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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 1984)
5 3 c O ^ "S "3 ^ ^ ^ : ^^ a-s s, 5“ ,i : l4sS- £=. On-campus jobs provide Photo by Mike Davis Tony Gilbrech, a senior business major from Brownwood, is one of 27 MSC Bookstore em ployees. MSC Bookstore pays off for student employees By KARLA K. MARTIN Reporter To at least 27 Aggies, the Me- m o r i a I Student Center Bookstore supplies more than just books, gifts and dothes — it supplies paychecks. Those 27 students are em ployed in the bookstore, and are striving to make both money and grades. Suzann Schroeder is one such student. “The money’s not the best in town,” Schroeder says, “but it’s convenient.” Schroeder, a senior, is major ing in business analysis, and tak ing 17 semester hours. She is also working 20 to 25 hours a week. “Managing your time is the biggest thing,” she says, “be cause what really comes first is school. The people at the bookstore know this and under stand. They work with you.” Schroeder, w'ho works at the upper level service desk, got her job about three years ago dur ing the semester rush. The rush occurs during the first two weeks of each semester. The bookstore hires up to 60 extra temporary workers for those times. Sophomore Barbara Ott, a cashier in the lxx>ksiore, says that working takes up free time so students have to learn to ap ply the lime that they do have. “You just have to know what your priorities are,” Ott says. “You have to work to put your self through school and not pul yourself through school to work.” Most of the student workers agree that having a job and tak ing classes does affect grades, because it takes away from study time. Some students, however, feel that having classes and a job helps their grades. Senior Elizabeth Barbee, who is taking 16 semester hours and working about 25 hours a week, says that working keeps her time as well as her life struc tured. “It keeps my grades up,” Bar bee says. “The two semesters I wasn’t working, my grades slip ped.” Barbee, who says she needs the job more for psychological reasons than financial reasons, says that one reason some peo ple can’t handle work and classes is because they are pres sured to support themselves. “It’s good for me,” Barbee says, “because I don’t have these pressures. Besides, if I have loo much time, I put things off.” Laurie Henney, a junior nu trition major, also says that hav ing a job during school in creases her time management efficiency. “I’m more disciplined now,” Henney says. “I have just so much time, and if I don’t utilize it, I’m sunk.” Henney works an average of 26 hours a week and takes 19 hours of classes. “You can make your college life what you want it to be,” Henney says. “Work and school together takes a lot of disci pline, maturity and confidence in yourself. I strongly recom mend that people give it a try.” Work and school don’t mix well for everyone, however. Tony Gilbrech, a senior, works full time in the lower level MSC textbook depart ment. He isn’t taking classes this See “Book” page 15 A place for work and study By Mark E. Lish Reporter School, work, study, sleep.... For many students the mono tony of that routine can be ex hausting, but some student workers at Sterling C. Evans Li brary say it doesn’t have to be that way. “The library is different from most other jobs,” says Gabrielle Giovannini, a finance major working in the microtext de partment. “I see all these people coming in to study, and it helps me realize that I’m not the only one who has to study hard to make it.” Giovannini, a library em ployee for more than two years, says work gives her a break from studying. Even so, she says, the pressures of working and going to school at the same time can make things difficult. How does she deal with it? “Sometimes I don’t,” Giovan nini says. “Then I just sit back and relax and pul it all into per spective.” Perspective means determin ing priorities, she says, priori ties that may change from day to day. When time off is needed for study, Giovannini says, her su- pervisiors are understanding and helpful. “I gave up my Wednesday shift two weeks ago because I needed the time to study,” she says. As for the rest of her work hours, Giovannini says she feels obligated to be there when she is scheduled, and to be produc tive. Time and productivity are also important to Martha Bel- lens, an industrial engineering major working in the shelving department. She is a student government senator, director of external af fairs for Off-Campus Aggies, a member of the Society of Women Engineers, and a candi date for OCA president; Bel- lens says there are few week- nights when she doesn’t have meetings to attend. “It’s all in how you budget your time,” she says. “If you want something enough you can always make time for it.” Bellens says she has an over all grade-point ratio of 2.6, but doesn’t feel her grades would improve if she wasn’t working. “I’d probably just join an other club,” she says. Bellens, currently taking a course load of 17 hours and working 17 hours a week, said the library is different from other jobs due to its conve nience, and the understanding of department supervisors. “I can have class from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., and still be at work by 11 a.m.,” she says. And when she can’t make it to work, Bel lens says, her supervisors are understanding, and allow for flexibility in work schedules. Bellens says that even with all its advantages, working in shelving does have its bad points. “You can’t work more than a four-hour shift or you’ll go cra zy,” she says. “The first hour isn’t that bad, but after a while it gets kind of boring.” Kevin Price, a business analy sis major, says that work in the learning resources department is anything but boring; at times it’s even a little hectic. “On a busy day we have somewhere between 500 to 700 people come through here,” he says. These “long days”, Price said, are when the pressure gets to him. “I probably won’t study at all tonight,” Price says. “If I had to, I could. But after a day like to day all I want to do is relax." Standing behind the counter at which he spends 20 hours a week, Price excuses himself to help a customer. “I need a computer,” a girl says. “What kind?” Price asks in the span of a nanosecond. After a few moments he re turns. It’s 1:45 p.m., and Price has class at 2 p.m. “I think it’s going to be hard to sit through class today,” he says. Though the work keeps him busy, Price says, he has plenty of time for study and other ac tivities. “I’m through with work and class by 5 p.m. every day,” Price says, “and that gives me all night to study.”