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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1986)
Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, November 13, 1986 \ Opinion Is phone registration too good to be true? t As I was saying last week, the real test of the phone registration sys tem came this Mike Sullivan Guest Columnist week. And after I spent the weekend teasing all my friends about how I got to register early and got paid to write an article about my experience, they wound up with the last and loudest laugh. Being a paranoid person, 1 decided to call the registration computer back on Monday to make sure my schedule was still intact. I called at 8 a.m. on the dot, and after only three or four tries, my old friend Mr. Registration Computer greeted me. I punched in my I.D. number and my personal code like he asked, but instead of letting me enter the course listing code, he rudely interrupted me. “There may be a time conflict in your schedule,” Mr. Computer said, “call the registrar’s office for verification.” I was shocked. and I told her my problem. “I’m sorry, I can’t help you with that problem,” she said, “apparently the course you en rolled in has had a scheduling change.” She told me that both sections of my troublesome marketing course had been rescheduled. I asked her how students were sup posed to find out about time changes, but she didn’t seem to know. Then I tried bargaining with her. “Why don’t you just enroll me in the other section and see if there’s a time conflict?” I asked. She told me she couldn’t do that and gave me a number to call. I hung up and called the number. A lady answered the phone, “Freshmen Admissions, may I help you?” Now I was really back at square one. I ex plained my problem. She transferred me to the front desk. I explained my problem to the lady at the front desk. She told me to call the system “help” code. I told her I did. She transferred me to records. A phone-y reply to scheduling woe i What’s this: Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz. buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz, buzz. Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buz/.Ii, buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz lx buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz I Bl IN Karl Pallmeyer Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz, buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz. buzz buzz buzz. Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz, buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz k® buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz, buzz l T buzz. I tve Buzz buzz buzz, buzz buzz buzzI) g ( buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz b(5 buzz, buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz bj buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz bu/zljp buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz tj'r. buzz? buzz. Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz. 151 T1 g< A: The only thing you hear wiihi ; ^ new phone registration system. i at Karl Pallmeyer is a senior jourmi j_ at( major and a columnist /or The Ban* . Si How could he do this to me?, I asked myself. Just last week he assurred me over and over again that my schedule was fine. I hung up and dialed the registrar’s of fice just like Mr. Computer told me to. I explained my problem to a lady at the registrar’s office and she insisted that Mr. Computer shouldn’t have told me to call her, and that I needed to call him back and dial the “help” code. It took a little longer to get back into the system the second time, and when I did, I got the same message from Mr. Computer. I ignored him and dialed the “help” code. T he operator answered right away “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do about it,” the lady in records said. By this time I was having trouble fo cusing my eyes, and I decided it would be best to abort the mission and head to my 10 a.m. class. Later in the afternoon, I went to the marketing department and they gave me the straight stuff. A professor had just given notice, was leaving the Uni versity, and the department had to re schedule the course to accommodate the new professor. The new professor gave me the times of the course. section that didn’t conflict with my schedule. But by that time it was 5 p.m., and somehow every line on campus was busy. I tried to get through at various times right up until 10 p.m., but it was impossible. I set my alarm clock for 7:59 a.m. and went to bed. Tuesday morning, bright and early, I began calling again. The line was still busy. I had no idea so many students could dial as fast as I can. I decided to ignore Mr. Computer’s message once again and try to drop the section I was enrolled in and add the By 10 a.m. my fingers were sore, my ears hurt and I couldn’t have cared less if Mr. Computer had skipped town, tak ing every senior’s schedule and diploma fee with him. When I arrived at The Battalion an > AS A 0 uR APP^aATiod, -mg euscroKA-nSr "tSUaD^H What would Dad say if he knew? I happened to be in a gathering o f all males r e - cently, and I don’t r e m e m b e r h o w the subject came u p , b u t a m a n said, “I’m glad my daddy didn’t live long enough to see me getting my h air cut in a beauty parlor.” Lewis Grizzard I immediately thought of my own fa ther, who died before I stopped getting my hair cut and started getting my hair “styled.” I used to go to Grover’s Barber Shop. Now I have followed other modern men, and I get my hair shampooed, conditioned and styled at a place called “Blowout.” Melissa does my hair. Quite often, there are ladies on each side of me hav ing their hair done, too. That’s all the place needs to be a bona fide beauty parlor. I had become fairly comfortable in that setting, but after what the man said about his father, I somehow felt 1 had betrayed my own. My father was a military man. He was wearing a crew-cut the day I was born, and he was wearing one the day he died. I have to temper this story for a fam ily newspaper, but a man who served in the Army with my father told me this: “We had some new recruits in around ’54, and the captain (my father) had them standing at attention. “He went down the row, asking each recruit where he was from, and he came to a kid with what was considered long hair back then. “The captain said, ‘Soldier, how long has your hair been in that condition?’ “The kid replied, ‘Since I started high school, sir.’ The captain said, T want you The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Cathie Anderson, Editor Kirsten Dietz, Managing Editor Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor Frank Smith, City Editor Sue Krenek, News Editor Ken Sury, Sports Editor Editorial Policy The Baualion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper oper ated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-College Sta tion. Opinions expressed in The Baualion are those of the editorial board or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for students in reporting, editing and photography classes within the Depart ment of Journalism. