[clug] RE: CLUG parking fine

[James McNeill]

>
>
>I would have gladly parked elsewhere if I thought I was going to get
>fined, or if I thought I was causing some inconvenience. But a nearly
>totally empty carpark right next to the door of where I'm going, at
>7:30pm, well of course people are parking there.
>
Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law. Never has been.

Why do you expect the ANU to make an effort to make easier the lives of 
a bunch of hobbiests that use thier fascilities once a month, for free? 
We could always hold CLUG in some rented community building, and each 
meeting would cost $4 *on top* of pizza.

But really, the ANU's priority is to it's students and reserchers. It's 
very important that they try to keep the ANU as researcher-friendly as 
possible,  otherwise  the big fish would wander over to somewhere where 
they /know/ that they can part right outside their lab, at any time of day.
Methinks there was very little sleep lost over the thought of making 
CLUGers walk for 1 minute to get to their meetings.

>A stern warning would have prevented me parking there just as
>effectively as a fine. A fine however increases the likelihood that
>people will resent the ANU as a result (why $60? isn't $20 enough?).
>
Plenty of people got a stern warning. Most CLUGers don't spend enough 
time at ANU to hear about there sorts of things (myself included). But 
you can hardly expect a TV ad campeign.

Be glad that it wasn't more. had you been fined 1km east (in civic) you 
would have been up for at least $63. unfortunatly parking fines don't 
come with any 'special introductory rates'.

>Driving away all the pesky visitors would surely make the life of the
>
the ANU would function quite happily if only students & staff were 
allowed in. Yes, life for allot of the ANU population would be made much 
easier if visitors were resticted. I'm sure the cleaners wouldn't mind 
not having to clean pizza off the floor, the forth friday of every 
month. don't push your luck.

The most you can do now is write to them explaining that you didn't 
understand the parking restriction, and had been parked there many times 
before not realising that it was a problem.

regards,
-James