To the editor:

This past Winter Carnival weekend, my brother and I were able to enjoy yet another thrilling Husky hockey victory on Saturday evening. Everything is terrific attending these games, with one big exception- the very poor way MTU handles their parking lots as it relates to broken down or abandoned vehicles, at least in the Gates Tennis Center parking lot, where we’ve parked for the last three years.

While walking from our parking spot in the back of that lot Saturday, we could count at least 15-20 cars that had quite obviously been there for several days (there was really no snowfall for a few days prior to the weekend series, and these vehicles had about two feet of snow on them).

As a result of these vehicles being left in the lot (and bearing in mind the tennis center is not a 24-hour facility), plowing could not be done in the greater majority of the parking lot. Empty parking spots in rows with these vehicles in them, therefore, still had a great deal of snow, as the area had a pretty considerable amount of snowfall early in the week.

My question is- why doesn’t Tech have all these vehicles ticketed, then towed prior to the weekend series? Say, by Friday at noon, so plows can come in and provide 100 percent accessibility to all parking spaces, while at the same time making it safer to walk through? The open parking spots we did see were only really accessible by four-wheel-drive vehicles (lucky we had one; we had a struggle to get into a spot even with that).

This is undoubtedly the biggest home series that Tech plays every year. Everything else about attending the games are top-notch experiences. You would think more attention would be paid by the university to this parking situation. It’s not free parking in these parking lots, after all. For $5, people should expect to find parking that can be accessible to vehicles of all sizes, and a more clear parking lot where it is safer to walk through. Hopefully, the powers that be at MTU will rectify this problem for not only the next Winter Carnival series, but for all home games when snow is an issue.

Jeff Peterson

Chassell