Contributions of parking staff and 'Dogs fans

THE PARKING STAFF on campus and Bulldog fans have something in common — they’ve stayed positive under tough conditions.

Sometimes we focus so much on the negative that we fail to acknowledge the obvious good, as is the case when thinking about the Parking Department.

Over the years, the parking department has received a bad rap stemming mainly from its role of giving citations to parking violators and lack of parking spaces for students — making it one of the most vilified departments on campus.

The bad rap, however, has unfairly denied the attendants credit for the good job done to ensure public safety and the effort it has made to provide students and visitors on campus with valuable services.

Convenient services offered under the department include online payment for citations, which allows violators to pay their dues over the Internet, the rideshare program, which reserves special parking slots for students who sign up to carpool and pay-by-phone service, which allows visitors to book their parking permits by calling a toll-free number.

The department also provides free shuttle service to students with disabilities and a nighttime escort service to students who need to get to their cars or to other locations around campus.

Plans are underway to expand student parking and ease congestion, a move that indicates the department is listening to students’ concerns.

Since the commencement of the expansion of the Henry Madden Library early this semester, the parking attendants have played a key role in ensuring public safety by directing traffic near University High School and creating a smooth and organized flow in congested areas.

The attendants have also done a great job directing traffic during rush hour on Barstow Avenue, and around the Save Mart Center during events.

There is no way of knowing for sure, but the presence of parking attendants in high-traffic areas and during major events may be positively correlated with a decrease in accidents around campus.

While the parking staff has been vilified for doing their job, Bulldogs fans have had to endure the pain of witnessing our relatively talented football team suffer one of its worst season in a long time.

But there is a special quality about the spirit of Bulldogs fans — they don’t turn their back on their team.

Despite a disappointing season, the fans still showed up to the games in large numbers — sometimes in hostile environments, as was the case in the ‘Dogs’ last game against the San Jose State Spartans Dec. 2.

A group of 40 ‘Dogs fans took a REDZONE-sponsored trip to San Jose to cheer the ‘Dogs in the last game of the season.

Right from arrival, it was obvious the hosts were not about to extend an iota of basic courtesy necessary for a civil sporting environment.

The Spartan fans, some of them intoxicated, behaved pitifully.

They threw things at the Bulldogs fans, called them names, made crude hand gestures, issued threats, and started at least three brawls on the stands causing the police to intervene several times.

But their efforts to intimidate Bulldog fans ended in futility.

The largely outnumbered Bulldogs fans countered by staying away from fights and responding to the crude attacks with some creative jabs of their own.

The Bulldogs lost the game in San Jose, but they certainly did not lose the loyal fans who promised to be back next season.

While different in almost every way, the parking department and the Bulldogs fans are examples of what makes Fresno State a great university.

All the best in your finals and happy holidays.

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