Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1982)
Tickets mean bucks for University By Dave Rodewald Of the Emerald An estimated 30,000 traffic citations handed out by the Department of Public Safety in the last year signals nothing unusual for Richard Tanner, the depart ment's associate director Tanner says his department writes between 2,000 and 3,000 citations a month during the school year and col lects on most of the citations The University business office es timates that only $7,000 of last year's $127,000 went uncollected Most of the delinquent accounts come from non-University people and out-of town visitors, business office officials say Tanner says the parking meters serve two purposes They raise revenue to fund the parking program and create a ^ tu University parking meters raised $71,000 last year. turnover in parking spaces, he says Last year the meters raised $71,000 to support the program, Tanner says “Every parking program at a state university has to be self sufficient,” he says The meter money, funds from parking permit sales and citation fines make up the parking program's total revenue Meters also give "everyone a fair shot at a parking space,” Tanner says With out parking meters, people would park on the streets for days or weeks, he says Any leftover funds go for new lights, paving, painting new lines and other road and parking area improvements Tanner says the faculty parking area has been paved recently, and new lights are in the works for 13th Avenue "We are after a fair but firm enfor cement," Tanner says. Public safety officer Bob Howard says he writes approximately 100 tickets a day during the school year He seldom -has any trouble with offenders, but he gets complaints when people find him writing a ticket for their cars The department gives violators 10 days to pay their fines. If a fine is late, the Public Safety Department determines who the offender is, and if he or she is a student, a bill goes to the business office and the amount of the ticket is taken from the student's general deposit Tanner says that any ticket can be challenged with the department's peti tioning procedure "We re not a hard nosed group in here,” he says , The cold weather brings an increase in petitions because the meters do not operate well in the cold, Tanner says. If frost builds up inside the meters or the weather is too cold, Tanner says the department doesn’t check the meters because many will register the wrong information Students pay eventually So you've got a few dollars worth of tickets, and you're thinking about not paying them. It’s only the University What can they do? A lot, according to Larry Tergesen, accounting department supervisor Students whose parking fines amount to more than their general deposit will find the accounting department will add the unpaid balance to fee statements and withhold any credits students would receive for that term until it is paid Even students who are graduating or leaving the University and are Oregon residents are not safe For any balance more than $25 and under $50, the busi ness department will turn the account over to the State Department of Reven ue, which will take that amount out of state income tax return If the account is more than $50 over the general deposit, the revenue depart ment starts collection proceedings with a progressive series of letters urging students to pay A series of visits from people in the debt collection department follows the letters to make sure a payment is made "The idea is for people to pay (the tickets) first," Tergeson says, adding that people should petition any tickets they believe are unjust as soon as possi ble According to business office figures, $7,000 will be lost because the violators are out-of-state residents or because the public safety department was not able to identify the vehicle Photo* by Dave Kao Campus safety officer Lori Drew gives out one of the 2.000 to 3.000 citations the Department of Public Safety writes each month during the school year. The tickets netted $120,000 last year Program faces demise PLUS funds frozen as director disappears By Rich Burr Of the Emerald The thick layer of dust on the Physically Limited Union of Students office desk may be early indications of the pro gram's death Members of Students for a Nuclear Free Future now work at the PLUS desk, waiting for the ASUO to issue the death certificate SNuFF has no office ASUO Comptroller Alan Con treras says Chester Falter, PLUS director and only member, may be in California The Emer ald was unable to contact Falter David Gibson. ASUO vice president for finance, froze the $435 of PLUS incidental fee funds Thursday The money will remain availa ble all year, but someone must become the recognized direc tor, show knowledge of the pro gram's goals and exhibit enthu siasm to fulfill the goals before the funds will be released. Gib son says ‘They’ve destroyed PLUS’ With effort, the group can be a useful organization, he says His predecessor does not agree "PLUS hasn’t done anything useful in years, and I don't see them doing anything useful in the foreseeable future," Contreras says In the past, some considered naming the program MINUS," he says "They were a member of the Expenditure Club — you don't Know what they do, but they sure do spend money " The program's goals are to inform students about han dicapped concerns, legislative developments affecting the handicapped and to be a sup port group for handicapped students PLUS began in 1971 as ALERT!, but was renamed In 1981 Former ASUO Pres Rich Wil kins originally recommended no funding for the program last year but changed his mind after meeting with Failer, Contreras says Failer asked the Incidental Fee Committee to subsidize a lawsuit against the State Board of Higher Education for non compliance with federal Affir ‘(lt) hasn’t done anything useful in years’ mative Action legislation Wil kins personally appeared before the IFC to support his $800 recommendation for the suit The committee denied the request The lawsuit is in "Urn bo,” Contreras says Noting the program's history, the IFC atlocated money for of fice supplies to give the group one "last chance” to revive it self. says Qibson, who was also a member of last year's IFC In an Emerald interview last year. Faller said he "faked" budget requests to insure PLUS received sufficient funding Be sides office supplies, the group last year received money for travel, interpreters, conference fees and speakers "Quite frankly, the IFC has shown its insensitivity to han dicapped concerns," Faller said last year. "They've destroyed PLUS. That should be obvious. "Without the lawsuit, there is no reason for PLUS to exist — period," he said
