Every driver at UTSA understands the anxiety and madness of a task like parking on campus. With or without a parking garage pass, parking is still a nightmare, and with our university welcoming more students than ever before on top of largely being a commuter school, the issues surrouding finding a spot, ideally a legal one, for your car on campus are worse than ever before. An orange citation waiting on your windshield following a hard day in class, especially after walking to your car in the scorching Texas sun, is often met with dollar-jar words and maybe even a few tears. For the first time, however, the UTSA Business Auxiliary Services (BAS) has partnered with the Student Government Association (SGA) to accept donations of peanut butter as payment for parking citations issued between Monday, August 24 and Friday, August 28.
Naturally, you must wonder what UTSA is doing collecting our favorite sandwich condiment. All peanut butter donations received during this Peanut Butter Parking Campaign will be donated to the San Antonio Food Bank! “Peanut butter is consistently among the most wanted items at the food bank, due to its long shelf life, high level of protein and popularity among customers”, explains Elizabeth Messer and Lauren Beaver in their article on UTSA Today about this week-long campaign.
The quantity of peanut butter necessary to cover an eligible citation depends on the ticket a driver receives. Here are the “payment plans” for citations given between August 24 to August 28:
• Parking without a Permit: $100 = Peanut Butter Payment of 80 oz. or more
• Parking without a Proper Permit: $50 = Peanut Butter Payment of 40 oz. or more
Unfortunately, all other citations follow the standard payment, so peanut butter won’t cut it! As explained in the UTSA Today article, appealing the citation forfeits the opportunity to pay with peanut butter. You must pay in peanut butter within 14 calendar days of the citation date. Note that a peanut butter payment is only valid for one citation.
Although today, Friday August 28th, this sweet (or should we say “crunchy”) deal ends, if you were a victim of the dreaded orange citation in the past week, you’re probably thankful for the opportunity to fight hunger in southwest Texas with a simple run to the grocery store rather than a dip in your savings. To submit your donation, bring your eligible citation and peanut butter payment to BAS offices in MS 1.01.52 on the Main Campus or in FS 1.506 on the Downtown Campus during standard business hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.