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One of the privileges that seniors are most envied for is the use of the senior parking lot.

Seniors who pay get their own spots assigned to them for their personal use, and do not have to fight with other students for a parking space every morning. Unfortunately, not everyone respects this. Sometimes seniors are faced with strange cars or utility vehicles having taken over their spots.

“I’d say that people taking other people’s parking spaces is a problem,” said Safety and Security Specialist Mike Ukele, who deals with ticketing those who park incorrectly.

Ukele gives out two or three tickets per week on average, but a lot of the time the offender does not know they have messed up a system. Using the wrong parking spot is usually an accident, visitors or substitute teachers don’t realize spots are assigned and end up displacing students.

“Sometimes the substitutes do not realize that there are guest spots and just park anywhere. They don’t mean to park in the wrong place, they just don’t know,” said Ukele.

However, in addition to substitutes and visitors, there have been instances where people who should know better park in the wrong place anyway.

“Occasionally I’ll catch the staff members creeping over the designated faculty spots into the student ones,” said Ukele, “or sometimes juniors think it’s funny to park in a senior spot, even though they don’t have a tag.”

Having to deal with someone parked in the wrong place is frustrating to seniors who have paid the $250 to call the spot their own, but the perpetrators do have to face repercussions.

“The first time I’ll give a warning, call the person’s parents, something along those lines,” said Ukele, “but if it happens again I give them a $30 ticket. If it happens a third time I have them towed, with a fine of $100.”

While the consequences the person has to face may comfort the displaced senior, he or she still has to find a place to park their car for the duration of the school day while waiting for the problem to be resolved.

“Students [whose spots are taken] can either park in a visitor spot or along the baseball field,” said Ukele.

It is particularly frustrating when students who at school late and in a hurry. Having to deal with this issue when they are already rushing can be a bewildering experience.

“It made me late to class and I had to park in a random spot,” said senior Vicki Knabe.