How many parking tickets does it take to get to an appeal?

We’ve all experienced it: That long day when you’re walking back to your car to find that slip of paper under your windshield wipers again.

Yep. Another parking ticket.

Unfortunately, this was me a few weeks ago. I normally take light rail and the bus to and from school every day, but once in a while I drive.

The first time I received a ticket I only bought the two-hour pass, and it had expired. But this time I splurged on the $6 pass to make sure it did not happen again.

Of course, the Sac State Parking Enforcement had another idea.

I mistakenly parked in a faculty parking spot, and as someone who rarely drives to school, I was surprised to learn the faculty and student parking spots look exactly alike. The only minor difference is a sign every 10 spots or so with “Staff and Faculty” parking labeled.

The faculty parking signs are also white with the same font and style as the signs for student parking.

Naturally, I appealed the ticket because the parking is so ambiguous. The spots look exactly the same and it’s easy to make a mistake while driving around hunting for a spot.

I was furious that I was getting a ticket for their ambiguity.

As if students do not have enough debt already, they have to deal with parking tickets that start at $43, which can be a huge amount of money for a person on a fixed budget or only a part-time job.

There are reasons we are labeled as “starving students.”

Last year, the newly-painted bike lanes made waves. This year, I want yellow paint to be plastered on every single parking spot that is meant for staff and faculty. I urge UTAPS to label all of the faculty and staff parking to eliminate confusion and unnecessary tickets.

Instead of spots that are not clearly marked, make the situation clear and airtight. Surely UTAPS will not get half as many appeals as they receive for this issue upon completion.