ISU Bengal

Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: Life

Media Credit: Joshua Mayes Karissa Phelps sits in the information booth in the parking lot of the Administration building.

Inside a steel booth reminiscent of a German military pillbox or bomb shelter with pale orange painting on the inside walls, sits Karisa Phelps, a junior majoring in education. Phelps works inside the information booth overseeing the parking lot behind the administration building. She discovered the job right before her freshman year began when some of her friends, who worked in the information station, were quitting.
The job involves students who are work-study eligible and those just looking to make some extra money. Phelps finds a great deal of time during her shift to spend on her homework.
Inside the booth there is air conditioning and heating so it feels comfortable, but Phelps admits "it does get lonely." Unlike attendants in other parking lots around the country, there are no regular customers stopping by her window with daily jokes, nuggets of fortune cookie wisdom, or simple small talk.
"If students are coming by that often they are trying to sneak around the system. We have to make sure that the parking spots are available for the people who work here as well." Angry people often walk up to the window to visit Phelps complaining about tickets they've received. "I listen but I can't help them so they end up going down to public safety."
Phelps issues short fifteen minute parking passes, and is occasionally required to write tickets. If you are sick or need to take a test and want to park close to the campus you can get temporary general parking passes and medical parking passes so you can park closer to the buildings at no cost.
Phelps laughs about a few times she's been threatened while writing tickets, "I've had people threaten to electrocute me if I touched their car or have their wives come down and beat me up because of the tickets. The chances of it happening are slim to none, plus we always have a radio if something happens, an officer will come quickly."
If you need to park in that lot Phelps offers a word of advice, "It's a lot easier if they (students) stop at the window before they park, because we have to get their license plate numbers to issue the passes."
With the information station closing at 4p.m. on Fridays Phelps is likely to be the first person you see as you drive away to start your weekend.

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