Audits ensure truthfulness of parking
By Melody Hanatani
Feb. 26, 2003 9:00 p.m.
For those who lied on their parking application this quarter, it
may be time to start worrying.
Select students who have applied for parking permits will soon
be receiving a letter from UCLA Parking Services stating that their
“Spring quarter parking application has been selected for
audit.”
The auditing process is used every quarter to ensure that the
information applicants are providing is not misrepresented, and
applicants are forewarned about the possibility of being audited on
their application.
According to Catherine Todd, manager of the parking programs at
UCLA, in fall quarter 2002, approximately 764 students were audited
with 13.2 percent failing the audit. This is up from last
year’s fall quarter when 12.3 percent failed the audit.
“We audit to verify that what the student put in their
application is true and valid, because they are awarded parking
based on information on that application,” said Todd.
With the demand exceeding the supply, the insufficient amount of
spaces on campus tempts some students to falsify information on
their applications.
The auditing process is used to discourage lying on
applications, so those students who are honest with their
information have a higher chance of getting a permit.
“It is fair because that person who is lying is cheating
someone who really needs a parking permit,” said Bahar
Bakhtary, a first-year biology student.
Eighteen percent of all applicants are randomly selected each
quarter to be audited. Letters are then sent out to those
applicants asking them to provide documentation to verify the
information they submitted to parking services.
Audited applicants are given a list of information they must
provide, ranging from utility bills to birth certificates.
These students are then given the option of mailing in their
documents or scheduling an appointment for an interview which
enables them to be notified of acceptance or rejection on the
spot.
“We do it to protect the space and to validate that the
student who applied is valid because parking is at a premium on
campus,” Todd said. “It is not a process where we want
to make the students feel uncomfortable or invasive.”
Commuting status and work addresses are the two types of
information falsified most often on applications. Applicants can
also fail if they don’t respond to an audit.
Failing an audit results in revocation of parking privileges for
up to four years, and the student’s name being referred to
the Dean of Students office.
“If a student misrepresents information, it affects
another student. We wish we had parking to give to every
student,” Todd said.
Though some UCLA students feel an auditing process is an
effective way of keeping check on parking impostors, others
disagree.
“It treats you like a criminal ““ even if
you’re right, they treat you like you’re wrong.
It’s not a welcoming experience,” said Luke Patterson,
a fifth-year communication studies student. “It’s part
of the reason why I don’t have a permit.”
Patterson applied last year for a carpool permit and was
audited. Due to the unpleasant experience he will not apply
again.
Approximately 35,094 parking permits are given out every year
and applicants are granted parking based on a point system.
Applicants, among other things, are awarded points for class
standing, commuting zip code and employment location. The further
the commuting zip code or employment location, the higher the
number of points.
In order to earn a higher number of points, students may feel
apt to lie about their commuting or work address.
“Students should be audited because the people who are
brave enough to tell the truth are getting penalized,” said
Jeffrey Linneman, a third-year communication studies student.
“However, the problem lies in both the students and system.
It’s so hard to get parking that the temptation is
here.”
