The bus stood me up.We had an 8 hour commitment to each other-that was it. It could have been a beautiful thing. A one night stand, so to speak. A spring fling. Maybe the bus had another date or technical difficulties that prevented it from a timely arrival-or any arrival whatsoever.

And I thought Crystal Transport was flaky.

About 30 Brandeis students, determined to fight for women's lives and support abortion rights, could not raise their voices on Sunday in Washington. Rather, they remained on campus as one bus meant to transport 37 students never showed up. Two of the three buses, paid for by the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA), left at midnight, while the third was scheduled to leave at 2 a.m. The midnight buses left without any problems but after the 2 a.m. bus was an hour late, about 15 of the 47 waiting students managed to jump in cars at 3 a.m. to make their own way to the March. The rest remained at Brandeis, lacking any means of reasonable travel.

As a self proclaimed pre-law student and feminist, I would say I've attained a lethal combinations of characteristics to wreak on any unsuspecting law-breaking chauvinist pig. With whatever intimidation factor all five feet and one inch of me can muster, along with pre-law knowledge, I hope that all responsible parties have really considered the implications of leaving one-third of Brandeis representatives in Waltham while the historic March for Women's Lives was roaring in Washington. I am sure there are more ladies and gentlemen just like me, with an equal penchant for discovering the reason their efforts were repressed, and perhaps some with an added desire to punishing the offending bus companies.

Sunday's march has been calculated by several media sources as the largest march in history, with organizers asserting that there were more than one million in attendance. While the Capitol steps may not have missed 20 students, those who stayed behind couldn't quite reconcile missing this historic moment with extra homework time, or even the warm beds they could now sleep in. They signed up for an 8-hour bus drive. They signed up for a long, challenging, and demanding day. They wanted to march all day in the sun only to end the day with another 8-hour bus ride home. They were prepared for the inconvenience and exhaustion associated with a one-day trip covering 24 hours and 1,000 miles. They did not anticipate that they would be returning to their rooms at 4 a.m., only to awaken and watch the marchers and speakers on television, trying to spy their friends in the sea of bodies on the mall in Washington from couches in the Shapiro Campus Center TV lounge.

Despite the unexpected and unfortunate turn of events, the proactive response by these students is really a nod to their commitment to the cause. The TV lounge turned into a temporary powerhouse, and served as a gathering point for letter writing to senators, making posters, discussion and a means of experiencing the March as a community.

College-ruled paper, pens, buttons and lists of senators' names and addresses covered the tables. Images of the March and guest speakers like Whoopie Goldberg and Gloria Steinem filled the screen. Rather then responding in anger, students raised their voices in another manner, not chanting with marchers in Washington, but writing letters and sharing their voice on campus.

The FMLA executive board and Brandeis' March planners must take this matter very seriously. Mechanical breakdowns and overbookings aside, unfortunate circumstances and apologies don't provide closure to students whose tickets have been in top drawers and whose calendars have been marked for over two months. When "the day" finally came and the bus didn't show, I wondered, along with those who participated and supported in FMLA's representation in Washington, why 30 students were really left behind.

This unfortunate incident should be of concern to all campus organizations, which could just as easily become victims of an unreliable bus company or contractual misunderstandings and violations. When the fine print holds more weight than the agreements, signatures, and confirmations among parties, "responsibility," "commitment," and even "contract" become fickle words with little real-life meaning.

I encourage Brandeis FMLA and the Feminist Majority Foundation to not allow this incident to get lost in the post-March closure. There is no reason why, after months of fundraising and countless hours of planning, one third of the students planning on attending the March were not able to go. There may be plenty of reasons why this failure occurred, but considering providing buses is what a bus company does and supplying transportation to Washington was the organizers' primary effort for the March, it is difficult to produce a reasonable explanation for how this could have happened.

The bus company bureaucracy that was dealt with until the final moments of departure (or lack thereof) are not unique to Brandeis and not unique to FMLA. This particular incident just draws attention to the glitches in the system and the exploitation of agreements.

Placing blame is not the most appropriate or proactive approach to this incident, but regardless, responsibility needs to be addressed and the procedural mistakes made on all sides need to be determined and reported to the community. Feeling pity for those left behind and shaking ones head in shared disappointment is not enough. I encourage FMLA to involve its members, the March's attendees and supporters in the proceeding actions and steps taken toward resolution. Legal action, if appropriate upon further investigation, should be taken despite potential hassles.

And if you need a lawyer . . .