Fee increases don't warrant complaining

The cost of C parking permits will consistently increase during the next eight years, and by 2007, C-garage permits will be $250 instead of the current yearly cost of $30.

There is no problem with this proposed increase. Purdue University parking services are now the cheapest in the Big Ten with regard to permit price, and parking conditions and availability here is vastly superior. The University has not even adjusted the price of C permits to account for inflation since 1971, so this increase is both expected and overdue.

Although this increase will ultimately be more than eight times the current price, a figure that could inspire shock from commuter students, the proposed $250 parking fee will still be one of the cheapest in the Big Ten. But the actual numbers are still up for negotiation, and Purdue could remain the lowest — something that would refute any opposition to such a dramatic increase.

An increase in parking permit fees has been inevitable. It's amazing that our low rates have remained like this for so long. For students, or anyone, to complain about the future prices of the permits is pointless and really nothing more than whining.

So far, Purdue parking fees only account for about 50 percent of the overall parking facilities budget. The rest comes from Purdue's budget and an endowment fund. It's time that the parking facility users begin to be able to pay for parking expenses. After all, it is those students using the garages who should have to pay for facility maintenance — not the everyday student who lives on campus.

Assuredly, there will be students who find fault in the proposed increase, citing that there isn't enough parking availability to warrant an increase for the C-permit. After all, what is the value of never being able to find an open spot?

The truth is that even with the influx of commuter students over the last year, parking on the Purdue campus is not that bad. And it is still superior to schools such as Indiana University. There, students pay for parking based on proximity, and students who are able to find parking spots must frequently walk farther than we at Purdue do. Students here need to remember that before launching complaints.

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