For the average Buckeye, it might come as a surprise that fall quarter is not just football season. The fall is prime parking ticket time.Dan McSweeney, administrator of the Columbus Parking Violations Bureau and Impound Facility, said that the greatest number of parking tickets is issued to students at the beginning of each quarter.”In the campus area, students are going to park wherever they can,” McSweeney said.The city of Columbus is responsible for issuing tickets for parking violations on off-campus streets such as East 13th Avenue, Woodruff Avenue, and Summit Street. McSweeney said that one of the reasons a large number of tickets is issued in the fall is because many students are new to the area. The problem also stems from friends and guests of new residents who don’t know the rules.People who park on the streets with no permits cause problems for residents with permits, McSweeney said. Upon entering a permit parking area, a sign will indicate that it is off limits to non-permit holders for a specified period of time. Most streets that require parking permits do so from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are also signs which specify areas in which no parking or stopping may occur.”If students would pay attention to signs, they would benefit because they are the ones who can least afford the expense,” McSweeney said.Campus traffic and parking officials also write their share of parking tickets each year.”We write about 60,000 tickets each year on campus,” Sarah Blouch of the OSU Traffic and Parking Office said.Blouch also said that campus officials write a lot of warnings to alert the person a violation has occurred.Students tend to receive the most tickets in the Central Campus area, east of the river, where parking is the tightest, Blouch said.Blouch said that 26 percent of tickets issued in the campus area are for failure to display a parking permit. Twelve percent are issued to people who are parked in the wrong permit zone.Nathan Hershberger, a junior landscape horticulture major, received a parking ticket at Howlett Hall. Hershberger had a permit but failed to get a new one after switching cars.”It was my own fault I got the ticket. I took the chance because I didn’t want to walk,” he said.In order to avoid being ticketed on campus, Blouch said students should become familiar with campus parking regulations. The information is available in printed form and on the web. There are also extended office hours seven days a week.”We try hard to continue to clarify our signage, make our policies understandable and available and respond to customer needs, but it’s a big system and it’s complex,” Blouch said.McSweeney said that students also need to pay careful attention to the street sweeping signs posted because the city has authorized towing companies to tow cars on the street at the time of sweeping.He also said he realizes that towing is an unwanted expense for students, but he believes that most people are fairly warned.”We (the city) work with Campus Partners, we put up additional signs on campus and High Street and the University puts up notices when street sweeping will occur,” McSweeney said. “Students are given plenty of notice.”Amanda Sminchak, a senior human development and family science major, received a ticket on the corner of East 12th Avenue and Summit Street at 7:20 a.m. on street sweeping day.Sminchak said she saw the person writing the ticket and approached him to explain that she was a guest of the area and hadn’t seen the signs. She tried to get out of the ticket by immediately moving her car, but was unsuccessful.”I know now that they are serious about reading the signs. I’m lucky my car wasn’t towed,” Sminchak said.Residents who live in parking permit areas can obtain permits for one year at a cost of $25. A copy of a lease proving residency is required. Permits can be obtained at the Columbus Traffic Engineering office at 109 N. Front Street.