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BUPD chief used his brain in handling parking mayhem

I hate to be proven wrong.

In fact, I'll often fight tooth-and-nail to avoid being proven wrong. Anyone who knows me knows that it is very, very difficult to get me to change my mind. But sometimes, the least likely person to ever prove me wrong does just that.

Chief of Police Robert Klinger and the University Police succeeded in proving me wrong, with a little help from the rest of the university. When you've virtually given up on the university and their ability to plan something correctly, it finally comes through.

Parking has been an issue since the first day I walked on campus in the fall of 1997, and I know it has been an issue well before that. Everywhere I went as a freshman, all I heard was upperclassmen talking about how horrible parking was. I always figured they were only complaining to complain, like how some people always moan about the bad weather we've been having.

But when you actually watch drivers sit in line at 8:50 a.m. Monday morning to try desperately to get the last space, that's when you really understand the magnitude of the problem. It's not a problem that can go away with time. As more and more people start driving to campus, it will eventually get even worse. I was convinced that it was never going to be fixed.

Luckily, the university didn't sit on this issue as they do with so many others. Instead, they assembled a team of forward-thinkers to get this problem resolved.

The university made the right decision when Klinger became the Director of the University Police a year ago. I point to the parking situation as an example of his forethought.

This year, the parking situation has drastically changed. Commuters with less than 64 credits—generally freshmen or sophomores—must park on upper campus in the Orange Lot. While I know that can't make those commuters happy, it was an excellent solution to alleviate the overcrowding of commuter spots on lower campus. Klinger also created an additional 97 spaces in the Redmond Stadium lot and approximately 50 spaces in the parking lot next to the ROTC building on upper campus. Combined with the additional 183 parking spots from the Orange Lot, Klinger opened up an additional 330 spaces. To me, that's an extremely effective use of resources.

But my favorite change from Klinger and the BUPD comes in how they manage the Orange Lot permits for residence hall students with less than 64 credits and a medical or financial hardship. Before I go into this, I must say that although I know I'll get slammed for this by freshmen and sophomores, this policy was long overdue and just illustrates the logic behind Klinger's strategy. I wholeheartedly support his plan.

In the past, residents with less than 64 credits that feel they need a car on campus could have essentially gotten one without a whole lot of flack from the University Police. They were given out like candy in the past. And anyone that has seen the Orange Lot in the past knows how ridiculously crowded and unsafe that lot can get. In fact, last year over 500 permits were issued for only 380 available spaces.

Well, that has all changed. These residents now need to show very exceptional circumstances to get their permit. Students with a work hardship must need the money for school or books. They must also work semi-locally and work at least 15 hours a week, every week, to keep their permit, according to Klinger. Every month they must come in to the Police Department to show the pay stubs for each week of work. And, if they aren't working 15 hours each week, their permit is immediately revoked. I love it!

What a great way to make sure students are not abusing the work hardship privilege that enables them to park their car in the Orange Lot. Klinger guards those 197 spaces as if they were gold bars in Fort Knox. While some may find it excessive, that's just the kind of ownership and dedication I think this university has lacked in the past.

The parking problem won't ever be resolved unless someone stands up and becomes hard-nosed about it. While this doesn't make him a popular man on campus, it makes Klinger a hero in my book. He's a straight shooter who tells it like it is—whether you want to hear it or not.

It's certainly a nice change from the previous police department policy of Chief Margaret Boykin who said that we didn't have a parking problem—we had a violator problem. Evidently, Boykin never made it out of her office between classes to see the mayhem that happens every 50 minutes every day of the week. Besides, 21,000 tickets were issued last year. That's an awful lot of “violator problems.” Klinger definitely did his homework, though. He analyzed traffic patterns and last year's freshmen/sophomore schedules. He did what he could to understand how many spaces were necessary for each part of the day.

Good move with the shuttle service, guys. While it didn't relieve all the congestion, it is most definitely a step in the right direction. Forethought is a very good thing and I think it was fully exercised in this situation.

It's the rare times like these that I don't mind being wrong.