Tickets continue to be issued for parking, speeding and other violations
The fall semester is well underway, but parking issues are still a concern for many on campus.
Donnie Hunter, director of campus safety, says there are several issues that his office deals with daily. One concern is unregistered vehicles.
“If you have a vehicle on campus, you must register it,” Hunter said. “We go through two to three weeks of enforcing registration. This year it’s been a little bit harder than the past … we’re still working on registration.”
Registering a vehicle can save time and money.
“Register the vehicle in case we need to have it moved for some reason,” Hunter said.
If an unregistered vehicle is found, Safety can now run a trace on it. That’s an automatic charge of 25 dollars to the owner of the vehicle.
“We have to know whose it is,” Hunter said. “If we can find out who it is, we can prevent towing. We don’t like to tow vehicles unless we tried to make contact with the owner first.”
Hunter cites zoning as another problem. “Zoning” is the period of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. During those times, campus residents are only allowed to park around their resident hall.
“Students have a tendency to drive from building to building,” Hunter said. “When you do that, you take parking places from other people, which creates problems.”
Dr. Keldon Henley, vice president for student services and dean of students, sent an all-student e-mail to address some zoning problems.
The e-mail states that visitor parking spaces are reserved at all times. Students are allowed to park in faculty parking spaces between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m.
Handicapped spaces are also off limits to students, but Hunter says students still park there.
“We do have a lot of students who park in handicapped spaces,” Hunter said. “I want everyone to know that putting your hazard lights on doesn’t deter officers. We’re still going to write a ticket.”
Hunter defines “park” as being outside of the vehicle and the vehicle isn’t moving, or if brake lights are not on. If brake lights can be seen, it means the vehicle is still in gear, therefore it is not parked.
Fire zones are another hazard that some students ignore.
“The mail carriers, if they don’t find a place to park, they’ll keep going,” Hunter said. “And, of course, if we have a fire, that area needs to be cleared out.”
Both Hunter and Henley confirm that there are enough parking spaces to accommodate all students and faculty/staff, but Henley admits that there aren’t a lot of students who use the new commuter lot opened beside the Elrod Center.
“It would help a great deal if more would use [that lot],” Henley said. “Or if more students who live in our apartments two blocks from campus would choose to walk.”
Hunter agrees that problems could be averted by students choosing to walk instead of drive.
“The campus is small enough to walk from point A to point B,” Hunter said. “Fellowship with some of your friends on the way, enjoy the scenery of the beautiful campus. Just remember when you drive from your dormitory during the zoning period, you’re taking someone else’s space.”
Students should also be aware of repercussions of moving barricades that block off parking spaces.
We do have a lot of special events on campus that requires special parking,” Hunter said.
We had students move the barricades and park in those areas. We ticket and it’s getting to the point now that it’s been considered as future occurrences of that, towing.”
“There is an officer assigned to each event, so they will work that event,” Hunter said. “And they will do extra patrols. That’s for anything on campus; including football games and One-Act plays … we’ll make special rounds. “
Speeding has also become a big issue. In Henley’s e-mail previously mentioned, he put out a warning about speeding on campus.
Hunter also issues a warning for speeders.
“If you speed, you’re going to get caught,” Hunter said. “If we see you, we’re not going to chase you. We’ll get your information; your license plate number. We’ll write you a ticket. You don’t have to see Safety, but we’ll see you.”
Hunter encourages students to call for complaints and/or questions. Students can also get assistance with a jump off, if their car battery dies. They also keep a ‘lost and found’ in the office, which is open 24 hours.
Hunter also warns of the upcoming holiday season, which is prime time for thefts. He encourages students to lock their vehicles and to make a report in the Safety office as soon as possible if this happens.
Campus Safety can be reached by calling 245-4000 or going by their office in Evans Student Center.
