I’ve learned a lot in my life, and one thing I’ve learned is to be patient and to work through problems for something that’s worth it. Did poorly on a test? Keep studying and don’t give up, you’ll do better. Had a fight with a good friend? Work it out and overcome the problem, so you don’t lose a good friend.

On the other hand, some things just aren’t worth it. Specifically, the shuttle bus. Since the shuttle bus’ introduction three years ago, there have been problems. Every new idea is going to need time to work properly and to find the best way for it to be useful, but when is enough enough?

Instead of getting better, the problems have gotten worse. A few weeks ago, H & H Transportation, the company that runs the Panther Express, first terminated its service without any notice. The university let the company off the hook with no penalty because H & H said, because of an accounting mistake, its bid to run the service was too low. Their bid wasn’t off by just a little, either – they wanted another $20,000.

Mistakes happen, and normally you just live with them. Usually a company would not get out of a contract so easily, but Eastern let the shuttle bus run before H & H attained a performance bond, which helps guarantee a contract is fulfilled.

The bus service resumed Thursday, but we now have half the service for the same cost. Adam Weyhaupt, speaker of the Student Senate, said “Some could say, and I won’t disagree, that the students are getting screwed.”

Yes, we’re getting screwed. It’s fine for now that the university patched things up as best it could with H & H. Since we’ve already paid for the service, we might as well get something for the rest of year. But we need to remember this in the future.

Forget sending out for new bids. Forget considering H & H while trying to figure out the best service again. Even if the university doesn’t make the same mistake again of running a bus without a guarantee, it’s not worth it. Obviously, at this point, we should have learned the bus is not worth the troubles.

The company messed up, and I’m all for forgiveness and moving on, but sometimes someone can be forgiven while the mistake is remembered. If the service was really neccessary, and H & H was the only company that could provide service, then maybe keeping the bus and increasing the student fee would make sense.

However, the shuttle bus is not needed on Eastern’s campus. It’s a small campus that takes no more than 20 minutes, walking slowly, to get from Old Main to Carman Hall. It’s called laziness to take the bus to get from Thomas Hall to the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

I admit that, for people who don’t have a car, the bus could be a nice service to get to Wal-Mart and Showplace 8 every now and then, but I don’t have a car and I’ve managed to get by just fine. The one time I tried using the bus, it didn’t even show up.

And using the bus to get to the bars every weekend? We don’t need to be paying money for a bar shuttle bus – that’s not the purpose of the Panther Express. I don’t want people to drink and drive, but there should be another solution. In fact, there is – the Mother’s shuttle.

Students pay a lot of money in fees at this university. They often complain they are paying for things they never use, like the athletic fee or the Health Services fee, but those things are important. People say they did not want an increase in the shuttle bus fee because they never used the bus, but that same argument can be made for those other fees as well. The difference lies in the importance of the services the fees are providing. We need athletic events, and we need technology in the classrooms. We do not need to pay $5.60 a semester – and what will probably be more if the bus service continues – for something we could easily do without.

There comes a point where people need to realize their efforts are being wasted, when being patient and working through a problem is not working. Study harder to do better on a test, compromise and communicate with that friend, but don’t waste time trying to fix the shuttle bus. It’s not needed, and money can be better spent.