Organizations that use decorative cup layouts on the parking garage fence on Wahnish Way to publicize events stand a good chance of receiving a fine if proper procedure is not followed.
Associate Director of the Division of Student Affairs Saundra Inge said rules were established a year ago because of abuse of the privilege and the failure to follow procedures of cleaning up afterward.
“It got out of control,” Inge said. “Nobody wrote a letter. They did nothing.”
The rules the student activities office set about the fence were strict. Inge said student activities used to send people out to count the fence sections to give organizations a set amount of fence space to use.
To advertise events, students need to set an appointment, explain their event and receive permission. They must also fill out a form that states permissible content and where the event cannot be advertised.
“They broke the rules, and they were warned off and on the whole year,” Inge said of certain organizations.
Inge may have been lenient before, but discussions with the FAMU attorney’s office brought about the plan of contracting fines for organizations that do not follow procedure with the cups.
Besides gaining permission for placing up the cups, some student organizations failed to clean them up after a certain amount of time. If not cleaned up by the students, the job will be handled by someone else.
Kendall D. Jones, director for FAMU’s physical plants, said the rules should be better enforced.
“It was our request to enforce that the cups have a start date and certain end date,” Jones said. “At that point and time, on that end date, the organization needs to be responsible for taking it down and cleaning up in that area.”
The physical plant, FAMU campus’s cleaning crew, is responsible for the mess if not picked up by the students.
“We clean every day,” Jones said. “We clean first thing in the morning and depending upon the growing season, we would make sure the curbs are clean and the grass is cut, edged and blown off.”
Jones mentioned how at a certain time, the problem increases and makes their job a little more difficult.
“During growing season, particularly in the fall, is when you have a lot of problems and a lot of organizations doing things. That’s when we have the bulk of the cup problems,” Jones said.
Jones said there should not be any off-campus groups advertising on campus.
“That should be reserved, and I think there are designated areas,” Jones said.