A new sign for an old policy has left the Amelia T. Wood Health Center and Ball State University Police Department in disagreement about what the parking regulations should be for the clinic.
Graduate student Pelagia Konstantinidis received a parking ticket for not having a valid permit when she parked in the lot behind the Health Center. She visited the clinic for a physical therapy appointment, but came out to find a ticket on her windshield.
Konstantinidis asked the Health Center about the parking policy change, but staff members told her none of them were aware of the change. The sign at the Health Center was changed from a two-hour parking limit to a one-hour limit with a valid permit.
Students have received citations for parking in the Health Center lot since the beginning of Fall Semester, medical director and physician of the Health Center Kent Bullis said.
"I don't know if they had more man power, but it is being enforced more," Bullis said.
Bullis met with Nancy Wray, director of Parking Services, early last week to discuss the issue. Wray told him the sign was new, but the policy wasn't. Parking Services told Bullis the restriction is not its policy but Ball State's.
"In my opinion, there is a large number of students living off campus that don't intend to have a car [on campus]," Bullis said.
Those students tend to only drive to campus when they are sick or injured, he said.
Bullis said Parking Services told him if a student is given a citation, they have the option of purchasing a permit ranging in price from $40 to $75 a semester or a $25 temporary permit, which lasts two weeks, instead of paying the $75 No Valid Permit citation.
"I thought the university would make an exception to park in the Health Center lot," Bullis said, emphasizing that the Health Center has always had a good relationship with Parking Services. "They have always heard what was said and taken the students needs into consideration."
Ball State Campus Police Chief Gene Burton said the parking policy at the Health Center has always been enforced since he has been involved with parking enforcement.
"This year we've had more students who normally drive to campus using the Health Center facilities," Burton said. "It seems like we are catching more this year."
Burton said he has received numerous complaints about students abusing the parking lot at the Health Center by parking there to go to classes.
Parking Services and the University Senate parking subcommittee are taking care of the issue and trying to find a resolution to the problem, Burton said.
"We will come up with a solution that will work for everybody," he said.
Until a solution can be worked out, Burton said, the parking restrictions should not deter students from using the Health Center.
"We will work with the student on a case-by-case situation (if cited)," Burton said. "I would hope no one would avoid the Health Center."
However, Konstantinidis said Parking Services was uncooperative after she received her parking ticket.
The officer writing Konstantinidis' citation told her to bring a doctor's note to the parking services to prove she used the Health Center, and the citation would be cleared. The Health Center confirmed this, she said, but when she went to parking services, staff told her the officer was wrong and she would have to pay the fine or purchase a permit.
"They made it seem like I had no other option," Konstantinidis said.
She asked to file a complaint, but the woman at the counter said she would not win and should have read the sign.
"That's what she said: 'You are not going to win,'" Konstantinidis said.
She said the Parking Services employee told her Ball State can change the rules and regulations without notification.
It was the principal of the situation that bothered Konstantinidis, she said, not the money.
"What are their priorities?" she said. "How much more money do they want out of me?"
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