KATE SCHWARTZ
News Assistant
The once $20 parking violation penalty, including failure to display the proper vehicle registration permit or parking in an area that is designated for other specific permits (faculty, staff or carpool) will now be increased to $40.
Public Safety officials spoke to SGA on Wednesday in their general meeting regarding recent updates to university parking citation fines. Effective Feb.12th, parking violation fines will be increased and new penalties will be enforced.
Parking fines at Pepperdine have not increased in more than 20 years. Public Safety officials compared this statistic to other similar universities and found that they had both increased their fines and the existing ones were much higher than those of Pepperdine’s, according to Assistant Director of Public Safety Dawn Emrich.
Citations for parking in a handicapped space will be increased to $350. Red Zone or Fire Lane violations will also be increased to $75.
Other violations, such as running stop signs, driving faster than five mph on the residence roads, and reckless driving on Seaver Drive will also be more closely monitored and enforced with larger fines.
Public Safety officials expect students to be unhappy with the revisions.
“The changes are for educational purposes only,” Emrich said. “It is not a punishment but only to inform the students.”
Progressive penalties will also be introduced in February. A second violation in the same category will result in a fine twice the amount of the original fine for that category. A third violation will be triple the amount, and a fourth will result in suspension or loss of parking and/or driving privileges on the Malibu campus.
“Parking tickets are already expensive,” freshman Arianna Zagnoni said. “ I doubt a lot of students will be informed of this, so tickets are really going to start building up.”
Parking violations were not the only thing addressed, as SGA senators expressed concern for Drescher students having to drive onto main campus. Drescher residents are not considered commuter students, so they must park in one of the few residential lots.
Deputy Director Robert McKelvy told SGA that Public Safety was in the process of the extending the shuttle hours for the Drescher campus. As of now, the shuttle runs from 7:30 a.m. until 10:28 p.m. Mckelvy said they would like to extend the hours until midnight.
“We are trying to make Pepperdine a safer and more accessible campus,” said Earl Carpenter, director of Public Safety. “It’s not about us. It’s all about you.”
In Wednesday’s general meeting, SGA also approved a Super Bowl Party Fundraiser to benefit the new One Glance Mission.
One Glance Mission is hoping to raise $15,000 by the end of this semester to build a hospital in Africa.
The party will be held in the HAWC on Sunday Feb. 4th from 3 to 8 p.m. Money will be raised by selling hotdogs, hamburgers and raffle tickets.
“We are really hoping to get our name out there through this fundraiser” said Elisha Soch, president of the One Glance Mission, and the SGA meeting.
“Since we are such a new group, it is important that people know who we are.”
01-25-2007
