september 6, 1995

 

Raging Against the Machine

By Molly Chai

It’s been said, “The early bird
catches the worm,” but apparently
this doesn’t apply to registration
appointment times.

Having an early date is a much
sought after thing but nowadays it
doesn’t seem to matter. Hopefully
in the near future, this will all
change for the better.

I had what many people told
me an early registration date.

“July 21?... that’s one of the
best dates you can gt for a new in-
coming high school student.”

I agreed with this person too.
Until my registration nightmare
began.

Being a novice to this system,
I freqently took deep breaths to ease
the butterflies in my stomach. I
optimistically started keying in the
telephone number right when the
clock struck eleven. However, I
was appalled to hear the angry
buzzing of the busy signal.

Trying to be cheerful, I
faithfuly carried out this tiresome
process but to no avail. I sat there
with the phone receiver pressed to
my ear for half an hour. What hap-
pened to my appointment time?
Was I doomed to manually keep
dialing the nasty numbers of 280-
1002??

Finally after forty minutes of
the line being engaged, I was finally
let through! I let out a big whoop
of joy and quickly went through the

initial procedures. Everything was
going smoothly until the telephone
registration system hung up on me!!
I let out a cry, this time of fury!

I sighed deeply and began this
laborious process again. Another 20
minutes of sand slipped through my
hourglass. When I heard the divine
tones of ringing, I excitedly

shrieked again. Trembling, T

punched in the CRN for Bio 110
(sec 4). Instead of being accepted,
I heard a male say, his voice devoid
of emotion, “This section is full!”

I could scarcely believe what
I was hearing! Full? Already? It
wasn’t fair! I quickly backtracked
through the system and hoped
against hope that there would be an
opening for me. Lady Luck wasn’t
feeling generous, and the
coldhearted man mockingly said,
‘All sections of this cours are full!”

I roared with anger and
pounded my fists on my desk. Wild
with fury, I began to rant at the tel-
ephone, only to realize that this
piece of plastic wouldn’t be able to
give me Bio 110.

I dejectedly hung up the phone
and speed dialed the Helpline’s
number. Putting on the saddest
voice imaginable, I tried pleading
my case to her. The advisor also had
no heart and simply told me to
“Keep Trying!”

For days and nights onwards,
I manically but dutifully dialed the
registration system but no rewards

were harvested. Even at night, the
unfeeling monotonic monologue of
the man haunted me in my sleep.

Sick with worry, I wondered
how I would ever major in biology
without having Bio 110 in the first
semester. How was I going to co-
ordinate my schedule around this
unforeseeable pitfall? Well, after
careful analyzing and juggling, I
was finally able to make room for
Bio 110 in the next semester.

However, this would be my
last resort if I wasn’t able to be
blessed with Bio 110. I’m still go-
ing to try and conquer the infuriat-
ing telephone registration system.
My telephone which was once my
loyal companion has become my
enemy.

An idea to improve the regis-
tration process would be to set up a
large number of computer termi-
nals. People would still be ap-
pointed registration times, so that
they could easily go and type in the
classes they wished.

I think this idea would run
much more efficiently then trying
to punch in the desired courses on
the tiny buttons of the telephone.

At press time, Molly
still had not got into Bio
110. She hopes against
hope that she wont have
to relive this aggravating
nightmare next semester.

Little does she know...

 

 

“Campus security will have a new face this year afer a request
for more money byBames Security was rejected,” says Terry Leonard,
head of Facilities and Services here at the New West Campus.

_ “They were asking for a 16 or 17 per cent budget increase, and
we ‘eould not accommodate that, so we put the campus security con-
tract out for tender,” Leonard said.

_ Even though Barnes knew what the contract was worth, they
reapplied a anyway, making one wonder why they wanted more money
in the first place. Barnes was prepared to accept a contract that was
identical to the one they were not happy with.

“The new security on campus, Paladin Security, is a specialized
company that caters to a post-secondary type atmosphere Tequiring
more than just walking the hallways and looking official,” says

Leonard. “The of security we need for this building requires a
certain amount of experience in places that require more than just
seeing Security people are here.”

A number of incidents last spring put the spotlight on campus
security, In particular, a flashing incident was reported by a college
employee when she was confronted by a male, who
at the college, as he committed an indecent act
Situation, which took place at a ‘Surf Club

  
 
 

 

 
 

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