"White slip" fines pay for upkeep
Feb. 25, 2005
By Lisa Larranaga
Staff Writer
A slip of shiny white paper with blue writing usually means one thing to Ambrose students – a parking ticket. The paper clings to windshields, peering out from underneath a wiper blade and has the potential to turn a good day sour.
“Parking on our campus and any college campus is a limited resource,” Robert Christopher, director of security, said. “Giving tickets is the only way we have to make sure the people who have paid for permits or have permits have space."
Since July, approximately 3200 tickets have been issued to students, faculty, staff and the general public, alike. Of those, about 700 are currently unidentified and unbilled because the violator isn't tied to Ambrose.
When a car is ticketed, there's a five day grace period for the violator to pay the $20 fine or appeal the citation. After the five days the plates are ran to determine who owns the vehicle and the fee is added on to the students account.
Paid parking fines generate about $20,000 a semester that is used for parking lot enforcement and security, maintenance of parking lots and to provide additional parking, Ed Henkhaus, vice president of finance said.
"We don’t create a ticket program to be the revenue generator…it's something that happens that you need to do in order to keep everything running smoothly."
About 30 percent of violators appeal their tickets and 80 percent of those whom appeal are granted it. Christopher said reasons vary for appeals, including anything from a parent visiting and not seeing the signs to a student running inside to drop something off.The Buzz On Campus is a bimonthly newspaper produced by the students of
St. Ambrose University. For more information, contact them at 563/333-6101 or thebuzz@sau.edu
Copyright © 2005
Updated: February 24, 2005 6:01 PM