These words are from common sense. Common because I am an average lay person, and sense because this is how I perceive the present situation.

Whether my opinion is right or wrong doesn’t matter; it is opinion and it is what I know.

I received a letter (actually, two letters now) about my editorial cartoon of the parking “Nazi” (Sept. 8, 1997). I would like to respond to the first letter in specific and the second letter in general, in an attempt to defend my cartoon.

You should never look at a cartoon or any art for its face value.

My cartoon was not simply satire and direct insult, but rather, an insight into the general situation that plagues campuses across the nation.

Here is my response to those letters.

Dear Mr. (X),

Thank you for your concern about the content of my cartoon.

Your thoughts are well-founded, but the cartoon speaks further than your eyes. I’ve been at Iowa State a few years and have heard the term “parking Nazi” many times.

The cartoon simply follows that trend, with the addition of my own little twist (being that it was published).

The students’ dislike of parking enforcement (not all of DPS, mind you) is also well-founded.

I agree that illegal parking should be ticketed, but this hatred toward parking enforcement is due to the overzealousness with which they pursue illegal parkers while, at the same time, violating the very regulations they enforce.

Don’t believe me? I have seen many photos of parking enforcement illegally parked.

The most memorable was that of a parking enforcement truck parked in a handicap space while the officer was ticketing other violators.

If they must park illegally in order to fulfill their job responsibilities, then why cannot students do the same in order to fulfill class responsibilities?

We call them Nazis because of the aggression with which they shower us with tickets and tows.

Answer this: Do parking enforcement officials get a raise or bonus points when they make a tow?

I have had friends arrive just as officers have ticketed their cars and called tow trucks.

My friends (plural, thus meaning many; more than once, not isolated) were willing to pay the tickets and move their cars, but in both situations, the official left his truck blocking the car until the tow truck arrived.

Either way, the cars were going to move; it would have been a lot easier if you had let the students move their cars instead of creating headaches for yourself, the students and the guy at the impound lot who has to hear all the gripes.

Another friend had her car towed with her dog still inside the car!

How could parking enforcement miss that? (It is an energetic dog and a small car.)

Luckily, she caught them in time, but what would have happened if she hadn’t caught up to them?

This dog would have had to spend a 90- degree day in the impound lot. Worse yet, what if there had been someone incapacitated in the back seat?

I don’t believe they would have seen them either. Why? Because they are so engrossed in serving us a bad day.

I have reread the letter, most notably, the phrase that reads, “Nazism denotes intolerance, cruelty, disregard for human life and opposition to individual freedom.”

I wonder: parking enforcement fulfills three of those four criterion. (They’re not cruel; they’re happy.)

Another word: How do you know it was a Nazi?

There were no symbols or words that said, “This officer is a Nazi.”

There were words that implied he was a Nazi, but as we all know, an implied Nazi has only half the caffeine of a true Nazi.

In all seriousness though, yes, the cartoon trivialized the Nazi party, but I have faith that we all have common sense enough to know how bad the original Nazis were, and how bad the Parking Division is not.

It’s not the fault of DPS, though. They’re just following the lead of the university in the pursuit of more money.

College is no longer a center of learning; it’s big business.

We see this in the makeup of the Regents (mostly old businessmen and lawyers).

We see this in their policies, such as raising tuition so that we can waste more money on the football program.

We see this in the food court of the Memorial Union.

We also see the university’s ineffectiveness in dealing with social problems.

We are confronted with the problems of alcohol, racism and even murder, but the Regent’s big-business machine will never find enough money to buy the wisdom to deal with these troubles.

That is why I drew the cartoon.

This cartoon suits one other purpose.

It has brought many of us together against one common antagonist, and though few or none of us can do anything about the aggressive tactics and policies of parking enforcement, at least, for one moment, we can all stand united against them and point and laugh.

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Carmen Cerra is a senior in biological and premedical illustration from Redondo Beach, California.