NIU computer lab attendants have what they consider the best job on campus, but it isn’t all fun and relaxation. Working through the confusion brought on by the end of the semester rush, they feel they definitely are earning their pay.

“It seems like a cake job,” said senior OMIS major Ray Carlin, an attendant at Graham Hall’s computing lab. “But depending on what time you work and what lab you’re at, it could be a lot of work.”

Josh Gerber, a Douglas Hall lab attendant and freshman electrical engineering major, shared similar feelings.

“It gets really busy right toward the end of the semester,” Gerber said.

Gerber added that the number of students coming to the computer labs to complete projects has brought on a greater risk of computer problems, as well as slower Internet speeds

Carlin agreed that the waves of people flooding the labs has made his job more hectic.

“At the beginning of the semester, there was maybe 20 to 30 students at times, and now, we have 75 plus, and there’s three people waiting,” Carlin said.

Carlin explained that with all the people entering the labs, a simple job like pulling printouts, which is done every 15 minutes, now feels like it’s being done every five seconds.

“I think it would be a lot easier if students just grabbed them themselves,” he said.

Simon felt that a source of confusion for students may be in the lack of attendant visibility. Recently, labs have gone from keeping two clearly-labeled attendants on duty to one, with another attendant circulating through the lab.

This makes it difficult for students, said Adam Cavaliere, a Holmes Student Center lab attendant and sophomore OMIS major, because if the attendant at the main desk is busy, they have to go search for the other, inconspicuous attendant.

After a computer problem Thursday morning that resulted in Simon voluntarily rewriting a lab user’s paper, Simon suggested professors be more instructional with the types of programs required for assignments because not all attendants know how every assignment should be completed.

“We are here to help the students, but we’re not here to do the work for them,” Simon said.