The Student Union is wasting their time and our money to do something that is not very important. Within the next few weeks, 500 magnets will be given out to the roughly 1,400 students living in North, Massell, East and Rosenthal Quads and the Castle, as well as to those passing by on the Rabb steps. The Union plans to give us a few selections from their Student Bill of Rights printed on these magnets.The Union is interested in presenting itself as concerned about student rights. They spent a lot of time writing and rewriting its high-profile Bill of Rights -- they first started working on it at the beginning of last year -- and now, to make sure we care enough about their good work, they are handing it out and sticking it to our metallic surfaces. The rights enumerated are not very radical or surprising (indeed, one can find precedents in a more interesting Bill of Rights from the late 18th century).

The specific rights listed on the magnets have to do with the University's judicial processes. They're taken from the Student Bill of Rights and are more or less identical to the appropriate content from the standard University-issued Rights and Responsibilities Handbook. Accordingly, the few students who do end up facing judicial review have nonmagnetized resources for finding out their rights.

To be fair, the Union-issued versions are a bit clearer and surrounded by less legalese. This was just the intent of the initiative, said Director of the Union's Office of Student Rights and Advocacy Laura Cohen '09. She told the Justice she hoped the project would help inform students what they're entitled to "in a more straightforward way."

Another Union officer, Director of Communications Jamie Ansorge '09, told the Justice he feels this project is of "the utmost importance."

I believe the Union is trying to capitalize on a few trivial issues by posturing as the advocate of the student. This seems to be the only way in which the initiative could be considered of the utmost importance.

The fact is that the number of students who must face judicial review is quite small, and the number of students involved in highly publicized protracted legal battles is smaller indeed, especially compared with, say, the number of students who'd benefit to be aware of their right to associate -- like every club leader and member on campus. It seems for people in most situations, the procedure for student's rights is amply available and sufficiently understandable.

I mentioned the whole project to people around Usdan and in some of my classes, and students overwhelmingly considered it a waste of money. So do I. Our Bill of Rights is available online. The Rights and Responsibilities Handbook is also on the Internet, and a hard copy is delivered to students free of charge in the mail. Also, giving out 500 magnets to the 3,200 students at Brandeis is silly. This seems to me like a rather halfhearted way of addressing something of "the utmost importance."

Some students were skeptical about more than just the cost of the magnets. I am too. To really represent student needs, the Union must do more than set up offices and codify documents.

To protect and advocate for the rights of students is of course a reasonably worthy cause, but one that must be dealt with in proportion to issues more important to most Brandeisians.

A few students, when I asked them about the magnet initiative, specifically mentioned the Union's Task Force on Bicycle Rentals, the program that is trying to find ways to bring bike rentals to Brandeis. Students told me that this is something to which they would rather see Union resources dedicated.

The Union recently conducted a poll to assess the student body's opinions on water bottles on campus. This seemed to be an indication that the Union was heading in a new, positive direction, but, even though the Union was successful in asking us how we feel, little change has been made so far.

If the Union wants to make Brandeis a better university, it needs to lead positive change, and not be content with congratulating itself for being the advocate for student rights.