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $17.44 per semester. $34.62 per school year and $36.44 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on re quest. Our address: The Battalion. 216 Reed McDonald Building. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Second class postage paid at College Station. TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Baualion, 216 Reed McDonald. Texas A&M Universitv. College Station TX 77843. to report to the post physician right away. Do you understand?’ “The kid said, ‘Yes, sir, but what do I do when 1 get there?’ The captain re plied, ‘Ask him to give you a complete physical to verify whether or not you’re in the wrong outfit and need to be trans ferred to the WACs.’ ” My hair is not that long by today’s standards, but if Daddy could see me now, I am certain he would be shocked. I can hear him now: “In the name of God, son, Liberace doesn’t have that much hair.” My father considered Liberace to be the epitome of the lowest form of male life. There are a number of things I do to day that would shock my father were he still alive. Besides the hair on my head, I have a mustache and a beard. “Only movie stars and homosexuals have beards,” he likely would say, “and I haven’t seen any of your movies lately.” I play golf. He abhorred golf. “Silly game,” he’d say. “Hit the ball and then go find it.” I don’t wear socks very often. After my father left the Army, he became a teacher. I saw him send two lOth-grad- ers home during a basketball game, tell ing them not to return until they were wearing “the proper footwear.” And I get my haircut in a beauty par lor. If you’re listening, Daddy, forgive me. And consider this: At least I don’t use hair spray. hour later, some kind person informed me that I might be able to get hold of Mr. Computer if I called from a phone on campus. I quickly picked up the phone, dialed the magic number and there he was, cordial as ever. He gave me the same old message about hanging up and contacting the registrar’s office, but at this point I was out of control, and my fingers just started dancing on the buttons. I punched in the code to drop the conflicting section, added the new one, pressed the listing code and that was that. I no longer had a schedule conflict. Obviously the computer can’t explain this to students, but with A&M’s budget problems, there will undoubtedly be other professors resigning as registra tion progresses. To avoid unpleasant surprises your account statement arrives,!™ commend calling the system badiig., the week and checking your schedi/e I \ < hi find tli.it some c >1 vom il.i" isei flict according to the computer,k' at< according to the class schedule,c r * the individual tie pa rtnientsi» shouldn’t be too difficult to fix. |Lj :m;i This last week I’ve come to kn iest Computer fairly well, and iheu ||P { I thing I can say about him despite*?‘ of the problems I’ve had. Noi’m. prcMJicriiis i vc iwtu. A' 1 ; -'N, how much \ou wih.ilb .iIhimTii er( |. always polite. H^t Mike Sullivan is a senior jour i r] major and a staff writer for The hcitoi ion. - 1‘. Mail Call MO re <>t jR I ■RK It all came out in the wash Tli e do nd A EDITOR: A few weeks ago I was washing my clothes at washroom 2, near thebai j hall. Since it is extremely hot inside the washroom, I went outside to study while my clothes were in the dryer. Upon returning, I found that most of them were burned, yet not all of them were even dry. I did not realize how \ much my clothes were worth — the value I was entrusting to that machine, ‘i More than $100 worth of clothes was in there. If most students are like me, I they cannot afford to replace those clothes. The next day I went to the washroom to see what could be done. 1 was told that the dryers were owned by an independent contractor. The clothes I were sent to the contractor so he could see them. A day later he telephoned! me and said that his equipment was responsible for burning my clothes.He! agreed that I could give him an estimate of what the clothes were worth. 1 ; gave him the estimate, and then he decided to clean the clothes. Four days | later I telephoned and the man I talked to said he would send the clothesasl money to washroom 2 to be picked up. The next day 1 received a call from ; the contractor I had spoken to originally. He said a repairman had checkedl the dryer and that it was not responsible for ruining my clothes, so thereMi| nothing he could do. I told him 1 had a witness, but he simply stated that | didn’t prove anything, ordy that 1 got the articles out of the dryer burned h He f inally said that in order to keep his “good” name and his “reputation,” he would pay me only a portion of the money for theclothes'l if the money meant that much to me. Do students that use the facility located near the band hall realize the 1 dollar amount of the clothes they are trusting that machinery with? Whatil [• they had to replace all of the clothes they put into a dryer while doing their s weekly wash? Rhonda Woolf ’88 More to school than school EDITOR: Many students are under the impression that they will not have any | problems finding work when they graduate if they have good grades. Their I best efforts go toward academics, with the faith that a lot of hard work and j studying will pay off come graduation day with a good job. I hate to say so, but the “real world” doesn’t work quite that way. Froini i professional work experience, which includes a stint with Exxon — wherel ;| worked for a while interviewing graduating seniors on site visits — the academic record of an applicant only establishes a minimum standard. A m high grade-point ratio unlocks the door to a good job, but does not open ii If Other things besides academics are important. A resume that shows participation in extacurricular sports, religions or other activities is impressive. That sort of experience indicates that an applicant has the incentive and ability to work well with other people, in the sort of teameffoH by which most of t he best companies operate these days. An applicant mayfl smart and have good grades, but that doesn’t ensure a prospective employdB that he will be competent in a competitive business environment, wherebeicM able to communicate adequately with other people — co-workers, superiorsH or competitors — is often more important than just knowing the business. || William H. Clark Unrecognized projects EDITOR. The Student Services Committee of Student Govermerit has been working on several projects this year that have gone unrecognized by man) students. Some of these include: trying to reduce the Aggie Point Plan deposit, installing more bicycle racks around Zachry Engineering Center, providing insurance for graduate students, improving the aerobic track and revising football ticket distribution. The committee welcomes ideas and suggestions f rom the student body. Students can contact their senate representative or attend a student services meeting. Patricia Fuller ’88 accompanied by 18 signatures IV Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the if to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author'sii'i f Each letter must be signed and must include the classification, address and telephone nunik 1 the writer. Copyright 1986, Cowles Syndicate