Many a Cornellian rolled out of bed early yesterday morning in order to participate in course exchange throughout campus. Students making last-minute changes and freshmen adding electives to their first semester on the Hill waited by the hundreds to finalize their schedules.
Lines
Although the day officially began at 8:30 a.m., by 7:45 a.m., the line of students already wrapped completely around Barton Hall and reached to Tower Road. Despite long waits, most students seemed relatively at ease, making new friends along the way.
However, regardless of peer camaraderie, many felt frustrated with what they felt to be an outdated system. “I think it could be done a lot more efficiently through computers,” Jeremy Wheeler ’03 said. “A lot faster.”
Last year, administrators targeted this fall for the implementation of online course exchange. David S. Yeh, University registrar, told The Sun in October 2001 that the software was still undergoing tests after being used successfully in a simulation. Yeh did not return calls yesterday seeking comment.
Many shared Wheeler’s belief that an electronic course exchange would be preferential to the current system.
“I think they need to do it by seniority … like CourseEnroll,” suggested Catherine Lee ’05.
Confusion
Some students were unclear as to exactly which departments were located in Barton and which held their course exchange elsewhere. The School of Industrial and Labor Relations and most departments in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Agriculture and Life Sciences were located in Barton, while the other colleges held their course exchanges at alternate locations on campus.
Rebecca Cohen ’05 learned that the department in the arts college she was looking for was located not in Barton, but at Goldwin Smith Hall.
“It’s frustrating,” she said . “I waited here for over an hour only to find out that the English department was at Goldwin Smith.”
Archived article by Owen Bochner