MONDAY,AUGUST 18,2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 9A
Kerri Henderson/Kansan
FEES: Business owners criticize parking fee changes
mended raising the violation fine from $2 to $5.
City officials want to deter downtown business employees from parking in the short-term parking areas usually reserved for shoppers.
After criticism from business owners, the Lawrence City Commission last week referred the matter to the Downtown Parking Advisory Board. The board is expected to meet in the next four weeks to examine meter fees and fine increases.
Board member and president of Weaver's, 901 Massachusetts, Joe Flannery said downtown employees should use long-term lots, but the increases are a double-edged sword.
"You never like to see your cus
tomers charged more for the option to shop." Flannery said. He said he wanted the increases to leave more parking available for his customers.
Chuck Magerl, owner of Free State Brewing Company, 636 Massachusetts, and Wheatfields Bakery, 904 Vermont, said it was not right to compare Lawrence's parking costs to those of Topea and Wichita. He said emulating those cities' parking programs would be like backpedalling.
would be like being Magerl criticized the financial policy of the city commission but said the parking situation had room for improvement.
"A 100% increase in fees and a 150% increase in tickets is not well thought out," he said.
The increase in meter fees and fines is projected to increase revenue by $100,000. For the first
seven months of 2003, parking meter revenue totaled over $190,000 and the city collected over $180,000 in parking tickets from metered spots.
Tickets for violations are issued between 9:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Sunday parking is free in all lots.
Currently, parking violation fines are $2 if paid within 10 days. After 10 days, fines increase to $10 plus court costs. A individual with five or more overtime tickets within 30 days is subject to a separate citation with a $15 fine.
Those habitual violators paid the City $35,500 in the first seven months of 2003, a total of 1,791 tickets.
If approved, the increase will go into effect Jan.1, 2004.
Edited by Scott Christie
Web sites recognized nationally
The University of Kansas Web site and the University admissions Web page were recently recognized by the National Center on Accessible Information Technology in Education. The Web pages, lauded for their accessibility and ease of use among people with disabilities, were among the 102 major research university sites evaluated for the same criteria.
"We're always trying to keep up with the latest technology that will help people who may be impaired," said Julie Loats, KU
"We're always trying to keep up with the latest technology that will help people who may be impaired."
Julie Loats Web administrator
Web administrator.
web administration Accessibility is not measured in regards to how a Web site looks, but on how well it provides information for all users. One of the main features that eased accessibility for visually impaired users are scalable fonts, which lets the user change the font size to make it easier to read information on the computer screen.
No major additional improvements are planned for the Web sites in the near future, but as technology continues to improve, administrators hope the Web sites will as well.
— Kevin Kampwirth
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday beginning Thursday 21 August.
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