The fall of the grace period
The start of a new semester is stressful. There are classes to sign up for or petition if the student slacked off a little bit, and books to buy. One thing that students often forget to purchase is a parking permit.
Newsflash! The grace period for parking at Saddleback has been taken away. In case you are unaware, the grace period is the first two weeks of school in which the campus police will not ticket cars parked in the correct spot for not having a permit. That being said, THE CAMPUS POLICE WILL TICKET YOUR CAR… if you do not have a permit.
Of course students can purchase a daily permit for two dollars from those handy-dandy yellow boxes on campus but there is always a chance that the machine will eat up those eight quarters found under the seats of your car and give you nothing in return.
The grace period allows students to adjust to new classes, insane traffic, or maybe even a new school. By taking away this kind gesture, students are forced to rush down to The Village and purchase a pass. The grace period was not taken away from this past semester, so let’s keep it consistent, Saddleback.
The ticket that may appear on your windshield is a real ticket that must be paid right away to Parking Services. Saddleback needs to keep the grace period to take a little bit of stress out of the first few weeks of school. Irvine Valley College did not dispose of their grace period, and being sister schools, it seems that IVC might be the favorite.
Since the students have been deprived of the luxury of the grace period, make sure to purchase a semester parking permit at Parking Services. Semester passes are $30 and annual passes are $60.