Slip of the brochure
Are students people?
The common phrase for unintentionally expressing a subconscious thought is a “Freudian Slip.”
Some of these statements can be funny, while others, as an inebriated Mel Gibson found out, can be very embarrassing.
What happens when an institution makes an unintentional slip? Is it regarded as funny? Or embarrassing? Or could it be one symptom of a larger problem?
Recently I tried to park in the visitor lot at 5:30 p.m., and was told “$2, please,” to get in.
As a student who has been here for years, I know that the visitor lot has always been free after 4:30 p.m.
Did something change? I found a different free spot to park and later investigated to clear up my confusion.
The 2006 - 2007 parking brochure does in fact state that the visitor lot is free after 4:30 p.m.
So, why was I asked for two dollars? Investigating further, it seems I may have stumbled onto the notion that NDSU doesn’t think students are people.
You can check this out for yourself at http://facilities-mgmt.ndsu.nodak.edu/parking/ and see the actual brochure.
Item 11 under Student Parking states “Any student with or without a parking permit may park in respective campus lots or metered lots from 4:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays and all day on Saturdays, Sundays and official holidays with the exception of the Visitor Pay Lot and C Lot.”
So far, this is just a hassle for students not to be able to park in the visitor lot.
If you dig further, you will see a different story in item 25 – Visitor Lot Parking and Metered Parking.
This item states “Parking is available to all persons at established rates for each lot. Free parking in all pay parking lots is available 4:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays, and all weekends and holidays.”
Am I reading this wrong, or do these two statements contradict each other? Item 25 gives “all persons” access for free after 4:30 p.m. to every lot, including the visitor lot, yet item 11 restricts the visitor lot from students.
While this doesn’t solve the mystery of why people are still being charged two dollars after 4:30 p.m. in the “free” visitor lot, it might just show what the university thinks of students – they are “non persons”.
If “all persons” are allowed to park freely in every lot, yet “students” are restricted from parking in the visitor lot even after 4:30 p.m., then there must be a difference between “students” and “persons”.
Apparently NDSU decided that students are not people.
At the time of publication, an e-mail sent to Bruce Frantz, head of facilities management, had not been answered with regard to the charging for the visitor lot after 4:30 p.m.
It seems NDSU not only considers students to be non-people, but also doesn’t follow their own written policies.
Columnists' opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of The Spectrum