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Safety and Security increases the pay twenty-five cents an hour during the early morning shifts but still has trouble finding people willing to work them. “They like to have one person specifically to do these shifts during the week,” said Lehrke.

“It’s easier in the summer when the shift is [midnight] to 8 a.m. If you do work these shifts you’re definitely valuable there. We do have one person that works from four to eight all week long. I don’t know how she does it,” said Lehrke.

The early morning shifts require dispatchers to carry out the same duties that other shifts require but generally there is much less activity during the early hours, so anything that does not get done during the day is taken care of at night.

“People don’t really think about how much stuff we do on campus,” said Lehrke. According to Lehrke, they give keys to ABM, students, and staff, open and close all building, grant access to students who lost their ID cards, provide escorts, and respond to any incidents on campus.

Because of the inactivity in the early morning, dispatchers find time for other things as well. “When I work the night shift I can do homework. Day shifts can’t always do homework,” said Lehrke. “Usually nothing at all happens during night shifts.”

But there are challenges for students who work early mornings. “There’s errands we have to run and can’t at night,” said Lehrke. She said she has familiarized herself with stores that are open late or all night.

“The worst part is when people are late for the 4 a.m. shift,” said Lehrke. “At that time of night you don’t really want to wait around for five extra minutes.”

Safety and Security does not make these shifts mandatory for student workers. They volunteer for them. “If people don’t like them, they tend not to do it,” said Lehrke. “So the people that are there are the ones that like it, or at least can tolerate it.”