September 19, 2008Guilfordian Editor,

I feel compelled to respond to Sam Jenkins’ article in the September 19 edition of the Guilfordian “Public Safety or public nuisance?” so that the Guilford Community might have more factual information on which to base their answer to the question posed in the headline.

Parking enforcement IS a big concern on ours, and all college campuses. Having vehicles properly registered is the only way to know who is legitimately on campus, and who is not, which is a major security issue. One of the concerns raised in Jenkins’ article was the case of Henry Wells, who admittedly “didn’t worry about his first few tickets,” and only after getting his “ninth ticket” and having the ‘boot’ put on his car did he attempt to address this issue. Others have responded to similar situations echoing Wells’ attitude by saying, “I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

There is an important life lesson here – ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away. Had Mr. Wells (and others), addressed their tickets when they received the first ticket, or even the third one, the issue could have been resolved long before the ‘boot’ or the towing and saved a lot of time, effort, headache, and expense.

The other incident Jenkins wrote about was his own car being towed. He would have readers believe his car just mysteriously disappeared without warning. Not true. Several discussions occurred over a period of a couple of weeks between the Public Safety Staff and Mr. Jenkins, giving him ample time to make arrangements regarding his car. Again, the multiple warnings were ignored. His car, along with all the parts, tools, and oily cardboard that had been lying around the car, was towed away as warned. Not quite the mysterious “one day I went out and it wasn’t there” as Jenkins would have you believe. One aspect of this incident that Mr. Jenkins did report correctly concerns how we feel about the appearance of our campus. Guilford has a beautiful campus and we do care about the image portrayed to our students, faculty, staff, parents, trustees and other constituents.

Jenkins makes one statement that is very true, and bears repeating, and that is “Stowe and his cronies take this parking ticket game pretty seriously.” The only exception I take to that statement is that it is not a “game.” It is a serious matter, and one that deserves the attention of the entire Guilford community.

Our parking regulations are not designed to “make money;” they are designed to assist with having an orderly campus and community. Enforcement is not designed to make money, but to ensure compliance with the regulations.

It would appear that Jenkins is confused when he talks about the Quaker principles and “all the Quaker stuff.” We cannot hide behind Quakerism when things don’t go our way, and believe that Quaker values allow us to ignore established rules, regulations, and common sense. Many of the Quaker queries would certainly suggest otherwise.

As Director of Public Safety, it is my desire that the Department of Public Safety is a department the entire Guilford Community can be proud of. We do take our varied roles seriously, and understand that sometimes members of the community will not be pleased when they are cited for not following stated guidelines. We will, however, continue to do our jobs the best we can in the interest of the safety and security of the entire Guilford Community. I sincerely hope that all of our constituents see us more as “Public Safety,” rather than a “public nuisance.”

Ron Stowe,
Director of Public Safety