As a freshman, perhaps I am naive about how the parking system works.  However, it has come to my attention that many students are frustrated with the current parking situation here at UT.  One of the most frequently asked questions about parking is: "What is the ratio of permit sales to actual spaces?"  When asked, the UT Parking Services robotic response is: "Commuter parking is 1.85 permits to 1 space.  Non-commuter parking is 1.2 permits to 1 space.  Staff/faculty parking is 1.2 permits to 1 space."  If you're not an accounting major, these numbers mean nothing to you, except that it isn't a one to one ratio.  However, what these numbers mean in actuality is that 20 percent of non-commuter students and faculty will never be able to find a parking spot and 45.95 percent of commuter students will be in the same sinking boat.  Why won't UT stop selling permits when all the parking spots are full? 

The political response is money.  Money makes the world turn and it makes the campus function.  Yet, surely the money that the UT police are raking in from parking citations, due to students who are unable to find parking spots but nevertheless must park illegally, is enough money to power the reconstruction of the Glocker Building.  This double-edged sword not only requires you to pay $241 for a non-commuter permit, $155 for a commuter permit, or $99/month for a reserved faculty parking permit, but also requires you to pay a citation fee when you can't find a spot to park. Driving your car into the building is an extreme measure that has yet to be tried- but is that what it will take before UT's Parking Services decides to sell parking permits with a 1:1 ratio?

A question frequently asked by females who work off campus and come back from work at untimely hours is where to park when it is ten-twelve o'clock at night.  Sure, you could circle around for fifteen to thirty minutes and finally find a spot on the opposite side of campus from your dorms, what then?  Their response: call the Late Nite T-Bus (865)974-4080.  Utilize the facilities that we provide for such occasions.  Yes, of course this is the obvious solution. However, getting back to your car the next day to go to work in order to make money with which to buy a parking permit that doesn't guarantee a parking spot, is not a solution, it's a vicious cycle.

Ultimately, we are all slaves to the bureaucracies of life, and in this case to the unyielding UT Parking Services.  What can one do to fight the system?  Well, if you receive a citation that you feel is unprovoked; you can appeal it verbally, online, or through the written medium.  True, this does not guarantee that you won't have to pay the fee; at best it buys you time to bum monetary aid from your parents to pay for it after fourteen days from the processing date.  Revv your engines- we're driving our cars into the building.