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