It's the first day of spring. Birds are chirping, the sun is shining and your car is being towed from the side of Library West.
Well, maybe it's nighttime, and you're just getting a $20 ticket.
Ever since Library West opened, I have used the side driveway off Union Road as a spot to park when visiting the library late at night or staying until early morning.
When I plan to be in the building studying until my eyes bleed or until the library closes - whichever comes first - it's a safe walk from the entrance to my car.
After all, there is designated parking for motorcycles and scooters, and I have always seen un-ticketed cars parked parallel along the right side of the drive.
I have always thought that these spots were too good to be true. Well, they are.
Sure, there are parking lots adjacent to Stuzin and Criser halls, but they're always full. There's another lot off Buckman Drive near the chemistry lab, but I don't know if you've ever been over there after midnight. I don't recommend it.
The walk just doesn't feel safe. I don't care how many of those blue light buttons there are on campus - someone shady once tried to approach me, and I am never parking there again.
My roommate and I frequent the library on most Sundays and Tuesdays, and have never received a ticket or any kind of warning from the Transportation and Parking Services on campus. Apparently, we have just been lucky.
Our luck ran out this week when we pulled in to the lot and noticed what looked like a parking official standing against the rear of another car. He was jotting down what could only be a license plate number in a little notebook. I immediately rolled down my window to ask if these spots were not for parked cars.
He politely informed us that this road is designated for "service vehicles only."
All nine student vehicles parked parallel down the side street that night received citations.
I beg anyone to give me a sensible alternative to this convenient parking, which should in fact be available to those people who utilize the library's resources after business hours. Unless you want to fall victim to roam towing, forget parking off of University Avenue. And don't even think about parking in front of the library in the bike lane.
Because we all know that Union Road is flooded at 1 a.m. with bikers and pedestrians.
I'm sure UF students have been complaining about parking on campus for generations.
Interestingly enough, this specific argument about parking at the library was made into an issue with Student Government, and a Student Senate bill asking the University Police Department to lift parking restrictions after 4:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. However, I can find no evidence that the problem has been fixed. Unless parked cars are wrongly receiving tickets between those hours, I'd say we are still in a predicament.
With finals week approaching faster than most of us can fathom, I think changes need to be made as soon as possible.
Where's my decal for being a good student?
Until then, I guess I will circle the lots off Union Road for several minutes at a time while trying to find a decent parking space. Or maybe I will be desperate enough to press my luck and park in a forbidden "service vehicles only" spot. Besides, I might be able to get out of a ticket since using the resources my tuition pays for - like Library West - constitutes a service to the university.
Rebecca Ganzak is a journalism senior. Her column appears on Thursdays.
