Feb 15, 2001
OPINION
Is the campus parking lot half fiill or half empty?
One of the top items on my
agenda today is “move car”. It’s
wedged in there between my
Wellness homework and finding
someplace to eat dinner. So, even
tually I have to bundle up and go out
to West parking lot and move my
car a little less then half a mile to
Jordan Center. Not that I live in or
near Jordan, I just have to park
there, even though it’s two street
crossings away from my dorm.
Home for me is about 400 miles
from campus and I cringe at the
thought of air travel, so my parents
let me bring my car to school.
After we registered, I had to
go to a presentation made by one of
the Campus Security officers (who
looked as though she could break
me in half with her pinky) on park
ing regulations and restrictions. I
even got a nice little manual that
was promptly tossed in my glove
compartment, I think. The basic
gist of the presentation was this: my
little green Elon sticker limits me to
parking in Jordan Center.
Ta-da, that’s it, unless it is a
break or a weekend. And that would
be fine if I didn’t live all the way
over in Virginia. We have this great
little parking lot right behind West
that would be ideal to use as op
posed to walking all the way to JC,
but it is only for faculty and staff use
during the week and if I park there
at night, my car must be gone by
7:30 AM weekday mornings or it
will be courteously relocated for
me. On the other side of campus,
drivers who live in Moffitt and
Staley are supposed to only use
Harper Center parking.
Unfortunately, on weekends
the main complaint is that Greeks
and visitors to Moseley or the Loy
Center take over Harper, forcing
overflow parking to be re-routed to
McMichael. Disgruntled Harper
drivers who decide to park closer to
home in Moseley’s lot can be fined
up to $25 for using reserved spaces
set aside for Staff or Visitors.
This isn’t an issue on week
ends, minus the inconvenience of
trying to find close spaces, but if it
happens on a weekday the same
7:30 AM rule applies or you will
wake up to find out your car has
been kidnapped and taken to
Burlington.
The trouble with campus
parking isn’tthat it is unreasonable;
it’s that students are uninformed
about changes to the policy. This
becomes especially problematic
during breaks. Recently, during
“Fake Break” multiple students
were fined for parking in the West
parking lot “illegally.”
Since classes didn’t start un
til that Wednesday, they had fig
ured it was OK to park in West as
opposed to JC until Tuesday night.
Unfortunately, according to Cam
pus Security, Monday was Regis
tration and since faculty and staff
had to be on cam
pus, students were
not permitted to
park in West. I did
Lauren Melfa
lmelfa@elon.edu
Columnist
some research and
found about 15 con
firmed tickets for
that day, however I
have heard num
bers floating around as high as 25
and 30, which seem more accurate
because the West Lot was appar
ently “packed”. When asked, stu
dents said that they knew the park
ing rules but had no idea that Mon
day, January 29th was considered a
“working weekday”, despite being
over a break. Now they are out of
$ 12-25, which is mucho dinero on a
typical college student budget.
You could go and see
Hannibal at least twice for that much
and still be able to hit a Wafflehouse
every night of the week, with money
to spare!
Despite being dubbed “fake
break”, most students treat any long
period without classes as a tradi
tional break.
We do not always realize
when the staff and
faculty will be on
or off campus, we
just know we have
off and assume
they should too.
Unfortunately, we
are apparently ex
pected to know
faculty schedules
or else the mas
sive ticketing on
the 29th never
would have hap
pened.
Since we have so little visitor
parking, students in Harper Center
often revoke their parking spots to
visitors, only to be moved to
McMichael, an area not only a good
trek away from the dorms but also
designated as Staff/Commuter park
ing. This whole process sets Harper
drivers up for more illegal parking
fines since the “excuse” of being
unable to find “convenient space”
just won’t work.
Of course there is always
Danieley, the official overflow park
ing lot for all of campus. I’m sure
everyone in the flats would be tick
led pink if everyone from up cam
pus took that rule literally. We would
have a whole other situation on our
hands. The bottom line?
Tell the students when they
should move their cars if-it varies
from the traditional regulations, it
will save Campus Security ink and
paper and students a few bucks.
With all this hype about rising in
ranks to “University” status, maybe
we do need more Visitor parking. If
things keep up like this, maybe that
Lighthouse rumor will have some
truth in it.
Letters to the Editor
continues on Page 14
Learn the truth about
the real war on drags
I know that this is not the Arts
and Entertainment section, but have
you seen the new movie “Traffic”?
If you haven’t seen
it...you should.
It addresses
Student supports SGA candidate
To the Editor:
I am writing in support of
Cameron Dejong’s candidacy for
SGA Executive President, I met
Cameron in fall of 1999 through
North Carolina Student Legisla
ture , a political organization on
campus. Through this contact, I
have seen Cameron display quali
ties that would be very beneficial
to the SGA and the student body.
As Vice-Delegate Chairperson and
Delegate Chairperson for EIoii*s
chapter of NCSL, Cameron has
worked hard to uphold the prin
ciples of HCSL.
Unfortunately, at times, apa
thy and a lack of responsibility
permeated the organization, espe
cially on the statewide level where
several North Carolina colleges and
universities meet to debate legisla
tion. NCSL has the prospect of be
ing a strong organization, whereby
students in have the opportunity to
write legislation to change policies
in North Carolina, and Cameron is
committed to see NCSL evolve and
fulfill these objectives.
Ihave faith that Cameron will
act with the same dedication and
motivation as the SGA President
onbehalf of the students. Cameron’s
web site, www.votecam.org, proves
that hediscussesconcems with Elon
students and is aware of changes
students want on campus. He has
already outlined specific goals that
he will start pursuing as soon as
his term begins. I also know
Cameron has an amiable person”
ality and a deep concern for Elon
students, both of which will be
beneficial as the representative of
the sWdent body.
I whole heartedly believe
Cameron Dejong will be a fantas
tic SGA Executive President. I
urge you to vote in the SGA elec
tions on February 26-27. You are
fortunate to have students who
will dedicate time to represent you,
address your concerns, and im
prove Elon,
Respectfully,
Carolyn Lampila
Rady Large
rlarge@elon.edu
Assistant Opinions
Editor
the issue of
America’s war on
drugs in a real, per
sonal and down to
Earth manor. The
whole movie is based around the
lives of four characters, a Mexican
state poUceman, a drug lord’s wife,
the newly appointed US Drug Czar
and his daughter. Other than a su
perb cast and great acting jobs
across the board, the film boasts
one of the most elaborate and out
standing scripts Hollywood has
ever produced.
I don’t want to ruin anyone’s
movie going experience so I’ll stop
there with my description. The
real issue here is America’s “War
on Drugs.” Is it working? What
is really going
on? How much
of your family’s
money I spent on
it?
In the next
two weeks I will
be throwing some
information
around that will
hopefully show
the Elon commu
nity why the drug
war is already lost
and how we are
wasting valuable tax dollars and
human lives on a war that is go
ing to be more costly to America
than the Vietnam War.
I want to hear your opinion
on this issue. What does the Elon
College Community think of
America’s “War on Drugs?”
Write me at rlarge@elon.edu and
tell me your opinion. It doesn’t
have to be a doctorial thesis-just
a word or two.