Boston College - Sub Turri Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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In 1903, when it cost pennies to ride the trolley and this car was new, Boston was merely an oversized town. Today, the city is a highly developed metropolis. Boston has often been called the Hub of the Universe. Whether or not it really is the Hub of the Universe, Boston is the hub of a Boston College student ' s life, and is an ideal place for the student to diversify his or her education. Boston offers an ever-changing, ever-improving collage of history, culture, entertainment and education. In this way, Boston is complementary to Boston College as an enriching environment. For the student, the citadel of opportunity is just a trolley ride away. 102 BOSTON

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Drop Add Syndrome I was a victim of DAS — the common term for a terrifying affliction known as Drop Add Syndrome. I ' d like to share my experience with you. They told me that the new system would be very easy — completely painless. CORSS, the acronym for Course Registration Scheduling System; is the computerized registration process that was enacted in the spring of 1982 in order to alleviate the old tedious method of registration. With the outdated system, students had to wait impatiently outside the doors of each departmental office to pick up course registration cards. Often students would line up in the wee hours of the morning to ensure their places in a particular course. Meanwhile, students would miss class, not to mention many hours of sleep, just to stand in line. Last spring, with CORSS, all I had to do to register was show up around Gasson basement on an assigned day around an asigned time. No lines. No missed classes. No problem. I had my five course choices programmed into the computer by a smiling registrar. I was given a print out sheet listing my courses. The whole process took less than 15 minutes. I left, grinning. Hooray for progress! When September arrived, I decided that I wanted to drop elementary Chinese and pick up advanced Russian instead. A simple process, especially with this new system; I envisioned setting a record for drop add — two minutes and fifty-seven seconds. Each class was assigned a period of hours for drop add. Zip in, zip out, wave to the smiling registrar. Time enough for a Tab in the Eagle ' s Nest before my ten o ' clock class. At 9:45 the next morning, 1 cruised up to Gasson from lower campus, computer form in hand and Tab money jingling in my jeans pocket. I stopped, aghast, and stared. My smug smile was replaced open-mouth disbelief. Stretched across tne Quad was a line of human bodies, computer forms in hand, shifting from foot to foot with Tab quarters silent in their pockets. I approached the end of the line and asked the guy in front of me what he was waiting for. To drop add, what do you think? he replied nastily, assuming an infinitely superior attitude because he was in line in front of me. Resigning myself to my fate, I glanced ahead, estimating around three hundred people ahead of me. So much for my ten o clock class (or my eleven o ' clock or my twelve o ' clock). I began to wonder if the guy ahead of me would save my place while I went home for my sleeping bag and tooth brush. DouDtful. I waited. As dusk settled, Gasson basement finally loomed ahead. 1 heard the buzz of computers, and the feeling began to return to my limbs. Life was okay — I would make it home for Thanksgiving vacation. 1 hugged the guy in front of me. We had become life-long friends during our ordeal. The registrar approached us, her face solemn as she announced, The vax is down. Come back tomorrow. There w ill be no late fee. The guy in front of me ended up carrying me home and tucking me in bed. — by Liz Farrelly ACADEMICS 101

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