Thirty-eight MIT scofflaws and 10 law-abiding citizens donated 55 new trucks, dolls, games and other toys to the Toys for Tickets program. Fines totaling $760 were forgiven on the 38 outstanding parking violations.
The toys will be donated to the Salvation Army and Consilio Hispano, a Cambridge social service agency.
This is the second year that the Parking and Transportation Office had sponsored the amnesty program. "The city of Boston ran a similar program three or four years ago and I thought it was a great idea," said Campus Police Sgt. Cheryl N. Vossmer, who suggested that Parking and Transportation adopt it.
"We did well," said Lawrence R. Brutti, operations manager of Parking and Transportation. A year ago, 28 toys were donated in return for amnesty on tickets worth $560.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on December 19, 2001.