Research Blog #9: Argument and Counter-Argument

As part of my argument over the course of this semester I have stated that the "RU Screw's" meaning has changed over time.  More specifically that is has changed in a manner that no longer views the universities mess-ups or blunders as just accidents or small oversights, but as calculated and planned "screwings" that are meant to swindle and cheat students out of their money.  One of the responses in my survey stated this: "...an excuse students use when something doesn't go their way." I however, believe that this is not this case and that students are being intentionally screwed. For example, the issues that students have with DOTS, Webreg, housing, and finical services are all too common and all too real. "

Rutgers is also, like most colleges, a business...But colleges are a special kind of business...

It’s that many colleges are shitty businesses that don’t give a crap about customer service or quality assurance. They function like your conglomerated cable providers and your giant cell phone carriers and all those other companies that happily take your business but also let you know in no uncertain terms that you need them more than they need you...Rutgers University treated its students like it didn’t really need their loyalty or affection.” (Tomar 452-453) In 2009, Rutgers Department of Transportation services made $6,994,000 in net revenue just in parking tickets alone. Here is a real "RU Screw" story about Rutgers DOTS from a former student: 

"My senior year at Rutgers I lived in Hegeman Hall on the College Ave Campus. Due to limited parking spaces on CAC, the ones that were available were for commuters only, so everyone who lived on CAC got passes to park on Livingston for the year. Not that big of a deal, considering I only used my car mainly on weekends. That winter, a pending snow storm prompted RU DOTS to inform all students with cars on Livingston to move them to the lots at the RAC in order for the snow plows to clear all the other lots after the storm. So, I took a bus to Livingston after class one night to move my car from the lot by Beck Hall over to the RAC. A week later, when I needed my car again to go home, I found three parking tickets on my car, that accumulated over the previous three days. I called RU DOTS to ask "wtf" they were doing on my car. I was told that I got the tickets because I was parked in the wrong lot. When I told RU DOTS that I had been instructed to park there for the snow plows...I felt cheated by RU... And I get 3 tickets for parking in a lot I was supposed to be temporarily assigned to anyway."