Dear Editors,
I would like to respond to your article “Public Safety really needs to cool it with the parking tickets” by your writer Priscilla Yuki Wilson in the Opinions & Editorial section of your paper dated Oct. 25, 2011 (Vol. 97: 8).
I would first like to apologize to Ms. Wilson for her misfortune at having received a ticket from an officer in the Department of Public Safety for allegedly driving through six stop signs. I applaud the bravery of those who defy what is clearly an archaic and unjustifiable relic of the campus rulebook, the rule that drivers should actually stop at stop signs.
It is clear that stop signs are an unnecessary menace in this day and age. On such “quiet Sunday afternoons,” drivers should not have to worry about stopping at crosswalks clearly demarcated for pedestrians. Those on foot, especially the numerous children that live and attend school on the Mills campus, should learn to dodge out of the way of those who have “more important things to do” than anyone foolishly adhering to the highway code.
Of course, despite noting that there are some “nice” officers, the article clearly reveals the fact that all members of the Public Safety staff wish nothing more than to impress their bosses and punish the poor students of Mills. I cast shame on the lapse of duty of the one lazy officer who was asleep at 1 a.m., an individual who is clearly representative of the wider pool of security staff at the College and indicative that our officers are completely inept at “providing protection.”
Indeed, the only purpose Public Safety seem to serve is assisting students locked out of their rooms or those who need to be chauffeured around campus. Then again, I suppose they could be helpful should one need to call an ambulance after using a crosswalk on any Sunday afternoon where drivers choose not to obey that draconian stop sign rule.
Yours sincerely,
Sally Stoppard, Grad Student
The author of this submission uses a fake name as they have chosen to remain anonymous.
