When a student calls it a night after going to a party or just staying up late, often the first instinct is to call Be On the Safe Side, a shuttle which escorts students to various areas in Milwaukee.

Due to budget cuts, BOSS now runs from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., compared with last year’s hours of 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Many students agreed that they liked the old hours better. After all, parties — particularly those on the weekends — can often end after 1 a.m., and students typically drink at these parties.

If you lost track of your friends and no one lives near you, it may be a long, lonely and frightening walk back home.

Of course, there are alternatives. Students could try to catch a ride from an acquaintance or simply wait for a bus. One of the drawbacks of getting a ride is that a lot of students don’t drive to parties because they too plan on drinking.

Waiting for the bus also presents its own problems. Some buses don’t run that late and if they do, there is often a 30-minute wait or more between late-night buses. This leads to students waiting in the cold for a bus that may or may not arrive.

“I’d rather use BOSS because it takes you right to where you want to go,” one student said.

This sentiment echoes the general opinion of the majority of UWM students. While some students are frustrated with the new, shorter hours, other students are apathetic because they feel it doesn’t affect them.

“I usually walk to parties, because they’re really close to the dorms or in the dorms,” said one Sandburg freshman. “If I walk back, I’m always with a group, so it doesn’t really affect me.”

Another reason that many students are apathetic is that they don’t use BOSS that late — they usually get home before the 1 a.m. time limit.

While this was the case of several students, still others said that even though they weren’t out that late, they’d still feel better knowing that they had a safe ride home.

“I think BOSS is a good idea, but I definitely don’t think they should cut their hours,” said one student.

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