Parking problems situation's normal?
You always gripe that there isn't enough of the right kind of parking on the Hill.
Well, here's the story.
On the first day of classes in September of 1962, Traffic and Security began restricting the flow of cars into the campus.
PARKING WILL ALWAYS be a problem. Students are going to keep bringing their cars to school even if they can't bring them on campus.
The move was necessary because of the increasing number of cars owned and driven by students.
This year, students registered 8,118 cars and faculty and staff registered 2,825. Of these,2,449 students have university parking permits,1,381 of which are residence hall area permits. Staff and faculty have 1,840 parking permits.
There are also 227 student-owned motorcycles registered. Faculty and staff registered 121 All cycles have permits.
REGISTRATIONS ARE FREE. All parking permits cost $10 and are good from September until September. Last year, $54,970 was collected in permit fees.
To get a permit, the vehicle owner, whether student, staff or faculty member, must apply to the Parking and Traffic Committee.
The committee, made up of three members of the faculty, three members of the staff and four
students, grants all parking permits except temporary ones.
This is the first of a two-part series
Student parking permits are granted on the basis of distance the student lives from campus, where his classes are and his health.
FACULTY AND STAFF have roughly the same criteria. Age, physical ability, distance from campus and "importance" count. The chairman of a department needs a universal parking permit more than an assistant instructor.
Permits are in four categories. Permanent
Temporary permits last only for a short, stated period of time.
permits are good for a year, beginning in September.
A universal permit is good in any university lot. A restricted permit is good only in one or more lots.
TEMPORARY PERMITS are usually given for medical reasons. If a person is sick or injured, his doctor may make a written statement describing the nature of the disability and recommending the length of time for a temporary permit. The doctors at Watkins Hospital have a standard form for this.
"We have a lot of temporaries during football season," said Chief E. P. Moomau, head of the Traffic and Security office. "Football knees are the biggest single cause. Not only do varsity players get them, but those who play intramurals, and even those who are just horsing around get hurt."
After Christmas vacation there are almost always several who apply for temporary permits. The ski slopes take their toll even on flat-land KU students.
MOOMAU SAID IT was "hard to estimate" how many cars are coming, going and parking in any given day on the campus.
Any state-owned car may enter and leave the campus at any time. Buildings and Grounds trucks and cars also come and go at will. The campus police give temporary passes to the extension service when an institute or meeting is to be held on campus. Visitors, taxis and delivery trucks may also enter the campus.
Even with carefully marked zones and a booklet describing the parking situation and rules, KU students manage to get tickets. Last year, students paid $43,543 in parking fines. Faculty and staff paid $766.
KANSAS LAW forbids use of tax money for construction of parking lots at state universities. The individual school must find some way to provide its own lots.
Parking permit fees and parking fines provide the funds for construction of KU parking lots.
R. Keith Lawton, vice chancellor for operations, plant development and coordination, and chairman of KU's Parking Committee, said KU is in "good shape" on lot-construction money.
"Unless a lot fewer students buy permits or the KU students become a lot more careful about their parking habits, we are in good shape. We shouldn't have to raise our permit rates for a long time."
POINT OF CONFUSION
A familiar intersection, Jayhawk Boulevard and Sunflower Road, is a frustration to many KU students daily as the streets are opened late in the day. This picture, taken from atop Bailey Hall with a 35 mm lens, shows a campus traffic and security officer directing traffic.
KU students show their customary respect for authoritative edicts posted in various prominent spots on campus.
"BUT OFFICER, WHAT NO PARKING SIGN?"
Photos by Dick Doores
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE
A student driver is pictured here in a reproduction of a picture taken with a fish-eye lens.
Story by Will Hardesty