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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 5, 1986)
Monday, May 5, 1986/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local ‘S &M to get new ctass-scheduling system Phone registration possible in 1987 ;i ‘nerd | n .uiiirl By Rodney Rather SuitT Writer n said. I that's usi a efei siii \ waster' intng to t u s not are goitit t a few i! te plied, tion we tore. s|)e \ ho km oi will Ir t thepei oolitidiii A telephone registration sys- :nt allowing students to register rrllasses from anywhere in the ‘nSed States should he available ! Texas A&M in 1 ( .)87, said Steve dlliams, director of A&rM’s stu- ent information management /stem. A&M will be one of the largest nliersities to have such a system, I’ifflams said. Phone registration systems cur- jntly are operating at 12 other rlleges and universities in the nited States. Students will use touch-tone hones to dial a campus number a a taped message. The message will explain and direct them through the registra tion process. After the student punches in the phone code numbers for the courses and sections available, the registration system interprets the signals and checks to see if the de sired classes are available, Wil liams said. If a course or section is full, he said, the system will tell the caller and an alternate course or section mav be chosen. II a student calls and all 32 phone lines linked to the system’s computer are busy, the phone will keep ringing until a line be comes available, he said. “We hope that will help stu dents who are calling long dis tance in the sense of having long distance charges,” he said. Detailed instructions explain ing how the system operates will be included with the 1987 spring class schedules, he said. Students also may use the new system for the drop-add process for the spring, he said. Williams said although the sys tem should be ready for spring 1987 pre-registration, several de tails need to be worked out. Two unanswered questions concern whether or not to retain the present seniority system and also determining how students will get adviser approval before registering, he said. Seniority, which currently al lows students with a higher classi fication to register first, can be kept in the new system, Williams said. “Exactly what kind of control procedures will be implemented, if any, hasn’t been decided yet,” he added. Decisions involving adviser ap proval will probably be lef t to the individual departments or col leges to decide, he said. Furthermore, departments can decide not to use the system, but Williams said he doubts that op tion will be used. “I expect all departments will use the system because there’s no additional overhead for the de partments to use the system,” he said. journik The Bar. rity consultants used as planning resource f By Craig Renfro jH Stuff Writer Jthough the College Station City tncil may not agree with some jH consultants’ recommenda- s, it still considers the consultants liible resource. ^■anuary, the College Station Brvan city councils paid S 1 (),()()() Jack Hopper, a rate consultant n Austin, to decide if McCaw Ca- ision was entitled to a rate in- tse. lopper recommended that the noils give McCaw a rate increase, vever, he said, the increase ttld not be as much as the com- v Requested. he councils gave the cable com- yRhe full increase despite the sultant’s findings. Bryan-College ion city manager offices con- icted a rate-of-return analysis, ell said McCaw ran an efficient ration and was entitled to the full ease. upper did not do a rate-of-re- 1 he city uses consultants mainly to make up for a lack of staff expertise. The staff either doesn’t have the time to do the necessary studies, or doesn’t want to add peo ple to the staff — Van VanDever, College Station assistant city man ager. turn analysis before making his rec- ommendations. Van VanDever, College Station’s assistant city manager, said it is not uncommon for the city staff to do some work with the consultant, al though the city paid the consultant to perform the services. VanDever said the city uses con sultants mainly to make up for a lack of staff expertise. The staff either doesn’t have the time to do the nec essary studies or does not want to add people to the staff, he said. He said the city uses the Texas Municipal League reference guide to research consultants before hiring them. The city also uses lists com piled by architectural and engi neering firms to search for consul tants, VanDever said. He said consultants were used in the planning process of many of Col lege Station’s utility programs. They also were used extensively in the city’s comprehensive land use plan, VanDever said. But some problems arise when consultants are used, VanDever said. Sometimes the consultant takes longer than originally planned to make recommendations. In Feb- IJVTERURBAJV high ire other govt iblestudiev >! zoningJj people ivisli practiced t rails. his freednis length. II i WILL I or a stale-' iniination. ich people i they pleas ve also I protected il “ liberties o' he .standard >es wit "Tine veil/ t rest supp en to reath iid DeclaiTV^ it of the t g fathers. m’sanaly 1 Center is for a Bib' Wednesday $1°° ’t\\ c\° se 9:00 'VV' ursda ’ University Dr 846-8741 The INTERURBAN 66 an aggie tradition” ruary, College Station hired Self In surance Resource Inc. of Richardson to look into the feasibility of a self-in surance program for the city. For $1 (),()()(), a company’s consul tant will analyze the current market conditions and recommend what the city should do, VanDever said. Glenn Schroeder, assistant direc tor of finance for the city, said the consultant’s report was supposed to be ready April 1. VanDever said the city staff was still waiting for the report on May 1. The city also paid a consultant $400 to recommend a type of com puter system for the city’s use, and it paid $60,000 to another consultant who worked on the city’s compre hensive land use plan, he said. VanDever said the consultant’s pay comes from city revenue funds. They are worth tbe money, Van Dever said, but sometimes they don’t do a complete job. “From time to time, as in any busi ness, you don’t get the job you pre fer," he said. Donahue to be taped in Dallas DALLAS (AP) — “Donahue” does Dallas this week, showing that Texas — the place where thev do things big — is a lot more than oil. At least that's what Phil Donahue, the inquisitive host of the sometimes controversial television talk show “Donahue,” promises in his pre- views. The remote studio is Southfork Ranch, just north of Dallas, but dis cussions won't center around J.R. Ewing's latest scandal. "Obviously, we try to strive for va riety. so people can have fun and learn,” said Pat McMillen, executive producer of Multimedia Entertain ment, which produces the program. "It's educational. I’d like to think. “We’re not going to Texas looking for stereotypes. There will be an ex acting interest in topics. I think it’s going to be a diverse audience.” One thing’s for sure — the audi ences will be standing room only. More than 1,500 spectators are expected to attend the five one-hour shows that will be broadcast live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The shows will be aired on a one-day de- lav across the rest of the country. The topics for discussion, as are typical with Donahue’s show, run the gamut. Today, the audience will dis cuss the relationship between older women and younger men. Nuclear disasters will be the topic Tuesday, while the sanctuary movement for political refugees will dominate discussion Wednesday. Donahue takes on the gun control is sue Thursday before wrapping up the week with “Men Who Left Their Wives for Other Women.” “We thrive on spontaneity. The only thing he (Donahue) walks out with is a list of guests so that he can know where they’re sitting.” The show, which is in its 19th sea son, ailed in Dallas in November 1980 with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton as guests dis cussing the movie “9 to 5.” This week marks the 87th time the show has left its home base of New York or Chicago. 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