After a stressful week, Brandeis students involved in various organizations may lament that their task is no mere extracurricular, but rather a full-time job. For many, the Union government is one such activity, which demands, among meetings and planning, the completion of office hours.Concern with office hours has been voiced both by the general student body and Union officials themselves. Sharon Barotz '06 said she received an e-mail four days before she was scheduled to take the Brandeis shuttle to New York for spring break informing her that her reservation had been cancelled. She was instructed to come to the Union office during certain hours, but when she went there, the official who had promised to help her was not in the office. "I wasted my time walking to the office and back," Barotz said.

Representative to the Board of Trustees Ebone Bishop '04 said, "Sometimes I'll go (to the office) for two to three hours and I'll be the only one there." Others apparently should have been present to serve their assigned hours as well.

Ken Gantz '04, formerly Grad Quad Senator and just sworn in as Union Vice President, acknowledged, "I do think there is a problem. In the past couple months especially, club leaders and students have been coming to the office for various requests and help on matters, and there hasn't been anyone there."

This does not mean, however, that the office is usually empty, but rather that it is not always open during set hours. Kate Vogel '03, who just finished her term as senator-at-large and executive senator, said she believes "the vast majority of senators and Executive Board members have served more than their required allotment of office hours this year."

"The trouble," Vogel added, "is making sure that commitment is at a fixed time every week so that the office can be reliably open for students."

All senators, as well as members of the Union Executive Board (E-board) and the Allocations Board (A-board), are mandated to serve office hours, varying in exact number depending on their position in the government. Members of the Union Judiciary (UJ) do not currently serve office hours.

"(Office hours) are important primarily because they are the perfect time to help out specific students," said Daniel Mauer '06, formerly North Quad Senator and now a UJ Justice. "The services that Student Union officials perform during office hours aren't incredibly complex - most often when students come in, they want someone to help make copies or find them a form - but they need (it) to be done."

"The greatest thing that we can do for the students is be resources for them. If we're not there, then it's kind of hard for us to be effective representatives," Gantz said.

Gantz added that office hours bring members of the student government together and therefore offer an opportunity for them to "collaborate on ideas, discuss issues and brainstorm possible ideas for events."

There is no definitive cause for missed office hours, but rather a myriad of attitudes and circumstances that contribute to the phenomenon. According to government representatives' speculations, most officials do not cut office hours out of sheer laziness, but rather because there are only 24 hours in each day and they can only be in once place at once.

Gantz gave one possible explanation, mentioning as the semester unfolds, "everyone is just getting busier; they have a lot more schoolwork and outside work ... and people are near the end of their terms."

Gantz also stressed the role of effective leadership in ensuring that all those who should serve office hours follow through with this task. He said that in the April 13 senate meeting, the first one which he led as vice president, he "strongly urged everyone to not only serve all their office hours, but to regularly attend all their committee meetings."

Beginning this semester, officials were supposed to sign a logbook in the Union office each time they serve their assigned hours. The widespread opinion among government officials, however, is that officers did not sign in, either because they forget, or because they spend hours in the office outside of their assigned slot of time.

Therefore, although the logbook alone suggests that some members of the E-Board spend the least time in the office, according to Union representatives, this is not the case. Vogel said that she thinks "E-board members are often among the Union government officials who put in the most amount of time," and many have "thirty hours a week allotted to student government."

"If you look at the schedule of an E-boarder or busy senator, you'll find that there isn't much wiggle room," Vogel said. This inelasticity results in a sort of catch-22: In order to fulfill certain duties, an official might need to let another duty - such as office hours - slide. "Sometimes ... when an administrator wants to meet, E-board members will give up office hour time to have that meeting. Of course, ideally this should only be done when there is someone else to cover the office."

Ben Brandzel '03, who just completed his term as Union President, further discussed this issue: "I think all parties should recognize the position of the other: Student government representatives give up hundreds of hours of their time every semester for the sole purpose of improving the lives of our classmates, and so harassing them about every missed (office) hour just doesn't make sense. At the same time, students have the right to expect reliable service in the Union office during business hours," he said.

Vogel also spoke of the impact of this year's move of the Union office from the Usdan Student Center to the Shapiro Campus Center. Usdan, she said, "was much more convenient for everyone," because it is closer to Rabb and because lunch could be purchased close by and brought into the office. "Basically, it's a bigger trek to get to the furthest corner of the third floor of Shapiro, and you're much less likely to just sort of stop in somewhere else."

This applies to members of the government and also to students, who may make a purposeful trek to Shapiro only to visit the Union office. Therefore, Vogel said, "If the office is closed when (students) arrive," such as in Barotz's aforementioned case, "it is even more frustrating."

Ari Y. Kahan '04, who just finished his term as A-board chair, offered another explanation for missed office hours. He prefaced his statement by saying, "I can't speak for senators. I can't really even speak for A-board," but offered, "I know that I personally am involved in a lot of stuff, probably too much, that there is a certain amount of time that I want to budget for government stuff, and that I don't think my time is well spent in the senate office."

This rationale may be unique to the A-board, as Kahan continued, "A-board is generally not part of the student government 'circle,' and I get bored, can't get work done, and overall feel like I'm wasting my time since people rarely need my help."

It is clear that the present attempt to enforce office hours by use of a logbook has proved insufficient. Vogel said, however, that part of the problem might be that the logbook was introduced mid-semester. Both she and Mauer said the logbook might be more effective if continued next year, since this way, Vogel said, "newly elected officials (would) learn it as the way things are done."

Union officials have considered other strategies as well, although these ideas have not yet been translated into action and may be infeasible.

Brandzel mentioned the prospect of moving office hours to the evening, since many representatives already spend evening hours in the office. He admitted though, that in order to deal with administration and other adults, the office must operate during the day.

Gantz addressed this idea, saying, "I don't think it makes sense to shift purely to the evening, but we don't have enough manpower to do day and evening ... We can consider opening the office an hour or two later, and in turn keeping it open an hour or two later."

Mauer gave two suggestions. He raised the idea of monitoring office hours by requiring that Union officials swipe their ID cards at the door when they arrive and leave. He also added, "embarrassing officials within the Student Union for not serving hours, minor as it sounds, would probably make a big difference."

Gantz proposed that given the difficulty to predict the hours one will be able to spend in the office, perhaps E-boarders -or everyone - should sign up in advance for only half of their mandatory hours. This grants more flexibility, but also allows students to plan meetings with specific Union representatives.

Vogel mentioned that members of the UJ could perhaps begin to serve office hours as well. "The UJ does not carry anything close to the same Union government workload as the rest of us," she said. "Office hours are the least they could do."

Gantz made the point, however, that this could present a conflict, since the judges might make friends with certain individuals while serving office hours and therefore lessen their impartiality.

Gantz said he is ready to deal with the matter of office hours if the problem persists next year. "I'm waiting to see if it will become an issue," he said. "I'm hoping that it will not. If it does, then obviously stronger steps will be taken.