ASG Delays Voting on Parking Legislation
ASG will vote on a bill next week to introduce a more consistent warning system for first-time parking violations.
The current warning system runs on a case-by-case basis, and this makes it really difficult to for warnings to be issued consistently, said Sen. Amy West, author of the bill. The system is very confusing for and unfamiliar to students because warnings are given based on how the ticket issuers see fit, West said.
The University of Arkansas Parking and Traffic Regulations is 12 pages and over 4,500 words in length. The regulations are sometimes difficult for students to understand, and “students often pay hefty fees for first-time violations without knowledge of the regulation,” according to the bill.
ASG senators talked with Gary Smith, director of transit and parking, about ways to improve the warning system and make it more coherent for students.
Gary Smith was very open and receptive to ideas about revising the warning system and making it more consistent and clear for students, West said.
Next week, ASG will also vote on a bill last night to lower the fine for parking in a space not authorized by a permit from $50 to $30.
This change was proposed in light of the fact that the fine for parking on campus without a permit at all is only $40.
“There is a regulation dissonance in that a driver without a permit would face a lower fine than a driver with a permit,” according to the bill.
Other ASG proposals include a bill to allow syllabi to be added to the course information on ISIS before students enroll and a resolution to permanently provide students with testing materials.
With course syllabi available to students before they enroll, ASG senators hope this will give students a better idea about the expectations of the course, so that they can enroll in the courses that best suit their learning styles.
“Students who are better informed about the demands of a course will be less likely to drop once classes begin,” according to the bill.
In order to permanently provide students with testing materials, ASG senators proposed a minimal raise in tuition.
According to the ASG Student Poll, over 90 percent of students enjoyed having testing materials such as Scantrons and Blue Books provided for them last semester. In addition, 7 out of 10 students who responded to the poll said they would be in favor of a small increase in tuition in order to have these materials provided by the UA.
ASG will vote on these proposals next week as well.
