The cost for an E parking permit—gaining one access to stadium lot spots—is $120. The top of the chain—the A permit—is normally reserved for associate instructors and post-doctorate associates who still must shell out $300. If you’re a high school student in Bloomington, however, you can score that A permit for as much as it would cost to fill up your gas tank.
He's driving away with all 10% of his participation points...
A rather inconspicuous policy allows local high school students to purchase the coveted A permit for a mere $50. In an interview with the Indiana Daily Student, Doug Porter, director of IU parking operations, claimed that the students have access to such rates to assure that they can get to class on time. Read that sentence again, pinch yourself, then continue reading.
Does Porter’s and his bank-breaking, ticket-taunting brigade really have concern for the tardiness and truancy of students? If this is the case, I have a load of suggestions for IU parking operations. Why not subsidize alarm clocks? Is there a program for getting my roommate out of the shower when I need in? And how about waiving the $240 in tickets I owe you guys? I was just getting to class on time, that’s all.
Are we forgetting that these kids are in high school? They just received their driver’s licenses. Bloomington has an expansive public transportation system and high school students, more than anyone, should be familiar with taking the bus. In the IDS article, a bus driver appears upset as any student, claiming an E pass, which would require the teenie-boppers to park at the stadium and take the bus to class, would save just as much time as an A pass. I’ve got no beef with free bus passes for high schoolers.
The drastically dropped rates follow the assumption that the younger one is, the less cash he or she has to spend. That is so, so false. I present to you: the collegiate scholar’s bank account. While both high school and university students might receive cash from their parents, the youngins still have access to their parents' liquor cabinet while the college kids must scrounge for every penny when the weekend comes around. Perhaps their soccer moms pay for the passes, but does the university really feel bad about charging innocent high school families for overpriced passes? Because college families fork up 14 Gs per year, $300 is now chump change?
If the policy must stand, I submit two options. The university must keep the price at $300 for high school students and the difference would be thrown into a fund which compensates students’ ticket violations. The more colorful but perhaps less desirable option might be a hazing ceremony that would take place in a controlled setting during which atomic wedgies are allowed. And I mean
atomic, kiddos.
[Source] IDSnews.com
High school students get A passes, we get gipped
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