, there are often plenty of parking spaces left open.
Floyd sums it up for students who are unsure where they are allowed to park.
"All vehicles on campus must have a current University of Memphis permit; i.e. a student permit with a summer sticker for those enrolled in the summer term or a dated Visitor Permit for those not currently enrolled. The only exception is vehicles parked at parking meters or in either garage paying as a visitor," Floyd said.
There are a few types of permits ranging from residential, general parking, visitor, priority permit and departmental parking.
Also, there have been some students confused about when it is "safe" to park on campus without getting a ticket. There is the misconception that it is okay to park illegally once most University offices close at 4:30pm, but that is definitely wrong.
"Parking Services issues citations from 7a.m. to 7p.m. Monday through Friday. Police Services has the authority to issue citations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is a possibility that if a student parks on campus without the proper permit after 7p.m. during the week or on the weekends that they will not be issued a citation, but it's not a guarantee. I wouldn't want to publicize that it is "FREE" during nights or weekends because there is a possibility that they may receive a citation from Police Services," Floyd said.
Although there are those confused students who are not sure about what the parking rules are, there are several who know, but do not care to follow them.
Being fed up with parking on and around campus has made some students turn to other alternatives for help with parking issues. There are many anti-parking groups on Facebook where students voice their frustrations and share ways to beat the system.
One student suggested removing your windshield wipers so parking assistants would not have anywhere to place the ticket.
However, Floyd said that would not be enough to stop parking services from giving you a ticket.
"Taking windshield wipers off of your vehicle will not get you out of receiving a parking citation and is also very dangerous. A citation can be placed on a vehicle in a crack or crevice that will make it easily identifiable for a driver even if there are no windshield wipers," she said.
Others students try duping the parking assistants by leaving old tickets on their windshield so parking assistants will think they have already given them a citation for being illegally parked that day.
According to Weaver, out of all of the "tricks," one of the most common ones was students removing their student hangtag and parking in visitor's parking with the hopes of not being caught.
Fooling the parking assistants by using this method may work for some people, but there are always others whose attempts at trickery fail.
Hammons is one student who admits to receiving at least 4 or 5 tickets because she did not have her parking permit displayed.
When it comes to on campus parking, those opposed to using tricks may try parking elsewhere instead.
Students who do not park on campus might be trying to avoid getting a ticket by parking on nearby streets Such as Mynders Avenue and Midland, but their traffic has made it unsafe and overcrowded.
Some residents complain that they have a hard time driving out of their driveways and turning onto the crowded streets filled with parked cars. With the road being so narrow, it can be hard to see around the cars that line both sides of the street. They say maneuvering through the nearby streets is either hit or miss - literally.
"There are a lot of people who park on the side streets that are constantly blocking driveways and making it difficult to see around the corners," Hammons said. "I had someone pull out of a parking lot and crash into the side of my car while I was driving down Midland. Two cars had been blocking her sight to the street as she tried to pull out. Thankfully no one was injured, but the school and city should work to ensure that people who do park on the side streets are doing so properly. This is one of the issues that I think the university and city should work together on."
She is definitely not alone when it comes to complaints about students parking on nearby streets Midland and Mynders.
Clay said parking became so bad that he decided to move within walking distance to The University so he would not have to worry about parking on campus at all, only to find out that the parking problems have spilled over into his new neighborhood. Like Hammons, he also has a hard time seeing when driving down nearby streets because he says the road is completely blocked with cars.
"It's always a guessing game because you can't see," Clay said.
The University may not be responsible for the neighborhood parking issue, but some students say more on-campus parking could provide students with a safer place to park, and the convenience of a shorter walk to class.
