Parking Lot or Prison
Why Are SPASH Students Paying For A Pass They Can’t Use?
A typical sight of most students parking their prized possesions in the student lot. (Image taken by author)
October 20, 2022
On the first day of school this year, most of the regular lunch crowd that hangs out in the parking lot during lunch was greeted with a verbal warning from SPASH security. The warning most people heard was, “Mr. Vollendorf does not want people hanging around or in their vehicles during lunch”. This did not sit well with anybody; mainly because we had to pay $50 dollars to park our vehicles in that parking lot.
Just a few people donated their time to speak about this subject. Grady Tuskowski a SPASH Junior, and a very common face in the parking lot said. “I think it’s pretty stupid that we pay to park there but we can’t sit in our vehicles on lunch”. After he was asked “What his opinion was” on the situation. This is probably one of the biggest questions and concerns about the topic. Why can’t we be in the parking lot if we pay for a pass? Some students bought their vehicles, pay for insurance, and pay for the upkeep. But still. We can’t be around our vehicles at lunch.
Zach Anderson, another SPASH Junior has more of a concern on safety about this subject. When asked “Is this beneficial to our safety?” Zach exclaimed that “This is a waste of securities time”, and “Who made and enforced this rule?” During the lunch periods you can often find at least one person from security in the parking lot looking for people that aren’t satisfying the school’s rules. The main concern here is; what happens when there’s an incident inside the building and you have two or three SPASH security personnel outside in the parking lot.
When the Lunch periods start; most people that choose to leave wind up spending their lunch at local parks like Bukolt, or Zenoff. Having these people flood parks affects the public too. Troy Pallen Sr. a salesman and delivery driver for Aramark Uniform services exclaimed that SPASH should “Go back to the old rules, let the kids hangout. There’s no reason. None. That this should be a rule”. Troy’s delivery route on certain days requires him to be driving around and near SPASH during the lunch periods. The mass amount of people leaving the campus causes delays in Troy’s schedule and even safety concerns with the newer less experienced drivers leaving SPASH and not paying attention.
The fact of the matter here is that we have questions that are not getting answered. We the people of SPASH have many questions like. Is it going to be like this all year? Are we going to be refunded our parking passes? Are we going to have to pay for passes next year? What does the future of traditional SPASH freedoms look like for us and upcoming SPASH students? We the people of SPASH want answers, and we want them now.
Lake Glodowski • Nov 2, 2022 at 8:50 AM
Troy, I like the picture that shows the SPASH parking lot and cars. Also, I like how you got view point of people that have to drive during the time when students have to leave. Plus, the viewpoint of having to have a security member patrol the parking . One last thing is the way you end with questions in your mind making me more curious.
Alisson Worzella • Oct 23, 2022 at 10:13 PM
Troy I like the way you stated that the parking lot is a problem for many people. Including other parking lots that are getting used up because kids want to use them so they can sit in their car during lunch. You picked a good topic to write about because many students do feel like it is a waste of money to park at SPASH.
Travis Adams • Oct 21, 2022 at 12:51 PM
Troy, i like how you talked about it not just being a problem for the student but also being a problem for delivery drivers and other drivers and i also liked how you interviewed security and kids to get all the point of view. That sliver truck in the picture also looks pretty cool.
Tou Yeng Vang • Oct 21, 2022 at 12:50 PM
Troy, I agree with your article in every way possible. You gave enough reasons to why we should be able to use the parking lot we payed for. You showed great points on why this is an issue not just for us students but for the staffs and security of SPASH. Even the residents are fed up with this issue like the delivery guy, Troy sr. Overall this article was very well organized and explained.
Peyton • Oct 21, 2022 at 9:19 AM
Troy, I think this article is really good and it brings attention to the looked over issues of the parking lot. You made some really good points, especially with students, security officers and other adult points of view showing how different everyone’s opinion is. I think the picture works really well with this article as well.
hannah hojnacki • Oct 21, 2022 at 9:13 AM
troy, i agree with yours and other peoples opinions on this parking lot rule. The people you interviewed really show how they feel about this policy and how it affects others driving around the school and the public just because we cant sit in our vehicles during our lunch hours. I think you did a really good job with also interviewing a Stevens Point resident that gets affected by this policy.
Zachariah Anderson • Oct 21, 2022 at 8:34 AM
Troy, I liked how you brought up the fact of safety concerns because is a couple of kids hanging out in the parking more dangerous than activities that could be happening inside the school.
Frank • Oct 21, 2022 at 8:16 AM
Troy, I liked your article a lot because you made a couple great points about parking passes and public safety. I really liked the quotes from Troy Pallen Sr. explaining how the flood of students leaving to go to parks causes disruption and danger for the public. I also thought your tail was really good, and I liked how you were straight up with the school and asked them direct questions.
Grace MROZINSKI • Oct 21, 2022 at 8:12 AM
I really like how you showed the perspective of other students that use the parking lot. Their responses to questions really show you how people feel about paying to park in the parking lot and not being able to sit in their vehicles.