Hopefully the last gravel lot update

By Harper Davis ‘24

The gravel lot is perhaps the most overblown hot topic of debate. The issue that just won’t go away. It’s been ravaged by storms, rationalized by legislation, disrespected by those naughty rule-breakers, and finally, banned by the Catlin Gabel School (CGS) administration for a week.

While the relentless onslaught of gravel lot updates may have already made your eyes glaze over this article, hear me out. I have some brand-new data and updates to share with you all.

I first conducted a survey, which focused on 19 drivers (10 seniors / 4 juniors / 5 sophomores) out of the 35 surveyed students.

One of my main objectives with the survey was to measure the current public opinion on the recent vote to make the gravel lot upperclassmen only. Every respondent, whether for or against the change, still agreed with their vote.

The general consensus from upperclassmen is the gravel lot was improved only slightly.

Survey results: “In your experience, how much did the new policy improve the gravel lot?” Photo by Harper Davis ‘24

Additionally, people reported arriving at a full gravel lot fairly often.

Survey results: “About how often do you arrive at a FULL gravel lot?”
Photo by Harper Davis ‘24

I also surveyed all respondents with some fresh information about commutes.

Survey results, questions asked above.
Photo by Harper Davis ‘24

The other main objective of my anonymous survey was to see how widespread main-lot parking was. 36.8% of respondents reported parking in the main lot at least once, and only one respondent reported getting a gravel lot ban. “Recently, there's been a lot more violations,” said CGSA President John DiLorenzo.

Main lot parking was one of the main reasons that the administration is banning the gravel lot for a week. One consequence of this was a strange email the entire student body received on Mar. 19.

Email sent by DiLorenzo.
Photo by Harper Davis ‘24

I asked DiLorenzo about the reason for this email. “Two students who had second parking violations wanted to expunge that from their record,” said DiLorenzo, “and I told them that they can be granted another chance, but only if they each help provide a lot of information.”

The current system for the gravel lot has four tiers of punishment. First, a warning, then a month-long ban, then a year-long ban, then a referral to the judicial council. Cover and Sait were about to receive a month-long ban.

“Both of those people that were named in the email provided information on eight different people who were in violation,” said DiLorenzo, “but I do not want to encourage a culture of ratting out people, so I think it's important that they are responsible and they admit what they have done and that they’re not hiding.”

Senior Ayaan Sait informed me that he was not aware this email was going to be sent, but DiLorenzo informed me that this public email was part of their deal. “GGs back to the lobby another victory for the OG #fortnite,” joked senior Ayaan Sait in his response to the email.

…

Being someone who is fairly late to my first period often, and has been turned away from the gravel lot more than I’d like to admit, I wanted to collect some concrete data on how fast the gravel lot fills up.

So, I did the unthinkable. I woke up an hour early, stopped by The Albina Press (my favorite coffee shop, would recommend!), parked my car at 7:40 AM (the time I usually get up), climbed on top of my car, and tallied every last car arrived at the lot.

How full the gravel lot is (from 0 to 1) versus time.
Photo by Harper Davis ‘24

The lot fills up halfway at 8:17 AM, and an interesting pattern occurs after that point. There are four bursts of cars, evenly spaced.

How full the gravel lot is (from 0 to 1) versus time, with bursts highlighted.
Photo by Harper Davis ‘24

My theory is these are actually the timings of the traffic light, where each burst represents the left turn light being active. These contribute significantly to how quickly the lot fills up.

…

Finally, I asked DiLorenzo if there were any plans for the future of the gravel lot or for a new system next year. “The school really is not in any position to change much at all about the parking for the next two years,” said DiLorenzo. “We are working with what very limited room we have and maneuvering where we can.”

“We're gonna let the system ride out for the end of the year. Next year, if that's a decision the next CGSA wants to make, they can do that,” said DiLorenzo. “Although, I think that might be hard to get people to vote for, especially the [sophomores] this year, who are already promised parking.”

Hopefully this will finally be the last we hear about the gravel lot. Use this data and go forth boldly, enjoying the gravel lot while it lasts.