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