“If we have no place to park, why should we even come to school? Our cars are destined to be towed!”
These are the words of a frustrated student attending FAMU DRS.
Situations that subtract from learning happen more often than they should.
They are usually associated with subversive behavior, it’s not a behavioral issue.
It is the disruptive result of mobs of students running down the halls, keys in hand, screaming, “they towin’, they towin’ cars!”
Various students have expressed their concerns regarding parking space at FAMU DRS.
Students, along with some of the faculty and staff, have nowhere to park.
By 10:00am all the spaces are taken.
Space is extremely limited and the small amounts that are accessible after 10 a.m. are illegal.
In addition to this, DRS shares the available space with FAMU students and anyone else who decides to park at the gym on the corner of FAMU Way and MLK Boulevard, adjacent to New Beginnings Daycare Center.
Some of the students involved chose to make a comment.
Denise Johnson, senior, said “I am tired this. Every day I have to worry about whether or not I am going to get towed. When are they going to be able to ensure me a place to park?”
In order for students, faculty, staff and visitors to have the opportunity to obtain a legal parking space, they must purchase a parking decal from the university at the same price as university students.
In addition to this inconvenience, the space isn’t even guaranteed.
If there is nowhere to park, then students must result to parking on the grass, which attracts the attention of police officers and causes a lot of trouble.
When students are forced to park on the grass, disasters happen.
Just recently, there was an incident pertaining to the lack of available parking space.
Several students had their cars towed for parking on the grass.
It is illegal to park on the grass. Officials say “it is destroying state property and that’s a crime,” yet when they come to tow cars the police and tow trucks park on the grass! Why, because there is no place else.
When students went to remove their cars, adults held them back and let them receive tickets and get towed.
Students were furious as they watched their cars being taken.
Many even have to worry about all the extra money they would have to come up with to get their cars in addition to studying for a test.
This creates a dilemma for students. In the eyes of many, “that was [jacked] up.”
Along with Johnson, her classmate, Kenny Crowell, was an unfortunate victim of tow truck trauma.
Crowell, also a senior, said ” I was infuriated by their audacity to tow my car while I was in the process of moving it.”
Administrators say that the problem will be addressed. Students want to know “when?”