Spring 2009 - Issue 5

The Silversword: Home > Chaminade Life > Students Irked Over Parking, ‘Boots’

Students Irked Over Parking, ‘Boots’

Ashlee Duenas, Contributing Writer


Chaminade students are often disgruntled when it comes to the school’s parking situation. The slippery gravel roads and the location of the majority of parking stalls are just two of many complaints students have about parking.

But the most talked about complaints are about parking fees and tickets — and worst of all, wheel clamps that prevent cars from moving. It’s a growing problem on campus.

After three tickets, a metallic yellow “boot” is placed on a car’s tire by security. The boot is not removed until students pay the total fine.  After receiving three boots, a car is towed to Honolulu Towing Company, where the owner will have to pay anywhere from $160 to $175 depending on the time the car was towed.

The “boots,” which tend to show up at the beginning of semesters, are just part of student’s frustration with parking at CUH.

Minimal parking on Third Road, where St. Louis High School parking takes up more than one-third of the available parking slots, forces most of Chaminade’s commuter students to head up hill to the “Much More Parking” areas.

“Some call it Siberia, others call it China — I call it free parking,” said a Chaminade junior who wished to remain anonymous, referring to the un-enforcement of ticketing in the upper parking area — something commonly known among students. “Two hundred dollars for a sticker? Get out of here.”

Tickets are costly, but so are parking permits.

Chaminade University charges $140 for on-campus parking permits and $205 for on-and-off campus parking per semester.  That amounts to more than $400 a year for cash-strapped students.

Art Lum, Director of Campus Security, said there will typically be a larger amount of tickets in the beginning of the semester, and that it’s usually the same people being ticketed.

“Either pay or get cited,” said Lum. “If you get cited, don’t grumble.”

When they do find parking at the “Much More Parking,” they often encounter “Even More Problems.”

“They want us to pay to park on a nail bed. I’ve spent twice the amount of a permit buying new tires because the construction crews drop nails everywhere,” said the angry junior, a business student. “I don’t even buy a pass. It’s not worth it if there’s a chance that I won’t get ticketed.”

The ticketing itself is a policy that appears to be inconsistently enforced. Students said they’ve experienced security ticketing one day but not the next.  A couple of students admitted to seeing security ticket cars around First, Second, and Third roads and even occasionally on the lower-upper campus parking, but never on the far end closest to Kaminaka Drive. 

A plethora of students have also noticed the inconsistent ticketing practice taking place and have decided to skip on the permit and risk a $25 ticket.

“To me, it’s not fair. I paid $200 for a permit last semester, and I still ended up having to park all the way at the top,” said criminal justice junior Pisila Tukia.  “Then I noticed people without permits parking and not getting ticketed.”

Lum said the department has limited resources and a lack of man-power. For example, there are only two security guards on duty at a time.

“We try to catch the whole campus and we try to get everything, [but] there are other things that need to be done, we can’t spend all day up there.” said Lum, referring to the upper parking area. “Students say ‘I’ve been here for three years and have never been booted.’ I just tell them that they’ve been lucky.”

Another hot spot for parking tickets is at the off-campus dormitories. There are no guest stalls; therefore, guests have to find street parking even if the lot has unassigned stalls.

“Sometimes I’ll park in the dorm parking because I’m only going to be home for five or 10 minutes, but I’ve stopped doing that because I’ve been ticketed twice,” said a communications senior who asked not to be identified.

Meanwhile, students living in off-campus housing have to pay extra for parking.

“The parking isn’t covered, the lot isn’t guarded or gated, and the school isn’t accountable if anything happens to your car,” said Tukia. “You’re basically paying to put your tires on the school’s concrete, and that’s it.”

Dean of Students Grissel Benitez Hodge could not be reached for comment.

There is at least one solution to the high costs, low security and unfair ticketing practices: opting for street parking.