Have a question about some aspect of working at NIH? You can post anonymous queries at www.nih.gov/nihrecord/index.htm (click on the Feedback icon) and we’ll try to provide answers.

Feedback: I recently received an NIH parking ticket for $75. While I deserved the parking ticket, the fee is $50 for the parking violation and $25 for a “processing” fee. I can understand the $50 parking fee is to discourage people from parking in a certain spot, but the $25 to process the ticket seems extraordinarily high. Could you please explain why the processing fee is so high? Where does that money go? Who profits from the high fee?

Response from Alvin Hinton, chief, Division of Police, ORS: The United States District Court system established the fee. Federal law enforcement agencies had no say in the establishment or amount of the fee. I believe this is a budgetary tool for the court system.

Feedback: I recently read in the OEODM News and Notes that NIH employs 637 veterans. How did OEODM come up with that number? Were only those individuals who claim veterans preference counted or did OEODM count every person who had some military service? If OEODM counted every person, how did they do that—did they review each employee’s application/resumé?

Reply from Hilda Dixon, deputy director, OEODM: The information on the number of veterans employed at NIH is based only on information from the NIH Data Warehouse human resources database. This database includes information on employees who are identified as having a veteran’s status under pre-Vietnam era, Vietnam era and post-Vietnam era. The number is not inclusive of all employees at NIH who may be veterans. OEODM does not directly survey or collect veteran’s status information on NIH staff.