Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 5
WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 19. 2007
Ten questions for Dr. Sethna regarding Parking Services
By Johnathan Davis
Guest Columnist
jdavis23 @ my.westga .edu
In this past week’s
West Georgian, I
couldn’t help but notice
that Dr. Sethna, while
making a valid point
about the tone of the
article and clarifying a
misconception about the
hangtags, completely
failed to address the
articlescentral complaint:
that Parking Services
provides neither parking
nor service.
He also mentioned
the $35/S2O parking
fine combo, but did not
address how the fine is
exceedingly punitive,
and how frequently
more than 50 percent of
the ‘combo’ is knocked
down in appeals once the
case is reviewed.
Because he failed in
addressing this, he also
failed to address how
unfair this is for students
who don’t have an excess
of free time to state their
case to Parking Services
in the appeals process.
He failed to address
the issue of why we’re
building so many
more buildings on the
campus and increasing
enrollments, seemingly
without any public plans
to increase the parking in
a substantial sense.
He did not respond
to the accusation that,
except for a few specially
designated “tow-away
zones” (which are almost
always parking spaces
designated for higher
faculty such as deans
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and chairs, or Aramark
personnel), people are
never towed when they
park in outrageous ways
or places.
He did not address
how the hangtag system
is pretty much pointless,
because if you’re not a
student or member of
faculty, you don’t have
to pay. Here, he may
have been able to make
an argument for the
“tier” system in play on
hangtags, where faculty
hangtags have a different
color from on-campus
students, who have a
different color from
commuter students.
This keeps commuter
students from parking
in spots near the dorms,
which prevents dorm
students from having to
park their car far from
their residence. This also
allows faculty to park
closer to their classes,
preventing classes
from being delayed or
cancelled because the
instructor is unable to
procure parking.
However, he did
not make this argument,
choosing to dodge the
question entirely.
He avoided giving
those wayward students
who refuse to register
their cars with Parking
Services a reason to
subject themselves to
holds on their accounts;
no benefit is made clear
by Dr. Sethna to having
Parking Services, at all,
in fact.
He fails to address
why our Parking Services
personnel, with their
high-tech equipment
that enables them to
print tickets in seconds
from their hip and have
hand-held radios, are
completely incapable
of cross-referencing
the plates of registered
vehicles when it comes
to writing the ticket,
but suddenly gain this
clairvoyance when it
comes to putting the hold
on our student accounts.
He also says nothing
about why, in a time of
increasing gas prices.
Parking Services drives
new gas-powered carts
and never offer rides to
students who are going
their way.
The motives behind
the policies of Parking
Services seems to
many students to be
inscrutable, and an article
written by an angry and
questioning student is
not remedied by a point
by-point response to the
questions. He responds
not with an apology, but
a lecture on “civility”,
given in a condescending
manner by a university
President ,who until that
last article, held nothing
but my highest esteem
both personally and
professionally. So, let me
address this directly to
Dr. Sethna:
1 have heard you
speak in the past, and I
believe you are a brilliant
man of excellent vision,
with unimpeachable
character and impeccable
leadership. However,
in reading this article, 1
think you were too quick
to judge the word usage
and too quick to dismiss
content. That is fine,
we’re all only human,and
it’s been scientifically
shown that humans
have a tendency to shy
away from information
that they don’t want
to hear and latch on to
arguments and ideas
that support what they
support. As students at
this university, many of
us face this every time we
have to produce a theses,
write research papers,
or make arguments in a
debate.
Because your
objection to Jacob
Lovell’s article seems to
be that it came too close
to invective, I implore
you to read through my
proceeding comments,
and see the points that
you did not touch upon.
I’ve even given you an
argument you can use
for one of them (I'm not
without sympathy to the
administration position,
I’ve paid into Parking
Services a couple times,
and I’d like to believe the
money I’ve paid is not in
vain). I’ve struggled to
prove this university’s
administration to be
right, and except in one
case. I cannot find any
reasoned response to the
questions posed by Mr.
Lovell:
1) Why are the
parking fees so punitive?
2) If they are assigned
reasonably in most cases,
why are they overturned
so often? If they are not
assigned reasonably,
what are you doing or
going to do to affect
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change to this policy?
3) Why are
higher-echelon and
administrative personnel
granted much higher
priority in the granting
of parking spaces, and
why are these spaces
the only ones at which
towing takes place? Is
this a statement as to the
level of import you give
yourselves over your
faculty and students?
4) Why is the
university seeing it
more important to add
more buildings without
more student parking,
as well as increasing
enrollment without
similarly increasing
student parking? Our
hopes for anew parking
deck went up when those
old apartments where
leveled. Those hopes
were dashed when all
Parking Services and
Public Safety seem to do
was put up some lights
and paint lines.
5) If the university
has it in the budget to
market the university on
radio and in newspapers,
as well as to build
a new' multi-million
dollar stadium, as well
as to build several new
buildings of limited
scope, then where is
the money to increase
parking?
6) Why is it the policy
of Parking Services to
not cross-reference the
on-campus registration
database before the
writing of a ticket, only
to cross-reference it later
to attach to the student
account?
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7) Why isitthe policy
of either the Parking
Services department,
or the purchasing
department to acquire
GAS-powered carts year
after year, when gas
prices are increasing
(likely increasing the
cost of operating these
vehicles), in lieu of
electric-powered carts
that likely do the job just
as well?
8) What benefit is
there for a student to
register his vehicle with
Parking Services, when
his registration will only
be used against him to
hold his registration?
9) Do you. Dr.
Sethna, have a special
parking spot set aside
just for you? And if so,
if someone parked in it,
would that car be towed?
10) Do you consider
as a President and
former State University
Chancellor, to entirely
evade the questions and
concerns of a university
student in favor of
publicly lecturing that
student on the proper way
to phrase his concerns?
If you can directly,
honestly, and fully
respond to these
questions, I think you’ll
have restored the esteem
to those such as me,
whom you have offended
with your evasive and
dismissive reply. I still
consider you to be a top
notch educator and an
excellent administrator,
but those are professional
judgments. Can you
respond to those
questions?