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Janna MacGregor The daily annoyance of inadequate parking at Charlottetown Centre has become one of the main grievances of students here, especially for second-year retail student Greg Bowie. Recently, he was forced to park along Grafton Street, and due to an accumulation of ice and snow, was unable to determine where the sidewalk began. For this, Bowie was slapped with a $50 fine and now feels the student union should pay up. "It makes me mad," Bowie explains. "I mean, for what we're paying for tuition, there should be parking." When classes began last fall, Bowie says he made it a point to arrive at school no later than 8:40 a.m. each day, but was continually forced to park elsewhere. Frustrated, he contacted student union president Todd MacKinnon. "That was a waste of time," Bowie recalls. Despite a carefully cultivated image of approachability, Bowie feels MacKinnon brushed him off by advising him to 'get here earlier.' Since September Bowie has found a parking space only once and knows he is not alone. "I'm pissed off," he says. "I know there's only so much room, but something needs to be done." In November, the union attempted to alleviate the growing number of complaints by issuing stickers to be placed on the students' vehicles. Student police were recruited on a trial basis to monitor the situation and report any vehicles not bearing the sticker, which were towed away at the owners' expense. Ironically, Greg Bowie was one of those hired to police the lot at $6 per hour. He feels the lasting effects of this project have been minimal, and at times, even ridiculous. He recalls an incident involving the towing of a car owned by a public health nurse who was scheduled to give Dental Assistant students hepatitis shots that day. Last week, in hopes of receiving some type of reimbursment from the student union, Bowie reluctantly approached president Todd MacKinnon once again. MacKinnon responded by inviting him to broach his request at their next meeting. "I don't agree with them ticketing around the school, especially when they know it's probably a student," MacKinnon explains, defending the role of the student union's in the matter."Really, it's not our responsibility, but it depends on the situation." "It was the same thing last year," he recalls. "That's what prompted the parking sticker idea, and it solved the problem of unidentified cars in the lot." Although MacKinnon easily cites the program as a success, he says the amount of work required to continue it was simply too daunting, especially during the winter months. "All of this takes time to do," says MacKinnon. "Some students completely overlook that." He stresses the fact that there are still only 176 spaces available and that nothing is going to change that. However, he shows a great deal of empathy in the case of Greg Bowie, describing a similar situation involving a nursing student whose car was towed from the parking lot simply because her hectic class schedule did not permit her enough time to get a parking sticker. He says the student union was happy to reimburse her $35 towing fee. "It's not the money issue," he explains,defining the student union as a forum for students to voice concerns and seek support. "It really depends on the circumstances." "I don't disagree that students should be reimbursed in valid situations, but at the same time, I don't really feel that this is what the student union is here for." Nor does Facilities Unit Manager Roger Vail, who did not mince words in expressing his views on Greg Bowie's reimbursement plight. "That's silly!" he exclaimed. "Why should anyone be responsible for his inability to park his car?" "If he's off school property, the school has no control. It's as simple as that." Vail describes the college's inadequate parking as a 'perenial problem of too many cars and not enough places to put them', and says that during orientation, this point was made very clear to students. His advice? "Either leave your car at home, or be prepared to face the consequences."
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