Juniors and seniors squabble over parking

During a lunch period in late February, senior Viraj Parmar parked his car in the second row of the section of the parking lot traditionally reserved for seniors. He noticed that a car in an adjacent parking spot contained a green parking permit, the mark of a junior vehicle. Parmar began speaking to a student who had ridden in the car, informing him that this was the senior parking lot. The junior (who Parmar could not identify by name), to the astonishment of Parmar, swore at him.

“I was speechless and I didn’t know what to do. I feel like juniors usually have more respect for seniors,” he said.

Similar unpleasant incidents have become increasingly common in the parking lot, as the debate over where juniors should park has reached a peak. The traditional senior section has consisted of the first three rows of the parking lot, while the juniors have taken the last three rows. While such a debate may seem trivial, it has kindled great passion in many students.

“The ability to park in the senior parking lot is an incentive for students to make it through to their senior year,” senior class representative Alex Amato said. “That’s why some people feel strongly about it.”

Early in the school year, a morning announcement claimed that no true rules regarding the parking lot existed. However, assistant principal Karen Hyde claimed that this announcement was a mistake, although she declined to say who created the announcement.

During first semester, Amato created a flier showing a picture of the appropriate junior parking spots, which he placed on cars in the senior lot, giving a friendly reminder of the areas were designated for each grade.

According to Amato, parental complaints forced the stoppage of the circulation of these fliers, but his influence has prompted administration to action.

“Hyde is working on re-implementing the designated parking zones for each grade,” Amato said. “There have always been parking areas based on grade levels, and right now we are working with the administration to designate parking spots for specific classes.

Hyde confirmed that the administration is currently creating rules regarding the parking lot, although the current setup allows seniors to have significantly more parking spots than juniors have.

Amato believed that his brief stint in direct action was effective. “There was a white junior car which I ‘fliered’ one day, and the next day, it was back in the junior lot,” he said. “That’s one of my success stories.”

The parking debate has often sparked conflict between classes, the most common incidents being the “keying” of junior cars by seniors. This action consists of purposefully scratching a car with one’s keys to ruin its paint job.

Junior Parth Shah, who has parked in the senior parking lot before, is sympathetic to both juniors and seniors.

“If I’m late, and there are no open parking spots in the junior lot, I’ll park in a senior spot,” Shah said. “But I also understand that seniors feel passionate and entitled to those parking spots.”

Junior Rohil Taggarsi actually had his car keyed when he parked in the senior lot one busy morning.

“I usually enter the parking lot right before the second bell rings, when the parents are blocking the junior lot. The senior lot had a couple of spots open so it seemed like a good option that morning,” he said.

When Taggarsi came back to his car at the end of the day, he was disappointed to find a small scratch near the car’s door handle.

“It really changed my view of the seniors,” he said.

Although a quick clarification of rules by the administration would seem to be an easy solution, the conflict over parking has highlighted a greater issue, the social standing between the junior and senior class.

“When I was a junior, I never parked in the senior lot,” senior Ivan Lee said. “I respected the seniors, but I feel like the juniors this year don’t have that level of respect.”

Parmar echoed Lee’s sentiment, especially regarding his incident with the foul-mouthed junior.

“I believe that since we do have seniority, juniors should treat us with respect regarding parking,” Parmar said. “Just because they have to park a few spaces farther from us, I don’t think this makes them less of a people. I do believe that the senior parking lot is a tradition, and we should keep it that way.”