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Residence Hall Association offers financial assistance to floundering Escort Service

Eric M. Jukelevics Arizona Daily Wildcat Director of the Escort Service Rachel Reinhardt (left) and RHA President Rebecca Zilm address the ASUA Senate about a proposed agreement between the two entities. The official contract is pending RHA approval at next Thursdays RHA meeting.

The ASUA Escort Service, desperately in need of funding, has reached an agreement with RHA that will allocate additional funding and office space for the program.

The agreement is still pending Residence Hall Association approval of some minor amendments made by the Associated Students of the University of Arizona senate last night.

RHA president Rebecca Zilm said the organization will most likely agree to the new terms laid out by ASUA.

"The changes have to go back to RHA, but they're so small that I don't imagine they wouldn't be passed," she said.

She said RHA made the agreement with the Escort Service in order to provide a safer campus.

"We originally made the agreement because there have been a lot of problems on campus with safety, so that's a concern to our residents," she said. "Seeing as that the majority of the users of the Escort Service are students either visiting or living in residence halls, it made sense for us to support them so they can continue to operate."

If approved, the contract stipulates that RHA will immediately allocate $5,000 to the Escort Service for new golf cart.

RHA will also work to secure office space in residence halls for programming purposes.

Along with this assistance, RHA agreed to house the Escort Service headquarters, currently located at the Park Student Union, in one of the residence halls. According to Escort Service Director Rachel Reinhart the basement of Apache-Santa Cruz Hall is the first option.

The contract passed by ASUA also has provisions which benefit RHA.

Not only will the RHA logo be included on the newly purchased golf cart and all future advertising, RHA will also have access to other Escort Service vehicles and equipment.

Reinhart said she was encouraged by the reaction of the senate and agreed that the proposal will most likely pass next week at the RHA meeting.

"I think we got a lot of the concerns out in the open that we will have to deal with in the future," she said. "I'm happy that we were able to work through all the little, minor squabbles and get something together. Hopefully we'll get through this as quickly as possible."

According to Zilm, if the agreement is deemed mutually beneficial for the 1999-2000 academic year, RHA will continue to financially support the Escort Service. She said RHA will give between $2,000 and $3,000 each year.

The agreement also made provisions for upkeep of the vehicles when in use by RHA.

Vehicles can only be used with permission of the Escort Service director.

Under the proposed agreement, only Escort Service employees and RHA Executive Board members will be allowed to use the vehicles.

Lastly, any costs for repair will be incurred by RHA when using equipment or vehicles.

The proposal will go into effect pending passage by the RHA general body, which meets on Thursday's at 5 p.m. The agreement is slated for next week's agenda.