The Observer, April 22, 2005
Volume XXXVII, Issue 26
Free Speech Zone: Ineffeciencies in registration process frustrating
To the Editor:
Case has once again disappointed me. As I rolled out of bed at 6:30 Tuesday morning, I was anxious to register for classes, a lowly freshman hopeful of nabbing one of two open spots in a statistics course. I started clicking LOGIN TO SOLAR two minutes before seven, and just kept clicking as often as possible so that I could be one of the first 75 lucky students to register. I was not one of the lucky few, so every few minutes I would try again; I wanted that stats class. Adding to my frustration, the system crashed sometime before 8:30 a.m. and was closed past 3 p.m.
In a way, I may have failed for not having the timing skills, but Case has certainly failed to a higher degree by retaining such an imperfect system. Case is home to just over 3500 undergraduate students, a relatively small school in comparison to Ohio State, which manages to register 44,000 students each semester. Beyond simply numbers, Case is also supposed to be a leader in technology, so one would think the ancient structure of SOLAR would only be found in exhibits of "old-age" technology. I know that students have been trying to dispose of this garbage for years, and the logistics of a more efficient program must not be that hard if OSU can do it. Money mustn't be the issue if we can wreck a building for fun and pay outrageous amounts for a "footbridge" consisting of a fence and some two-by-fours.
Case will never become the "most powerful learning environment in the world" if its own students are so often disgruntled by the university's lack of effort when it comes to doing something useful. We need to trash SOLAR and use a larger state university as a model for how to register for classes more efficiently and with less frustration. This is your mission, Case, should you choose to accept it. On that note, this copy of The Observer will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck!
Matthew Vonada
Undergraduate Student
