THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7,2002
COVERSTORY
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 9
4
Anton Bubnovskiy/Kansan
Chris Moore, Lawrence senior, said ZZZZ00M fits his station wagon well. Moore said he got the idea for his personalized plate from the Mazda "Zoom Zoom" commercials.
Anton Bubnovskiy/Kansan
Nicholas Semrau, Sioux City, Iowa, senior, reflects his twisted view on humanity with a plate inspired by George Orwell. Semrau said the meaning was hard to explain to people who hadn't read the book.
Personal plates
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"Everybody knows me as DEVIOUS; it's my screen name, my e-mail address, my nickname," she said. "It's great—I get to be somebody else."
put her in a good mood when she got behind the wheel.
Personalized plates naturally draw more attention than standard plates.
"I'll be driving down the road and people, mostly guys, will pull up and drive along with me," Finley said. "Sometimes they'll flash me their cell phone numbers either on a sign or with their hands."
Finley was pulled over once because she exceeded the speed limit by four miles an hour.
"He asked me if I thought he would let me go because I had 'DEVIOUS' on my tag," she said.
Officials at the Douglas County Treasurer's office said the increased attention had caused people to exchange personal
plates for standard plates.
There are approximately 2,800 personalized plates in Douglas County, composing an estimated 2.5 percent of the registered vehicles.
KU has 15,159 registered vehicles;278 of those have personal tags,said Jill Davis. administrative specialist for the parking department.
The tags are controlled by the county treasurer's office. To obtain a tag, applicants must have a vehicle registered with the county and a current license plate. The plates carry an additional fee of $44.25 after registration.
Two license plates are issued, but as of July 1, only the back plate is required to be on display.
Despite the teasing and increased attention, Moore takes pride in his Protege.
"I tell my friends, 'The next time you need to haul around a 36 inch TV and can't fit it in your sports car, don't come crying to me.'"
— Edited by Chris Wintering
In