friday, sept. 15,1989
cabrini cpllege_,radnor,pa 19087
vol. xxxvi, no.1
ExpressregistrationGrace Hall:pastand present is not so express by KeUy Reed Registration received mixed reactions from Cabrini's students and administration. due in part to long lines and changes m the computer system which delayed the clearance process for many students. Lisa Hahn. the systems co-ordinator for the business office explained that the problems that ocurred during registration were due to the computer change from the Wang system to lBM. "The July billing was completed on the old system and had to be manually typed m.'· Hahn said ... When we switched to the new system the balances were bmught forward with the financial aid already on them and the compu!er counted everyone's fman• cial aid twice." This computer error resulted in students with huge credit balances and most of the confusion over the billing during registration. Student reaction to the long lines and disorganization of registration was mixed. Freshman, Scott Miller, registered early Tuesday morning and the whole process took only about five minutes. "l got my Pell Grant approved and I didn't have any trouble at all,'' Miller said. Other students felt tha! the registrati0n process was a hassle and could have been handled differently. Kevm Obrecht, freshman, said. ''The clearance process took about five minutes, but I was in line for almost a half an hour. I think that they should have taken us to register in smaller groups and they should have bee!' better organized." Tim Cronin, sophomore, waited for two and a half hours in line. "Once l got to the
tables it was no problem. It was supposed to work out that if you paid ahead, you could fly through. f guess the problem was that there weren ·1 enough people up front." KirnEgrestis waitedinlinefortwohours. ''While T was waiting I felt really irritated and angry. As. far as springsemester, f think that they will do something different.'' Egrest1s sz.id. Tim Fahey, junior. was also ,;tanding in line for two hours. · 'The long wait of this year was worse 1han the ignorance of la-.t year,·' Fahey said. The admmistration feels differently than the students. ''The long lines at registration might have been avoided if students registered at their assigned time1. rather than everyone showing up at Grace Hall at 9 a.m. on Wednesday to register.·• said Elaine Rice, accounting manager of the business office. Frances Conwell, of the business office, suggested that registration would run more smoothly if students paid their bills by the deadlines set by the business offic~ rather than waiting until they register. Maryanne Mirra, the assistant registrar. felt that although there was some confusion due to the relocation of the registrar's office, registration went well. The Registrar, Jennifer Hansbury, said that the ne'A-ly renovated offices have made the office more efficient and made registration run much more smoothJy. The registrar's office had planned on having one-stop clearance as in years past. but. the problems with the new computer system prevented "The students handled themselves it. really well, and my office really appreciated their efforts.'' Hansbury said .. "Contrary to popular belief we do not enjoy making people siand in long lines to register."
(Above) Grace Hall as it stood before this summer's construction. (Below) The newly rennovated Grace Hall as it stands today with construction near completion and most offices in place. (Bottom photo by Frarrl<Emmerich)
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Libraryincreasesbookbudget,hours by Frank Emmerich & Mark Gudas After three years of pursuing money for improvements, Cabrini's Holy Spirit Library finally had its budget increased. Updating and expanding the periodicals as well as extending the library's hours are just some of the ways the funds wil_l be utilized. The library proposed its usual budget which took into account the inflation rate of journals and periodicals and the normal increase of volumes. However, the budget committee allocated more appropriations than were expected. which means that students should notice a difference in the library this coming year. While the library has alway~ been a focus of criticism from the Cabrini College community. the library staff has been pursuing change for the past three years, but
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in5ide perspectives ...... 2, 3
their demands have gone unmet. During this past summer's retreat, the Board of Trustees focused on the academic envfronment at Cabrini. The Academi-c Affairs Committee made a presentation regarding the inadequacy of the library, which also emphasized a comparision of similiar sized college libraries. The committee noted that Holy Spirit Library needed improve: ment. The fact that the price of periodicals has risen 157 per cent in the past IO years and that the average price of a book has increased toS35 dollars a volume led the Board of Trustees to allocate more funding to the library to compensate this inadeqaucy. Part of the money came from the grant for the National Endowment for the Humanities. This additional funding ha~ reaffinned the library's commitment to achieve 100.000 volumes by 1992. Also the
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library was able to purchase a CD Rom which is a database set up for research in the field of psychology/litertaure. Previously students had to pay for such research. Now students can not only get the information for free, but they can also get ir readily. The hbrary also is in the process of getting accreditation in social work, while expanding its business reference materials. Biller said that the library has added additional staff to increase its full-time staff to six professional librarians. On weekends student~ wjll receive basic service from graduate students and undergraduates. On Sundays a technical service person will be there to serve 1he library users. The work study program will have a more professional role in the everyday operations of the library. Not only will students have an increase i11 the selection of materials in the library, but
Cabrini Singers
news ................ 4, 8, 9
, tour Europe
features .......... 5, 6, 7
(see page 5)
sports .......... 10, 11,12
also they will have a greater amount of time to make use of the expanded volumes. Monday through Thursday the library will he open from 8: 15 a.m. to 10:30 p.rn. an increase of a half hour. The new Friday hours are from 8: 15 to 8:00, an increase of three hours. On Saturdays students can use the library from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., which is an additonal two hours. An additional half hour has been added to Sundays making the new hours 2:06 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. According to Janet Dalberto. director of the library. the increased budget. ··was more than we expected and rhe staff credils everyone at the college for recognizing the importance of the library.'' Student's reactions to these improvements are mixed. Junior Jeff Hines feels positively about the additional half hour of lime in the
more Library on 8
Monaco mouths off (see page 12)