EVAN CARAVELLI/Arizona Daily Wildcat Cars parked in garages around campus are subject to fines if their cars are parked in the garage late at night. Some students have been surprised to receive fines after returning from a late night of studying around campus.

Students who spend late nights studying at the library may find a ticket on their car if they are parked in one of the garages on campus between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. without a permit.

Even though the rule has been in effect since last year, students such as Tory Tebbutt, a media arts sophomore, are not aware of it.

"When the entire school population is not aware of parking in the garages between those hours, it is not fair," Tebbutt said. "The garage is there to park in and the library is open all hours; there's just no logic."

Mike Delahanty, operations manager for Parking and Transportation Services, said the rule for issuing citations between those hours stemmed from people parking all night in the garage without permits.

"People were leaving their cars in the garages all week, and then exiting when the gates were open on weekends," he said.

Because of the large number of cars that would park illegally, visitors were unable to find parking, Delahanty said.

This caused PTS to begin citing cars that were parked in any of the garages between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m.

The policy took effect July 1, 2003.

The ticket price for parking in the garages without a permit between those hours is $25.

Delahanty said he didn't realize the rule was affecting students who were studying at the library or on campus late at night.

Delahanty said he plans to bring this issue up at the next senior staff meeting to look for a solution that wouldn't penalize students who stay late to study.

"Whatever we do is never in concrete," he said. "We are flexible enough to run an efficient program and flexible enough to meet customer needs."

But changing the current rules and regulations depends on a lot of different factors, Delahanty said.

"It all depends on the input we get from the district manager and director," he said.

Possibly not having the rule enforced in certain garages could be a solution to the problem, Delahanty said.

Andrew Hagstrom, a regional development junior, said PTS should find a solution so studious students won't be punished.

"People don't always have the resources to do their homework at home, and the library is the place they have to go," he said. "It's not fair to penalize students who park in the garages in order to study."