It’s hard to believe it’s already 2013! Fall Quarter is over, Halloween is a past memory, Christmas is over and New Year’s Eve is now just a fond remembrance.

Sadly, I can’t recall exactly what happened at midnight. I was flying over the Pacific on the way home from a Hawaiian Christmas. One second I am looking at my watch and it’s 10:45 p.m.; I look again and it’s suddenly 12:45 a.m. Maybe it has something to do with the time change between Hawaii and California, but the last New Year’s Eve I remember happening, I woke up wearing a hat made from mashed potatoes and, well, that’s about it. Not a pretty sight. To this day I am still banned from entering the state of Idaho.

After quickly checking to make sure I was dressed, I looked about the plane and saw everyone was sleeping. Considering the movie on the plane was Adam Sandler’s “That’s My Boy,” it could have been a mass suicide, but I heard snoring. So due to the time change, I missed New Year’s Eve. It’s amazing how time can get away from you so easily and before you know it you’re missing things like New Year’s Eve, friends’ birthdays, report or essay deadline and sometimes even court dates…

I received a traffic ticket and messed up on when the date was in which I was supposed to take care of it. Now it’s a few days past the court date on the ticket. Am I in trouble and what do I need to do to take care of it!?

Don’t worry! This can be easily fixed. Technically, if you fail to take care of a ticket by the date on the ticket, you have committed a violation, commonly referred to as a “Failure To Appear” or FTA. The court will issue a warrant for your arrest that compels you to appear before court and take care of the ticket. If I contact someone and check their identification, my dispatch will inform me as to whether they have an FTA or warrant. At that point the person could be arrested and taken to the jail and they would either need to post bail or stay in jail until they go to court the next day or so.

That is not a pleasant thing to have happen, so let’s take care of your ticket! In order to correct your oversight, all you will need to do is call the Traffic Court listed on the ticket. In Santa Barbara, including Isla Vista, the phone number is (805) 568-3959. Get through the phone tree and you will eventually talk to a clerk. You can pay the ticket and it’s over and done with.

If you would like to go to court, they can reschedule your court date. If the ticket is just a few days overdue, they will likely just give you a new court date. If it’s way overdue and a warrant has been issued, they might need you to pay a portion or the entire fine to cancel the warrant and schedule a court date. If you can’t afford it, don’t worry, they will work with you.

The key is to make sure that you take care of the ticket as soon as possible. Even if it’s late, or you’re worried you can’t afford the fines, don’t stick the ticket in your sock drawer and hope the smell wards off the bad omens. It takes about a month, but eventually a warrant will be issued for your arrest. I’ve seen really good people get arrested for something as simple as a seat belt ticket. Also, as a bonus piece of advice, if you think you have a warrant, DO NOT go to the police station and ask them to check for you! I highly recommend calling instead.

I went by the I.V. Foot Patrol Office to get help because my car was being towed and the doors were locked . It seems like the office is never open. When is the office open?

The Isla Vista Foot Patrol is actually open and staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, 10 years a decade and 100 years a century. However, the front desk/window is not always staffed. The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department tries to staff a clerk in the front office during normal business hours, Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Still, if there is no clerk available due to staffing availability or it’s outside the normal business hours, the front lobby area may be locked.

There is a phone by the front door that is a direct line to the Sheriff’s dispatch center and you can immediately connect with them. They can get a deputy or officer out to you pretty quick to help with your concerns. If you see a deputy or officer walking in or out, just ask them for help and they will either help you or get someone out there for you. It would be great to have staffing at the front desk 24 hours a day, but unfortunately there are not the necessary resources to do that. Oh what the heck, like everything else, it’s probably Obamacare’s fault.

It looks like time has slipped away from me already and I need to wrap this up. Another reminder: If you get back from the winter break and you find the Grinch paid a visit to your pad while you and your roommates were away, make sure you call the Foot Patrol or UCSB PD and report any thefts or break-ins immediately. We want to know so we can investigate them and work on getting your stuff back. For now, be safe, take care of each other and enjoy the wonderful 30° F nights!

Got caught by a cops? Your party popped by the Po-Po? Ticked by a ticket? If you have questions, don’t let it eat away at you, Question Authority! E-mail me anytime at: QA@police.ucsb.edu or call UCSB PD at (805) 893-3446.

Do as Sergeant Signa says, not as he did last New Year’s Eve.

A version of this article appeared on page 12 of January 7th, 2013’s print edition of the Nexus.