_I nside_
■ Chambers gives a million. Page 3
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■ Field goal dooms Ducks, Page 12
■ Netters break streak. Page 16
Oregon Daily_ ■_
Emerald
Monthly. Nrptcmbor 2.V 1'iH'i
HiiUtMir. ()rt'Kon
\ filmin' 'll, XiimiIici IK
•CCOD SSH&»
Time has come for computer registration system
By Denise C lifton
f im-r.ild Assoi iate Editor
(ollege lifts is often labeled as too
stressful Some students stay up all
night desper.itelv < i.imnung lor mid
terms or frantic ally writing’ a paper
Others giggle homework vvith |ol)s
and a so< 1.1I life until they end up .it the
health center with mono or strep throat
This is all considered part of life hy
most students
But at the University, you can forget
ahold homework, term papers and all
nighters; the most stressful part of the
term is before it even starts registra
tion.
It's .1 ht‘( lii . tedious .ind nerve u ra< k
ing process Most 1 niversit\ students
have horror stories ot hours spent
sprinting across Me Arthur l.ourt
through crowds just to stand in line lor
halt an hour and end up .it the bottom ol
an endless waiting list tor a required
c lass offered onh once .1 year They
complain about trying to reorganize
their schedule from the "leftovers' alter
four out of five i lasses they need are
closed
Ami after they've completed tin- stress
of registering, students have to run the
gauntlet of people pushing pamphlets
outside Mac C lourt
Many students sirnpk give up on get
ting their classes during the registration
process Instead, they get the classes
they can and try to complete their
schedules through the add drop pro
cess.
I.ast week, more than 18,000 Univer
sity students grew gray hairs and devel
oped ulcers scrambling through this
prm css n! arena si heduling registration
.is have a generation of students liefore
them
Hut is Ifns nci essarv Ailiiiiiiistr.ilurs
have liccn talking about a compute! as
sistcil registrution svstem at the I nivei
sitv since 10(>7, as indicated by an Ore
gon l).nl\ Emri.tld artii le frcjiu I ehruarv
2ft. I‘lti7 which promised computerized
registration "by fall term. 1‘JtiH
More recently, the Oregon Stale S\s
trin of Higher hducatinn ordered all
state si liools not to update their regis
tration systems between l‘IH.r> and 10HH
so the state board could search for a
combined computerized registration
and student information system for the
entire state system
I low ever only the I 'diversity and ()r
egon Health Si ien< es I 'diversity already
do not have some sort of computerized
registration proi ess
Hec ause past efforts hav e failed to
modernize the I'niversitv s archaic sys
tern. HIH'i marks the 20th year Oregon's
primary rese.in h institution has regis
tered students through arena si hedul
mg
Although arena scheduling was not
considered out of date in the 1‘ltiOs. nth
er universities already were discovering
how to use computers to make registra
lion more effic ient and effective for stu
dents, faculty and administrators
OSU More Advanced
The first computer-assisted registra
tion programs began appearing on col
lege campuses in the late 19b0s, anil the
third such program in the United States
was adopted at Oregon State University
I )t veluped I>\ oil-campus i umpiilei
programmers .mil p.111«in-<i after pio
neer programs .it I’urdue I 'diversity .mil
Washington Slate I'niversitv ()SI'
opened its rev nlutionarv system In slti
dents in fall, 1‘lti‘l
To register. students simply listed
i nurse requests nil nptii al si .inning
Ini ins Alter the forms were reviewed li\
the computer. deans and department
heads lei l ived a list of i nurses demand
ed hv the students They made all possi
hie adjustments in the nunilier nl i nurse
nttcrings. and then the ( ompiller as
signed schedules I nui days after turn
inn in then requests students pi< ked up
their completed schedules and paid
their fees
Mils itimpuler assisted registration
process is still iisril .it ()SI in .iild it ion
tn mam uthiT ()regon state si liuiils .mil
.11 i nrilmg tu ()SI ' Registrar Knssi'll I )ix
tin1 svslcin onlv requires .ibmil 20 nun
uti's of eai li student's time It has also
Im'i'U iiiiii h more eflii ienl than the arena
si heduling proi ess ()SI used to register
students before 1‘lti‘l
''This system responds to ai tual dem
onstrated demand, while in an arena
system, you're not flexible to add or
subtract classes .is needed. " l)ix said
"Also, in an arena system, you never
know exai tly how many students want
ed a certain class tiecause they are just
turned away from a registration table
while we can plan future terms from
past demand.
"(I he University s| is really a reserva
tions system when the plane is full
there's no more room.” he said "We
like to call ours a railroad system where
Oregon passes
on system used
across Pac-10
By l).in lisler
Emerald Reporter
When the University joined
Portland State University in so
lecting Systems and Computer
Tec hnology dorp. (S(T) in I ehru
ary to provide a student infoima
tion .mil computer registration
system, the firm was the only one
to meet all system requirements,
said University Registrar llerh
(iherei k
U r .Is .111 institution Were VITV
interested .mi! desired ,i svslem
lli.il utili/ed .1 relational data
base," lie said, adding that of the
tirnis that applied, uiilv S( I ear
i led relational databases
A relational database < (insists ot
two or more data tiles and an in
(lex tile to list kev relations be
tween them, and provides more
flexibility in managing data In
other processes and systems, the
data and indites have to he hard
i iKlrd hi 11 i iimputer language
However. rival software (oinpu
ny Information Assoi lates Ini
(IA) also carries relational
databases, ai cording to lA's solu
lions manager Pat Coyle, and the
University "didn't even give us a
second look
IA is the larger of the two firms