PARKING DIS-SERVICES?
Photo credit: Elizabeth Caristi/Collegian
This photo shows the parking lot near the Orchard Hill Residential Area riddled with pot holes, a common problem around the UMass Amherst campus.
Students share concerns over parking woes
By Dan O'Brien and Georgia Kelley, Collegian Staff and Collegian Correspondent
November 2, 2005
In the wake of complaints from students against University of Massachusetts Parking Services, some students say they feel unsafe, cheated and inconvenienced due to flaws within the system.
One student complained that a parking sticker promised to her was for a different lot than originally expected.
Dana Carbone, a junior nursing major at UMass, said she was "seriously frustrated" after she expected a sticker in the purple lot near her dormitory in the Southwest Residential Area and received a sticker for the yellow lot in the Mullins Center at least a 20 minute walk from her room.
"I had to rely on my friends to take me to and from my car," said Carbone, who no longer parks in the lot.
With winter creeping on New England's doorstep, Carbone is concerned for students who currently park in the Mullins Center lot, due to the poor conditions. The Daily Collegian found the parking lot to be unpaved and suffering several pot holes and gullies after the recent record rainfall.
There are no marked lines in the lot to indicate where cars should park, which causes many students to park in places that are clearly not designated spots.
"The condition of the Mullins Center lot is completely unsafe. When people park, they have nothing to go by, so they park crazy," Carbone said.
The UMass Transit Service's Web site says the on-campus shuttle from the Mullins Center to various parts of campus arrives once every 45 minutes after 5:18 p.m., seven days a week.
"By the time I waited for the bus, I could've walked there," Carbone said, adding that the lighting in the area was poor and a serious lack of visible police officers were available.
There are three yellow lots on campus: lot 12 at the Mullins Center, lot 13 near the University Admissions Office and lot 11 near Southwest. On last check, the price of a yellow lot sticker was $155 and $195 for a purple lot sticker for the 2005-2006 academic school year. Purple lots are located closer to the dorms than the yellow lots.
The condition of lot 13 near Admissions was similar to that of lot 12 near the Mullins Center. The lot is also unpaved, poorly lit and there is little police presence.
"I didn't mind walking the extra couple of feet to the yellow lot. The only thing that bothered me was coming home from waitressing at night I would call my mom or [my boyfriend] and talk to them while I was walking," said Abigail Haines, a resident of the Thoureau dormitory in Southwest who parks in lot 11.
Chris Gazzara, a junior theatre major who lives in the Brett dormitory in Central and has a sticker for lot 13 near Admissions, explained how the lot was always full when he tried to park his car there.
"I have a spot in the yellow lot. For a week straight, every night, I drove my car back there to park after work. Every night, the lot was completely full," Gazzara said.
Having no idea what to do, Gazzara says one night he called UMass police looking for answers.
"[The police] told me my best bet was to park in the yellow lot down by the Mullins Center. I did, and when I returned to my car a couple days later, there was a ticket," he said. "I can't believe I'm paying for a spot that doesn't exist and I'm getting a ticket for it."
On several occasions, reporters from the Daily Collegian found lot 11 near Southwest to be completely full on a weekday, leaving latecomers to park their cars on the grass and in unmarked spaces.
Many wonder whether freshman should be allowed to have spaces on campus, as many campuses including the University of Hartford, Holy Cross, Westfield State College and Salem State College do not allow freshman to park on campus. UMass only started letting freshman students park on campus within the last decade.
UMass students pay a good chunk of change if their cars get towed. The violator has to pay over $100 in towing fees plus the cost of a ticket if his or her car is towed. The student must also find a way to pick up their car at North Amherst Towing, some two miles north of campus.
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