What Happened to Lot Maintenance

Five weeks into the semester, and there's yet to be Lot Maintenance. Parking lots have quite a bit of ice build up, and with the snowstorm this past weekend, it can only get worse. But with no Lot Maintenance, where is our tuition money going?

For many PSU students, the absence of Lot Maintenance is a good thing. It means that they don't have to worry about getting up early to move their vehicle before UPD arrives at the lot, armed with tickets and tow trucks. For others, a lack of parking lot maintenance is a safety hazard as the lots turn to ice rinks when the snow gets packed down, melts and refreezes overnight.

Perhaps the University is cutting back on costs, as the manpower and fuel costs for daily maintenance can't be cheap. Or maybe they're looking out for the wallets of those students who aren't smart enough to move their cars. The current Lot Maintenance fine consists of a $50 Lot Maintenance violation from the University as well as a $100 charge for towing [an increase from the $85 that towing had been for the past few years]. But does the money saved in labor and maintenance outweigh the potential cost of covering the medical bills of a student who breaks their leg from falling on the ice? The school's insurance does cover that, right? I'd hope so, especially when our tuition is paying for Lot Maintenance that isn't being done.

The Lot Maintenance notification process was changed this semester. MyPlymouth bulletins are only updated when there WILL be maintenance as opposed to previous years when a bulletin was posted when Lot Maintenance was canceled on a particular day.

There have been unconfirmed rumors that a text message system may be incorporated that students can elect to sign up for. This would allow students to receive a text message when Lot Maintenance is going to occur, therefore allowing the student to remain in bed instead of getting up to check MyPlymouth to see if there is maintenance. Not only does this interfere with already existing text alert systems for weather cancelations or campus emergencies, but it also strips students of the responsibilities that come with having a vehicle on campus or in the real world.

What happens when a PSU student moves to a city after graduation? In cities, streets are swept and/or plowed on a regular basis. Are landlords going to text their tenants to remind them that they need to park their vehicle on a particular side of the street? No. They're going to trust that the tenant is responsible enough to know when and where to move their car. Babying PSU students by sending them text messages is only going to have a negative outcome in the long run. [again, these rumors are unconfirmed]

I, in my fourth year here at PSU, have never gotten a parking or Lot Maintenance ticket, mainly because I'm paranoid about parking in the wrong place, and I can't afford to pay for that mistake. As far as Lot Maintenance, I learned in my first year here that you have to move your car or risk getting a major ticket/tow fine. I still don't know how people "forget" to move their car or don't realize that when there's snow, there's likely to be Lot Maintenance. Step it up, PSU! You're in college now. You should be able to remember to move your cars.

That being said, I was surprised that there wasn't a MyPlymouth bulletin announcing Lot Maintenance on Monday morning after the snow we got over the weekend. Which again raises the question, if there's no Lot Maintenance, then where is my tuition money going?

On the topic of maintenance, let's talk about the long term. How do we go about getting repairs made to some of the lots around campus?

 For the past two years, the Weeks Street lot in the Student Apartments has had a giant frost heave at the entrance that is quickly eroding into a pothole. To get up the nearly too steep entrance, one must bear to the left [onto the other side of the entrance], making an accident waiting to happen if another vehicle is trying to exit the lot.

If you're the student trying to exit the lot, not only do you have to be on the lookout for cars on the wrong side of the driveway, but you also have to avoid the sewer drain that is sunken at least six inches into the road. If you're turning right towards Merrill Street and you don't know, or forget to take this turn wide enough, you're likely to bottom out, hopefully not causing any damage to your vehicle's underside.

But this isn't the only parking lot with issues. I know from experience cutting behind the Non-Trads that the road running behind the building is so worn down that the road is nearly impassible. A fellow Clocker, who happens to commute, has informed me that the Hyde commuter lot has a gaping pothole at one of the entrances. I know that not all the lots can be as beautiful as the newly paved lots down at the Ice Arena, and I understand that it's winter and the weather prevents these issues from being repaired, but what has barred the Week's Street lot from being repaired over the past two summers?

Granted, these repairs are costly, and the University is already looking to cut budgets, but shouldn't the repairs be made before the damage worsens?

Maybe when the warm weather hits we'll see some fresh asphalt in the warn-down lots, and hopefully, we'll see some Lot Maintenance before anyone slips on the ice and sues the University.

-Veronica Musch

Editor in Chief

If you have any opinions on this or any other campus issues, please send a Letter to the Editor to vlmusch@plymouth.edu