PTS went overboard with arrest of tailgater

People who love to hate Parking and Transportation Services, you've got your martyr. Meet Benjamin Cooperman, the student the University of Arizona Police Department arrested last week after he tailgated other cars out of the Sixth Street Parking Garage.

Although tailgating, in which students follow a car out the parking garage to avoid paying $6, is a common occurrence, PTS is pressing charges against Cooperman, presumably to set a public example that they're cracking down on the practice.

We don't condone tailgating, but the action may be a little harsh. Other solutions exist. The main reason tailgating is so easy is because of motion sensor gates. Even though gates begin to close immediately after the first car has passed, the tailgating car can simply stick its hood underneath the gate, and a motion sensor will lift the gate back up. Not all garages have the motion sensor. One Opinions Board member experienced a loud thud on the hood of his car while attempting to tailgate out the Tyndall Avenue Parking Garage his freshman year. Needless to say, he no longer attempts to tailgate at that garage.

So it seems having Cooperman arrested may be a response to PTS's own lack of enforcement. Tailgating is not a far stretch from simply not feeding the parking meter. Does it really warrant a criminal record?

Certainly the university needs to instill some accountability for violators. Cooperman deserves a fine, maybe even a big fine, but not this.

Dead day an important transition to finals

When Thursday rolls around, the university will be filled with silence. But from their beds and study desks, students will be loud with approval. "Reading day," popularly known as "dead day," is a much-loved tradition held dear by hardcore studiers and hardcore partiers alike.

Having the day this time around is extra special. Administrators nearly eliminated it in the fall in order to clear up scheduling conflicts with certain graduation ceremonies. Finals would have ended one day earlier and started one day earlier, eliminating dead day. However, surveys show students overwhelmingly supported keeping dead day and instead asked administrators to fit more finals into less time by reducing the passing period between exams from one hour to 30 minutes.

Perhaps it was all just a plan to make students more appreciative. Threatening to eliminate December commencement certainly made it more eventful. What will they threaten to take away next, men's basketball?

Opinions are determined by the Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Evan Caravelli, Brett Fera, Ryan Johnson, Jesse Lewis, Lisa Rich and Tim Runestad.