WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2004
PARKING
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Private lots still private during summer
Sorority employees struggle with students parking in lots
By Kellis Robinett
editor@kansan.com
Special to the Kansan
Sororities on campus are closed for the summer,but their parking lots are surprisingly full.
The parking lots of Sigma Kappa and Gamma Phi Beta, next door to the Jayhawk bookstore, have been jampacked with cars since the beginning of summer classes.
to keep out unwanted cars. Realizing this, students have been parking in sorority lots and then walking to class.
"Parking at the sororites makes my day a lot easier," said Ryan Bruce, Lee Summit, Mo., senior. "It takes half the time off my walk to class and since no one is living there I can park without worrying about getting towed."
"I went to check up on the house the other day and couldn't believe how full the parking lot was," said Caren Brandenburg, Sigma Kappa advisory board chairman. "There were only a few spots left."
Soriority parking lots, like this one behind Sigma Kappa, are used by unauthorized vehicles during the summer. Although there are no occupants in sororities over the summer, the lots are still private and chapters are considering towing vehicles if the problem persists.
Courtney Kuhlen/Kansan
One reason this is a problem for the sororities is that it is becoming difficult for house moms, advisors, officers and cooks to visit the houses and make sure nothing is going wrong.
Sorority parking lots are private property and the house manager controls the parking. During the spring and fall semesters, it is standard policy that any car parked in a sorority lot without a valid sticker will be immediately towed. Since the sororities are shut down for the summer months there are no house managers
"While it is true that our parking lot is not occupied by our members during the summer, we have employees that do need to park in our lot during the summer," Brandenburg said. "There have been several occasions where their assigned parking spots have been occupied by unauthorized vehicles."
If the problem continues, then the sororities may have to take action against the unwanted cars.
"Only members of the chapter are allowed to park in the lot," said Sigma Kappa vice president Staci Breen. "It's a private lot and we can still tow cars that aren't supposed to be there. If the problem persists we may have to resort to towing."
The KU parking department is also having a difficult time patrolling their lots, because they have fewer staff working in the field.
The department has 10 student hourly employees during the summer, as opposed to about 20 in the fall and spring, said
Donna Hultine, KU parking director.
"Residence hall lots, including the scholarship halls aren't restricted, so we have a little less ground to cover," Hultine said.
— Edited by Miranda Lenning