Obama Parking Plan

Do you donate enough money to Penn State to have reserved parking?




In most cases, reserved means that the spot will be kept for you.


But according to an email advisory from Penn State, because of weather conditions, there will be change. If you ask me, I've had quite enough CHANGE to last a lifetime, and you can keep the change if it's all the same.

Between 2 and 8 inches of additional wet, heavy snow has been forecast for University Park overnight tonight (Oct. 16) and before gametime Saturday. Penn State is asking football patrons coming to the Homecoming game vs. Minnesota at Beaver Stadium to be patient and understanding, as the hazardous conditions in the area have taken roughly 20,000 parking spaces offline for the game.

Football fans are being urged to carpool, and those who can walk to the stadium – particularly students – should do so. University officials are working to identify alternative parking areas. All grass lots will be closed. Those bringing RVs to the game may be redirected to other locations for parking.

The following procedures will be in place in paved and gravel lots:
-- Pink numbered, reserved lots, preferred lots (orange, blue and black) and all general yellow parking will be redirected to space-available lots either on campus, or
in designated lots in the community.
-- Parking in numbered, reserved lots (green, red and purple) will be on a first-come, first-served basis for permit-holders in those lots. Parking will be restricted to one space per vehicle until 11 a.m. or until the lots are filled. If the lots are not filled by 11 a.m., they will be opened to the general public, with the restriction of one space per vehicle remaining in place.

Obama has taken over parking at Penn State! We'll just take spaces from those that have them and give them to those that chose or couldn't afford them in the first place. Ain't that special?


11 AM???!!! I wasn't even planning on leaving Altoona until after noon. Now I'm, going to have rearrange my schedule just to keep my spot, and the first-come first served means I'll probably get stuck wherever the hell they feel like forcing me to park.


It's weather people. Not a terrorist attack or state of emergency. Why in the bloody hell would you take spots away from those that paid (a lot) for them and give them away forcing the one that had spot to now have to find spots. Does that make sense to you? I mean, I understand there is a problem, but is taking spots away from other people helping the siutuation. That would be like taking healthcare away from those that already have it to provide for . . oh, nevermind.


Granted, there may be some spots open from people that don't come, but can't they wait until 1:30 or 2:00 to raffle off the good spots? I really don't feel like freezing my butt off any earlier than I have to. That's one of the reasons I willingly PAID for the reserved spot in the first place.


The email had a phone number to call 1-800-NITTANY. I called it while I was having my stroke, but after going through the menu and pressing one, I was informed that no one was there to take my call and I should try calling back later. That was helpful. And another perfectly good blood vessel popped for nothing.


In all my years of attending games, I don't remember a fiasco like this--and I have sat through some pretty miserable weather. Nothing ever happened like this when Kay Kustenbauter ran the NLC. Or before Obama.


A fan on the BWI messageboard wrote:

they better be refunding some of our money for the g*&^$#!@ed reserved parking spot. This is nonsense.

Yeah, that will happen.

And some comments from Black Shoe Diaries:

DAMN YOU, CURLEY!!! It’s like the German army stalling outside Moscow in a river of mud.

Have fun with that guys. Thankfully, I’ll be watching this bitch in 62 inches of HD.

there is no way this will result in anthing but a gigantic cluster f&*K

I feel bad for the people who spend tons of cash for those paved lot spots and are getting a homecoming weekend with no tailgating.

this is fantastic. i remember we still had people park in the lots for Hurricane Ivan. how the heck is this any different?

Oh MY! I kinda wish I was going out there just to watch the clusterpryor happen!

Pfft. Whatever. I’d like to see them come by and tell me that I can’t tailgate at my numbered, reserved spot. I can see them telling the motorhomes they can only have two spaces, not four, but just try and stop me from drinking and heating up some chili. THEY WILL NEED TO PRY THE CHILI AND YUENGLING FROM MY COLD, DEAD HANDS BEFORE I NOT TAILGATE BEFORE A HOME FOOTBALL GAME.

I love your attitude, people will be killed if I show up and my numbered reserved spot is taken by some random [I guess you can insert whatever here?]

with the weather i don’t imagine the permit holders will get there by 11am. i’d be happy if i were the general public. good parking…not that you can tailgate. but still…

I couldn’t believe this when I read the press release from PSU. They have found yet another way to f%#$ up football weekends. Who in the world is going to show up by 11:00 for a game that starts 4.5 hours later when the best you can do is sit on your cooler in the snow/rain and attempt to look like you’re having a good time. One of the exact reasons I give thousands of dollars to the university every year is exactly for the purpose that I can have a spot relatively close to the stadium after driving for hours to come to the games.

This is going to have a huge impact on fundraising for the NLC. They have just royally pissed off their major contributors all in one shot.Since RV spots are made up of 4 regular parking spots, I’m more than happy to drive a car and give up 3 of those spots to others that lost a space to park in the grass. It’s absolutely nuts to face us with the proposition of having no where to park at all.

I’ve been donating to the NLC for almost 20 years. For the first time ever, I’m considering stopping my contribution. The dark years didn’t do it because I always had confidence that better years were ahead. I can buy season tickets off of ebay, stubhub, etc. for a premium that is less than the contribution it takes to get one of these parking spots. Once you lose the gaurantee of being able to have a reserved spot, what is the value of continuing to contribute to the NLC? Oh right, it must be the media guide they send every year ($20 value yours for absolutely no additional cost!).

I called the NLC and of course they said that they have no control over the situation and that they had no input on the decision. They couldn’t offer any advice except to try to arrive by 11:00 to be assured that a spot would be available. [At least you talked to somebody!]

I’ve also spoken to a few fellow alumni that are just as PO’d and considering whether to make a contribution next year. Way to go PSU.

But who are you gonna call? (Not 1-800-NITTANY--they're too busy giving YOUR spot away!)