THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2014
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CAMPUS
Parking ticket forgiveness in the works
MIRANDA DAVIS
news@kansan.com
Haley Becker, a sophomore from Springfield, Mo., found herself late to Kansas basketball camping and stuck in the parking garage. Upon entering the garage, the machine didn't dispense a ticket. This proved problematic when it was time for Becker to leave and she was charged a $15 citation to get out of the garage.
The frustration Becker faced that morning is something that most students can relate to.
Student Senate platform
Many students will find a parking ticket on their car at least once in their time at the University. Students usually acknowledge their error, they pay the ticket online and go on with their day. Meanwhile, the parking department remains a mystery to them.
One of the Ad Astra coalition's platforms from last year's Student Senate election was the idea of parking ticket
forgiveness. Essentially, after a student gets a parking ticket and they have the option to take an online parking awareness test and, if they pass, they get the ticket removed.
However, Student Senate and the Parking Commission are still working on getting all the kinks worked out and it will be a while before students get to use the program.
"The parking ticket forgiveness program is still in development with KU IT" said Drew Humphreys, member of the Student Senate Parking Commission.
Students should expect more information on parking ticket forgiveness once the Parking Commission begins meeting for the semester.
Debunking the mysteries
Donna Hultine, the director of KU Parking, estimated that the Parking Department gave out about 33,990 tickets and towed 206 cars in the 2013 school year. KU Parking is funded by users and the revenue from
"We are completely user supported." Hultine said. "There's no tax dollars, no tuition dollars. It is just permit sales, events revenue, garage revenue, meter revenue, tickets."
tickets goes back into running the Parking Department.
The Parking and Transit Department controls the buses, park and ride, meters, lots, and, of course, tickets. It is also in charge of paying for any parking-related expenses such as building new parking lots, parking lights and water runoff in parking lots.
The Parking Department made approximately $6.15 million from student-users and the expenses of the department totaled about $6.09 million in same 2013 fiscal year.
"State agencies are mandated by law to have a parking function that raises money because state dollars can't build parking lots at state institutions," Hultine said. "It has to be user fees."
University and Kansas State University can't use tax dollars or tuition dollars to create and maintain parking structures so they must create an agency within the University to raise funds.
State agencies such as the
As for students who keep getting parking tickets, Hultine suggests "embracing the bus." KU Parking and Transit has an iPhone app so students can find out when the next bus will arrive. They are also working on a project where students can track the buses on their phones and see where they are on the map.
"My philosophy is I would much rather sell a permit than write a ticket." Hultine said.
Hultine encourages students who are new to the University or don't understand why they got a ticket to stop by the parking office, located on the third level of the Allen Fieldhouse Parking Garage, and ask questions.
- Edited by Katie Gilbaugh
Fast Parking Facts
KU Parking gave out 33,990 tickets in 2013.
The parking department made $6.15 million and spent $6.09 million in the 2013 fiscal year.
If a student doesn't understand why they got a ticket, KU Parking encourages that student to come by the offices, located in the parking garage next to Allen FieldHouse.
Student Senate is still in the development stages of a "parking ticket forgiveness" program that would allow students to take a parking test to get a ticket removed without payment.
WEATHER
Winter storm wreaks havoc on southern roads
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Helicopters took to the skies Wednesday to search for stranded drivers while Humvees delivered food, water and gas — or a ride home — to people who were stuck on roads after a winter storm walloped the Deep South.
Students spent the night on buses or at schools, commuters abandoned their cars or slept in them and
interstates turned into parking lots. The problems started when schools, businesses and government offices all let out at the same time. As people waited in gridlock, snow accumulated, the roads froze, cars ran out of gas and tractortrailers jackknifed, blocking equipment that could have treated the roads. In the chaos, though, there were stories of rescues and kindness.
It wasn't clear exactly how many people were still stranded
on the roads a day after the storm paralyzed the region. By Wednesday afternoon, traffic began moving around Atlanta, though it was still slow going in some areas. The timing of when things would clear and thaw was also uncertain because temperatures were not expected to be above freezing.
"We literally would go 5 feet and sit for two hours," said Jessica Troy, who along with a co-worker spent more than 16 hours in her car before finally
Their total trip was about 12 miles.
getting home late Wednesday morning.
"I slept for an hour and it was not comfortable," Troy said. "Most people sat the entire night with no food, no water, no bathroom. We saw people who had children. It was a dire situation."
fender-benders. At least six people died in traffic accidents, including five in Alabama, and four people were killed early Tuesday in a Mississippi mobile home fire blamed on a faulty space heater.
The rare snowstorm deposited mere inches of snow in Georgia and Alabama, but there were more than 1,000
Elsewhere, Virginia's coast had up to 10 inches of snow, North Carolina had up to 8 inches on parts of the Outer Banks, South Carolina had about 4 inches and highways were shut down in Louisiana.
his shadow.
Groundhog Day is this Sunday. If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, it means six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, it means spring is just around the corner. Approximately 90 percent of the time, Phil sees
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