Michigan State University Police Department

Parking at MSU at any time is very similar to a game of Russian Roulette. Nobody knows when you are going to be ticketed or why. The best you can do is cross your fingers and hope.
I love Michigan State University but their police department parking division is a horrible mess. As a working graduate student I was able to buy a parking pass to park on campus yet they do not tell you where you are allowed to park. They also sell far more parking tickets than there are parking spots. So even having a parking pass is hit or miss whether I can find a place many days. As a result I am always looking for new parking lots to park in.
Recently I parked in a parking lot that had the same sign on the gate as many other parking lots that I am allowed to park in. When I approached the gate and waved my student ID which is keyed into my parking pass the gate rose indicating to me that it was a place I was allowed to park in. But I was ticketed. When I appealed saying that there was no way to tell that this parking lot was any different than the other types of parking that I have been permitted to park and asked in my appeal for someone to give me a call and explain to me why I was ticketed, my appeal was rejected and nobody gave me a call despite a $ 25 fine.
Sure $ 25 is no big deal, but I spent $ 111 to get a parking pass for this semester! I should think that should insulate me from arbitrary ticketing or at least entitle me to an explanation. The first year at MSU, I parked in IM West and waited for the gates to go up at 9:30.
I also biked in, which was much better though as far as I can tell the MSU Police make no attempt to control speed or enforce yielding of right-​aways to pedestrians and bikes which means there is always the possibility of being run-​over. That said biking and using IM West when needed is probably the way to go.