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Get your parking decals, students, or get a ticket

A parking advisory was put into effect for decal enforcement across GSU’s campus. This effect started Sept. 10, 2018, and tickets have already been issued for vehicles without the university’s parking permits.

A parking permit costs $14 for both on-campus and off-campus students.

The regulatory governing motor vehicle parking pamphlet states that regulations are enforced from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday in all parking areas.

Parking regulations are in effect at all times from the beginning of the first day of class each semester and all summer sessions. Student parking is labeled by a white curb, faculty parking yellow, and standard handicap blue. If parked illegally, students are subjected to a parking ticket for up to $50 (per the parking handbook).

Do not place all of the blame on the police officers handing out those tickets.

In addition to them writing tickets a group of informants, majority students majoring in criminal justice students, take part in ticketing illegal parkers for completion of their practicum and/or to pay off their own acquired ticket balances.

Some areas on campus are not a popular ticketing space. For example, the Washington Johnson-Complex,  located across the street from Nelson’s, is not a traffic hub for students and faculty that are not involved in the Mass Communications Department. By having the entire parking lot for the building be limited only to faculty that leaves the students that take classes and participate in activities within the building out of luck when it comes to parking.

The only available parking for those students would be two buildings over in between both Charles P. Adams and Woodson Hall. With Woodson Hall being under construction, pathways tend to be blocked from time to time or flooded by rain, making parking for students a hassle.

Malik Walker, an off-campus student majoring in mass communication, has a solution to increase the limited parking on campus. “I feel that the university should not allow freshmen to have cars,” said Walker. “That elimination would lighten on-campus traffic and free up parking spaces for off-campus students.”
Averi-Alexya Beck, an on-campus student majoring in mass communication, disagrees with Walker’s point on certain circumstances. “I think if there is inclement weather, then students should drive to class.”

This ticketing debacle has left many students upset and out of money. Faculty members recommend reading the fine print, but in the end, it is in the drivers best interest to take the necessary precautions to avoid receiving a ticket.

Students need to make sure that they are attentive to the yellow, white, and blue curb markings that designate parking.

For questions regarding parking, refer to the Regulations Governing Motor Vehicle Parking pamphlet that can be accessed in Long-Jones Hall or online at the university website www.gram.edu/maps/parking.