Candidates may be running on empty vows

Tim Walker, director of the Associated Students Escort Service, said the candidates for administrative vice president who have vowed to increase funding and hours of the Escort Service will not be able to fulfill their promises.

"Some of the candidates have made bold promises without having any idea how possible they are," Walker said.

Eric Clingan, political science junior, has promised to provide daytime hours for the Escort Service by raising funds through corporate advertising on the service's vehicles. Clingan said two corporate marketing directors have expressed an interest in the partnership.

Marco Dominguez, interdisciplinary studies junior, said if he is elected, he would co-opt Clingan's idea of corporate sponsorship to raise funds for the Escort Service.

Jamie Kanter, junior majoring in Spanish and psychology, also said he wants to look into paying volunteers with a block stipend.

Beau Cox, studio art junior, said he wants to extend the service to Friday and Saturday nights and pay the nighttime workers with a student work program or a stipend.

Some Senate candidates have also made promises to improve the Escort Service.

Senate candidate Alejandro Rios, accounting and finance junior, said he wants to expand the Escort Service to daytime hours, and Senate candidate Michael Coatney, political science freshman, said he wants to get a van donated in exchange for free advertis ing.

Walker said he has tried to get monetary donations, corporate sponsorships and vehicle donations but has been unsuccessful during his four years working for the Escort Service.

"I don't know what makes them think I haven't tried that already," Walker said.

"I've tried to do the weekend program for three years now. The bottom line is trying to get college students to volunteer their Friday and Saturday nights," Walker said.

Walker said automobile dealerships have all said no, and none of the businesses have responded to requests for direct donations that he has made over the past two years.

The Marshall Foundation donated $2,500 to the Escort Service this year, and Parking and Transportation Services gave $5,000, he said.

Walker said the only administrative vice president candidates that have come to him to talk about the issue since the campaign started are Kanter and Tara Taylor, political science sophomore.

The Escort Service operates from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday nights. It owns one van and two golf carts and uses one other university-owned vehicle.

Walker said the service has four to eight volunteers per night to handle an average of 90 calls.

Block stipends and course credit have already been implemented to compensate the volunteers, he said.

"The people who put in a lot of time get block stipends which pay less than minimum wage. Other people get two credits through the Family and Consumer Resources Department," Walker said.

"The candidates would know that if they had talked to me," he said.

Another promise candidates may have trouble fulfilling is their plans to write a column in the Arizona Daily Wildcat, Editor in Chief Kelly Sampson said.

"Last semester, Senate Chairman Gilbert Davidson approached us with a similar idea. The news editor and I decided that the best way to cover what is going on on a regular basis in ASUA is through the news desk," Sampson said.

Both Dominguez, who is running for administrative vice president, and Casey Cuny, marketing and communication junior and candidate for executive vice president, have said they want to write a column every two weeks.

Senate candidates Coatney; Leslie Hunter, journalism and sociology sophomore; Chris Sandell, media arts junior; and Jared Green, political science sophomore have also promised to use the Daily Wildcat to inform the student body about ASUA.

Daily Wildcat News Editor Joseph Altman Jr. said Green is the only candidate who has asked him about the possibility of writing a column or increasing coverage of ASUA in the newspaper.

Sampson said that the Daily Wildcat does not have the space and it would be a matter of giving preference to one officer over another.

"I can't see how it would happen," she said.

ASUA Treasurer Hilla Yaniv said Clingan's promise to give his full $3,500 stipend to programs and services is possible but there are complications.

The vice president allocates funds at the beginning of the year, but the program and service directors cannot count on the money from the stipend at that time, because the stipend would be a donation, she said.

The administrative vice president is paid around $200 every two weeks but the money cannot be given immediately to one of the programs, Yaniv said.

"It takes 10 days from the time the money is requested by the program or service to the time that they get the money," she said.

To see election list, click this