STRIPES returns Sept. 4
Though many students will return to Columbia this weekend and next, they will have to wait until September to call on STRIPES to get them home.
STRIPES Director Domingo Pacheco said the service will return Thursday, Sept. 4. STRIPES offer rides home to MU students most Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights during the school year.
The organization celebrated its 60,000th ride this past May, and Pacheco has big plans for this year. Currently, student volunteers must be 21 years old to drive the STRIPES cars, but Pacheco wants to see that age lowered to 18. The volunteer who rides in the passenger seat and helps navigate and track calls can be under 21.
Pacheco said he has received approval from Avis car rental service, who rents cars to STRIPES each weekend it runs. The next hurdle is approval from MU and UM administrators, including Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs and Ed Knollmeyer, the director of the UM system Office of Risk and Insurance Management.
Pacheco said a lowered age would be a godsend for STRIPES.
The group also started a $1 million endowment so it can eventually become financially independent from student fees.