After several months of planning, the Rochester Every Day program is set to launch this Friday with a special event from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Hirst Lounge of Wilson Commons. As part of the festivities, the first 50 people will receive free membership stickers.
“The kickoff should be a lot of fun and incorporates a Halloween theme,” RED Promoter and senior Anne Stinson said.”The Campus Activities Board will be there carving pumpkins and giving away free candy and representatives from the RED program will be dressed in red Halloween costumes.”
“Some red devils, Little Red Riding Hood, red angels, a clown with all of its accoutrements and others will be attending Friday’s rollout,” Students’ Association Chief of Staff and junior Ilana Kaplan-Shain said.
At Friday’s event there will be information about the discounts and the participants that allow students to take advantage of great discounts in the Rochester area.
“We will be showcasing the businesses that have already signed up with the RED program,” Stinson said.”There will befree raffles andgames,as well as information to give out to students concerning the program.”
Students who don’t wake up early to get the free memberships will have to pay $1 with cash or Flex to become a member. After Friday’s event, the stickers will be on sale at the Common Market. The money raised will go back to the Dean of Students office, which has organized RED with the help of alumnus Todd Hildebrandt and Stinson, to help subsidize future off-campus programming.
“An online database is being developed to make it easy for students to see which businesses are ‘RED-friendly,'” Kaplan-Shain said. “As the program progresses we will add new businesses, maps and student reviews in order to provide the most information possible.”
So far, over 50 businesses are participating in the RED program. The list of participants is continuing to grow.
“A lot of great businesses have already signed up and it’s exciting because they’re offering these specials exclusively for UR students,” Stinson said. “The sticker will pay for itself after one use and is something students should really take advantage of.
Rochester boasts a lot of great eateries and entertainment venues that RED will hopefully encourage students to check out more.”
New security phone system promotes safety
A new system has been created by the UR Security Communications Center, allowing people with Verizon and Cingular cellular phones to call security directly at no charge by dialing #413.
This new number reaches the same emergency hotline as x5-3333 but free of charge. It is available only within the Rochester service area. When on campus, it can be used as an emergency substitute for the regular number, and when off campus it should only be used for non-emergencies requiring a response from UR staff.
For any off-campus emergency, 911 should be called instead. Users of other cell phones with service from other companies and non-cell phone users should still use the regular number, x5-3333.
Reporting by Jeff Keesing and Cyrus Levesque.
