The Saluki Advertising Agency is searching for potential customers to buy advertising space on Saluki Bus Service vehicles, a faculty adviser says.

Stephen Phelps, an associate professor in journalism and faculty adviser for the agency, said although the agency has sold only a few slots so far for the mass transit buses, the agency is not discouraged.

We are hitting the streets in a concentrated effort next week, Phelps said. We hope to sell all of our slots within the next couple of weeks.

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The slots, which will not exceed two feet wide, will cost between $400 and $600, Sean Borman, transportation clerk at the Saluki Bus Service, said.

Not only is the agency selling space, but it will also provide the graphics for the advertisements, Phelps said.

We will be running the whole show, Phelps said. All the graphics work on the buses will also be done by our staff.

Out of the 450 eligible Registered Student Organizations on campus, the Saluki Advertising Agency was chosen in December to handle the advertising duties for the Saluki Bus Service, Phelps said.

We were chosen to do the work because we submitted the lowest bid for the project and because our work speaks for itself, Phelps said.

The contest, which was open to all RSOs on campus, drew only passive interest, Borman said.

We were disappointed at the student turnout, Borman said. We were hoping for more participation from the students.

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Borman said billing purposes and a decision by Mass Transit Advisory Board members, which consists of members from the University, were the only reasons why an RSO was chosen instead of an independent student group.

For our accounting offices to function properly, we need to be able to send bills to student accounts, which the RSOs are able to easily obtain because of their campus affiliation, Borman said. The decision on who to make the contest open to was made by the Mass Transit Advisory Board; they wanted to keep the account within the University.

The advertising space the agency is selling on the inside of the buses is only open to certain kinds of businesses.

Unlike some organizations, such as the Daily Egyptian, we are very restricted in our advertising capabilities, Phelps said. Due to the nature of our operation, we are unable to sell space to the local bars.

With more than 20 years of advertising experience, Phelps said he understands the costs of advertising.

Sure, advertising is expensive, but with all of the repeated exposure that we will be giving our clients, the cost is worth it, Phelps said. In the long haul, the service that we are providing will be extremely beneficial to the businesses involved.