ETSU has more than 150 parking spaces designated for students, faculty and staff with disabilities, but it is not unusual for people without disabilities to use them to save a few minutes walk.
James Wilson, a veteran who served two tours of duty in Vietnam and is now a student at ETSU, said that he is inconvenienced every day by people who do not really need to be parking in a disability parking space. Some have ski racks and kayaks on their cars, but then get out and run into the building as though nothing is wrong with them.
It surprises Wilson to hear a lot of talk on campus about teaching students to become well-rounded individuals, able to make a worthy contribution to society, then seeing things that contradict those principles.
“If they’re supposed to be teaching ethics, when do ethics start; after college or when you wake up in the morning,” he said.
Most people on campus do not use disability parking spaces if they do not need them.
Public Safety Lt. Terry Story said that there are not a lot of complaints on this issue, but he realizes it does happen.
According to ETSU Public Safety year-end statistics for 2001, 17,751 parking citations were issued that year, of which 65 were related to disability parking. That is less than 1 percent for that year, but this offense carries the heaviest fine: $100 plus towing expenses and the cost of getting the vehicle out of impound.
Public Safety keeps records of all people registered on campus who have permission to park in disability areas, and they can check these records while on patrol. Students who have only a temporary disability such as a broken leg, can obtain a temporary permit and park close.
“We use common sense to issue a temporary permit,” Story said. “Normally, we will request they bring a note from their doctor.”
Applications for temporary disability parking permits can be obtained on campus at Disability Services, the Parking Office or the Public Safety Office and must be registered at either the Parking Office or Disability services.
Because the number of disability parking spaces are limited, along with parking in general at ETSU, Jack Cotrel, director of Public Safety, recommends that anyone with a disability who can walk, park in non-disability spaces.
“We do encourage disabled students, if they are ambulatory, to use other spaces,” Cotrel said, adding that the university “bends over backwards” to accommodate students with disabilities.
Linda Gibson, director of Disability Services, said also that the problem of people using disability parking illegally on campus is not very prevalent, but acknowledged that it does occur.
“So, if you run in and get your mail and it only takes you five minutes, well, in that five minutes if somebody else has had to go and park somewhere else because they need to be in class, they’ve had to walk an extra distance, then you have seriously impacted that individual’s life,” Gibson said.
“Public Safety and the campus physical plant are very, very conscious of trying to make sure that we’ve got access for people with disabilities,” Gibson said. “They’re very conscious of that.”
Gibson also said that she had not seen or heard of professors abusing disability parking areas, as Wilson alleges he has, but she wants to remind people that not all disabilities mean that you can not walk. People could have emphysema or a heart condition or any number of other illnesses that the government classifies as a disability.
People who use wheelchairs are not the only ones eligible to use that parking,” she said.
Usually, she said, the complaints come from professors who actually have a disability and cannot find a place to park. If that happens then they are told that they can park anywhere unless it is a loading zone, a fire zone or a service vehicle space.
“We tell them the same thing we tell students: park anywhere as long as you’re not in violation of one of those three areas,” she said.
Though it may not happen that often according to the statistics, all it takes is one instance to cause somebody trouble, Wilson said.
“When you have back trouble, carrying a bunch of books around campus is a killer,” he said.
Wilson thinks people should think about what they are doing and who will it impact.
He also said that they should realize that one day they might have to park in disability parking spaces.

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