I am writing in regards to the parking situation here at Northern Kentucky University. I, like most other full-time students, paid the $146 fee for a new parking pass last August.

Foolishly, I assumed this fee and pass would allot me some sort of parking availability. I was wrong.

The parking situation here at NKU has never been stellar, and I realize it may always be somewhat difficult due to the logistics of an increasing student population and a dearth of available space on campus.

However, the current situation is frustrating and wrong. I work, attend graduate classes on campus and often spend 20 to 30 minutes sitting in campus traffic and looking for a parking space. I have received parking tickets for being in the wrong zone, which resulted in a $50 citation, $15 dollars more than if I had parked on the sidewalk, in the grass or on the shoulder. Honestly, it seems as though the parking citations have become an easy way to put money in NKU’s pocket at the expense of the students.

I urge NKU to offer amnesty or forgiveness for parking citations that have already been incurred and that the administration issue a statement articulating exactly what steps they are willing to take to rectify this problem.

In the meantime, I urge all interested parties to sign my online petition at http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Parking/petition.html.

Bridget D. Leising graduate student English, teaching