Officers average 450 tickets daily
Parking violations keep police busy
By MERIL EDWARDS
Battalion Staff
The Texas A&M University
Police Department collected
$91,201 for parking violations last
semester, department records
show. Police officers issue an aver
age of 450 parking tickets a day at
$5 per violation.
All the money taken in from park
ing tickets goes into the Parking
Facilities Reserve Account ad
ministered by the vice president for
business, Thomas R. Parsons, di
rector of traffic and security, said.
"Most of the money in this
account is reserved for the con
struction of new parking lots,” Par
sons said. “Half of my salary comes
from this money and 10 police offic
ers are paid out of it. Also 40 per
cent of our department’s operating
budget comes from this account.
“The amount of money taken in
for tickets has nothing to do with our
income. I know people like to say
we use the money to raise our
salaries, but that’s not true.”
Parsons said another $75,000 or
so of the account is allocated to
grounds maintenance. This money
is used for parking lot upkeep:
sweeping the lots, repainting lines,
traffic signs and parking gates that
are often vandalized and must be
replaced.
Parsons said if there's a reserve
in the account, it stays there to build
up for new lot construction.
“The state does not appropriate
any money to build new lots,” he
said.
Two new lot sites are under con
sideration, Parsons said. Parking
Area 62 southwest of Kyle Field
near Wellborn Road has been
approved for construction.
“There’s no question about the
Kyle Field lot,” Parsons said. “Con
struction should begin by May 1 if
everything goes according to plan.
It’s the first bright light I’ve seen in
awhile. I estimate the lot will cost
around $330,000.”
The other parking area being
considered is northeast of the
Zachry Engineering Building. But
Parsons said there has been talk of
a dorm in that area, too, so any
definite development there is un
certain.
Another possibility being discus
sed is a parking garage behind the
Reed McDonald Building.
“The garage would house about
1,000 cars,” Parsons said. “But we
wouldn’t be able to start it until there
was a place for the cars parking in
that area now. And the construction
would take from one to one-and-a-
half years.”
Parsons said the garage cost
was estimated at $3 million.
“There isn’t enough money in the
reserve,” he said, “to pay for the
garage. So if we get in a bind, we’d
have to raise the price of parking
and we don’t want to do that.”
Parsons said the parking price
hasn’t been raised since 1973.
“The campus traffic situation has
been running more smoothly this
semester,” he said. “There are few
er cars operating, shuttle bus use is
up by 1,500, there are more cycles
and more students are riding bikes.
“The gas price is having an effect
here, so maybe the traffic and park
ing will become less frustrating.”
Some students pay tickets; others get away
By MERIL EDWARDS
Battalion Staff
If all students paid their parking
tickets, the Texas A&M police
would have collected more than
$91,201 last semester, but some
Aggies don’t pay their parking fines.
“Some students get lucky,”
Janice Scanlin, police administra
tive assistant, said. “We can’t catch
everybody, but we try our best.”
When students fail to pay their
tickets, Scanlin said she first traces
their license plate number.
“Nine out of 10 cars are regis
tered under the parent’s name and
address,” she said. “So I get that
information through Austin, then
match the address with records
here at A&M.”
Scanlin’s next step is to block the
student’s official transcript so they
can’t register until their fines are
cleared.
“Sometimes students get irate
with us when they can’t register,”
Scanlin said. “They think they’ve
successfully evaded their fines be
cause they were given several
semesters ago. But Austin may not
have their records up to date and
that accounts for the delay.”
Scanlin said she concentrates
more on those with lots of tickets
rather than spending extra time on
the one-time offender.
“Blocking registration is all we
can do,” she said. “We send the big
offenders to Student Affairs.”
And the one who handles the big
offenders, those with 10 tickets or
more, is Assistant Director of Stu
dent Affairs Jerry Mainord.
Mainord said University regula
tions specify that an excessive
number of tickets requires disciplin
ary action.
“When I get the name of an offen
der from the police,” Mainord said,
“I send the student a letter of
charges. He is given time to re
spond and set up a hearing with
me.”
Mainord then gives the student a
time limit, usually 30 days, to get his
tickets taken care of with the police.
“Most students do take care of
their tickets,” he said. “But failure to
respond to my letter or to clearing
their record will warrant further dis
ciplinary action.”
This further action is usually sus
pension from the University.
Mainord said he only recalls one
suspension.
“There are 20,000 students here
with permits who abide by the rules
and park legally,” he said. “We
have an obiligation to these stu
dents to take action against those
who abuse the system. About 99
percent of the offenders do not
have permits.”
Mainord said he saw approxi
mately 90 student offenders last
semester.