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November 18, 2005 > News > Bus dispute causes delays in shuttles from Esperanza

Bus dispute causes delays in shuttles from Esperanza

By Beko Binder | Thresher staff

Esperanza, held at the Grand Room Event Center downtown Nov. 12, was marred by an interruption in shuttle service that left students temporarily stranded at the formal.

Shuttle transportation carrying attendees to and from the formal was briefly suspended because of a contract dispute, Rice Program Council President Stephanie Swingle said. RPC sponsors the fall formal.

Swingle, a Brown College junior, said RPC had negotiated a contract requiring Ace Limousine to provide transportation for $600. When the company collected payment before returning students to Rice, drivers requested an additional $600 to pay for the second bus. When RPC officers refused to pay the additional money, drivers asked students to get off the buses.

Swingle said the company resumed service when RPC paid an additional $600 in cash. Swingle said RPC will try to cancel its initial $600 check and has contacted General Counsel Richard Zansitis, Swingle said.

“We’re not sure if [the General Counsel’s office is] going to find it worthwhile to take up [such a small] case,” Swingle said. “But we’re hoping they will and that it will get resolved.”

Ace Limousine General Manager Andy Bouj said the bus drivers charged an amount consistent with the contract.

“We did not charge any extra, and we did not charge any less,” Bouj said.

RPC has not finished calculating the exact number of tickets sold and the amount of money it earned or lost on the event, Swingle said. Swingle estimated RPC sold about 400 tickets — which cost $25 in advance and $30 at the door — and spent $10,500 on the venue, which included the disc jockey, security and catering. Last year, about 700 people attended Esperanza and RPC lost about $4,000.

RPC has traditionally made money on Esperanza and lost money on Rondelet, the spring formal.

Despite the transportation problems, Swingle said she was pleased with Esperanza as a whole and thinks the facility was a good choice.

“[The Grand Room staff] set everything up beautifully,” Swingle said. “I thought the DJ we hired through them had a pretty good selection of music, and the catering was great. They were really easy to work with and very accommodating.”

Sid Richardson College senior Manish Agrawal said the DJ was not satisfactory.

“[The DJ] played this weird mix of music and was completely unresponsive to the crowd,” Agrawal said. “He would play a horrible song, and everybody would leave [the dance floor but] he still let two or three songs of the same genre keep playing. … I could do a better job.”

Hanszen College senior Amit Patel said this year’s Esperanza was mediocre compared to his previous experiences.

“The DJ sucked, and the place was OK,” Patel said. “They have done better jobs with the location … [for] other formals. I think the thing that makes Esperanza and Rondelet fun is the number of people who come, [but this year] it seems like it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

Recent Esperanza locations include Minute Maid Park, the NASA Space Center, the Crowne Plaza hotel and the Koch Building.

This year’s theme was “A Gatsby Gala at the Grand Room.” Previous themes have included “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Field of Dreams,” “Comic Disco” and “Let the Good Times Roll.”

End of article

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