By Randa Anthony
The hallways are full, the classes are full, and of course, so are the closest parking lots.
"We inch our way into the parking lots every morning in snake-like formation to find the closest parking space, to ensure the shortest walking distance possible," said student April Biswell. "Cars are parked in no parking zones, on yellow curbing, and even on the grassy medians."
"I tried to get through the parking lot and I couldn’t even turn around at the end of the row. There were cars parked clear down to the end, blocking the traffic," said one disgusted freshman. "Are the parking lots always going to be this way?"
Ken Sangston, director of safety services said, "We tend to be a little lenient at the beginning (of the semester) like this, but the cars will thin out after the first few weeks or so."
One prospective student said, "I drove over because I’m thinking about taking some classes. I saw that the short-term parking was full so I parked in the next lot. This guy (security guard) came over here and started shouting at me to ‘move it out of here.’"
She continued, "I saw it said Visitor Parking on the sign. I just wanted to look around the campus a little and see what sort of programs they offer. What exactly is a visitor?"
The IVCC handbook says that to park in the visitor parking lots, one would need a Visitor Parking Permit, available only to official guests of the college.
Sangston said, "Anyone visiting the president is an official guest. We hate to do it, but we’re going to have to eventually start towing."
The woman who had been stopped continued: "They should be a little bit more exact when they put up a sign like that (visitor parking). If this is the way they treat their visitors or people interested in coming here, how would they treat me if I was just a student?"