“Excellent Parking by Tam Students (EPTS),” a Facebook page known and loved by hundreds of students, is in a transformational stage. The page showcases photos of cars parked illegally or poorly by Tam students, or in entertaining ways. Jackson Lundgren, Tam alumnus of 2012, created the page two years ago and, upon his graduation, passed it along to his younger brother, Miles. Miles Lundgren, a Tam news staff member, is now passing it along to two new admins due to the stress of junior year, breaking the nepotistic streak in page leadership. Jackson Lundgren claims the new admins are still “part of the family.” “I’ve been scouting these boys since ’06. Each one of them has an excellent eye for [expletive] parking.”
The first new admin, whom we will call Tom for anonymity, is already interested in making the page bigger. “I want to continue the legacy of what Jackson Lundgren started. I’ve always liked making fun of people’s driving, so this is a natural step,” he said.
The other admin, whom we will call Ben, is more interested in integrating “Instagram” into the EPTS community. “We need to adapt to the newest ways of image sharing,” Ben said.
With upwards of 375 likes and over 1,200 views on some photos, “Excellent Parking by Tam Students” is one of the most popular Tam social networking pages. “If you’re not first; you’re last,” Jackson Lundgren said. “Other pages like ‘Tam Fights Yahemi’ don’t even compare. They should give up,” he added, referring to a Facebook page, “Tam Fights Yahemi,” which showcases videos of Tam Students in fist fights.
Tom claims the page is about more than just fun. “We are improving people’s driving. There is an upward trend right now in parking skills,” Tom said, “I think we are helping get kids to park legally.” Ben claims this is not a good thing. “If nobody parks badly, our page wouldn’t be updated.”
Senior Daniela Hunt’s car, parked illegally in the back parking lot, was showcased on the page last year. Hunt claims that the admins aren’t nearly as influential as they think they are. “I gotta do what I gotta do when parking in the morning, and no Facebook page will change that,” she said. That said, Hunt says she will probably reconsider her parking habits if she is featured again.