To the editor:

Frankly, I resent your implication over and over that so-called residents don’t have anywhere to park and that students don’t constitute residents. Your quotes, “Residents of Oread, north and east of KU campus, say they’re tired of competing with KU students and faculty for parking spots.” “People who are residents don’t have any place to park”, and the best one, “There are a lot of out-of-county tags.”

The Phi Delta Theta Fraternity has existed at Kansas University since 1882 and has occupied its current location at 1621 Edgehill Road since at least 1924. We pay nearly $20,000 in local property taxes on our residence each year. We are, in fact, residents of Lawrence and the Oread neighborhood.

Left out of your story is that Mr. Watts’ property isn’t on a lot at all. It is stuffed on a peninsula, and the so-called driveway isn’t a driveway at all, but rather a cut in the curb and a space where you can park one car. Without a zoning variance from the city, Mr. Watts would never have been permitted to build his driveway and would be parking on the street along with all those “out-of-county tags” and the members of Phi Delta Theta. Maybe Mr. Watts should consider living by all of the city’s ordinances rather that just the ones that suit him.

Next time, take a little care in what your words say by their implication rather than the letters on the page.

Bill Griffith,

chapter adviser,

Phi Delta Theta