Midnight Clear creates new fine

By SARAH CASSI
Collegian Staff Writer

When you go to dig your car out after a snowstorm, you may also be digging into your wallet to pay a parking ticket.

Students who park in faculty parking lots on nights of Operation Midnight Clear (OMC) face a $20 parking fine, said Jean Harris, manager of the University Parking Office.

"Operation Midnight Clear is a project that was started to get vehicles out of open faculty parking lots by midnight when it snows to make it easier to plow the 65 acres of uncovered parking lots on campus," said Paul Ruskin, spokesman for the Office of Physical Plant. On nights when it snows, the faculty parking lots should be clear of cars from midnight to 7 a.m.

Many students do not know about the program, even though it has been a long-standing policy at Penn State and was formalized in December.

Florence Gable (freshman-advertising and public relations) said she did not know about the program.

However, she added she thought it is necessary to ensure safety.

"I think it's a good idea to get people out of the parking lots, but I think they should make people more aware before giving $20 tickets," she said.

Harris said many students had no idea about the program Tuesday night when about 250 students got ticketed for parking their cars in faculty parking lots during OMC.

"Nobody knew about it when they called about their tickets," Harris said.

"If a student does get ticketed, they can always appeal to the parking office."

Diane Elsishans (senior-actuarial science) said a friend of hers received a ticket and was not aware of the clearing operation.

"It wasn't posted and we were listening to the radio that day to find out," Elsishans said.

Ruskin said OPP tries to notify students as soon as possible.

"We watch the most accurate weather forecasts and try to tell students as soon as we know, sometimes a day ahead," Ruskin said.

"It's important that students are aware."

Students could prevent getting caught with tickets on OMC nights by listening to the radio, watching the Housing and Food Services channel or looking at the event signs at Beaver Stadium or The Bryce Jordan Center, Ruskin added.

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