UNIVERSITY
Frustrations abound with financial aid office
By Rivers Janssen
Emeraid Reporter
Tucker (Iruikshank lost his fi
naneial aid i hii k
A phone number fur Oregon
Hall hail been Written in the
space lor college (odes on his
financial aid worksheet That
phone number happened to co
incide with the college code for
Treasure Valiev Oommunitv
(.o liege in (Intario. Ore
So h l s chet k went there
while he staved here
That didn't upset him so
much After all. it was a i or
rel iable mistake So he went
into the financial aid office to
fill out the forms, where thev
told him it would take three
weeks to gel it bar k
He got the check eight Weeks
later, once the term was over
In that eight weeks, he grew
continually frustrated with the
financial aid staff
'It wasn't their losing the
check that got me." Cruikshank
said "The problem was I had
to actually blow up at them be
fore thev would research where
the check was You don't just
go there and get servii e You
have to demand service
Tor mam students. Kafka
nightmares seem to define Ore
gon Hall
For these students, Oregon
Hall is a bureaucracy an au
thoritv stria tore that defies log
ic, runs on an agenda no one
understands and exists siinplv
to make students miserable
Junior Stefan Smulovit/ re
icived an extra $300 with his
(’residential Si holarship last
\ ear Apparently, the financial
alii and cashiers ufliccs both
paid SUM) to Smulovit/ when
only one of them should have
Surprised <tl his good forUmt'.
hr asked ii cashier whether it
was ,i mi si tike She said she
didn't think so and that il was
his money
Two months Liter, after
spending $-100 of the $000 to
till, Oregon Hall wrote and re
quested repayment of the extra
5300 Smiilov-.it/. had to fare the
unpleasant task of asking Ills
dad for the additional money
Some students, like ( rutk
shank and Smulovitz. have
been the victims of i lerii al er
rors Otfiers have been frus
(rated by filling out numerous
forms or waiting'in long lines
to pay fees
Hilt one thing seems to unite
them all Whatever good expe
nellies a student hits at the
lamrrsitv. Oregon Hall seems
to number among the had ones
"It's the an hetypu al bureau
( ratk monster." said senior
Kevin Hatfield "A totally dr
personalized environment
Hut while it s true that Ore
gull Hall makes its share ol mis
takes, ,i few Oregon Hall ad
mmislrators say student frustra
turns are sometimes misdirect
ed
"There are a lot of details
that affect students lives," said
Assoi late Registrar Kate John
son. like deadlines they may
not be aware ot V\ r do try to
publish it, and theoretically
you (.an find it Hut it just de
pends how hard a student has
looked
Johnson said registration
problems are common liet ause
many students don't follow the
complete instructions on the
Dm k l '.all w orksheet
"There's a series ot questions
that !)u( k ('.ill answers anil tr«*
tpicnilv wr rv seeing situations
where the student duesna read
thi1 whole thing, slif said It a
student ilwsn l complete the
registration ptoeess lor a partli
ul.ir course. ho or she will run
into problems later
I'mnnt nil aid rot eives a \. or <
ety of student complaints ial
niontl Vignoul. diret tor of the
financial aid of fit e, said Ins ol
fit i' hopes i<> stem these t om
plaints h\ tloing everything
possible to make life easier for
the students
My primary taint ern in this
offlt e is that wo. treat ev ery
hotly in the most i (insistent,
equitable. effit lent ami friendly
manner possible." VignowI
said And for the most part. I
think wo t an liv e op Iti that
Vignoul said he tries to tor
ret t any complaint a student
has When <i student is treati'd
poorly, he vviU inake every el
fort to straighten out the situa
tion
However, lh.it doesn't t ut it
lor a lot td students ( ruik
shank said he believe- the best
servil e he ever ret eiv ed was
from Vignoul himself, who
t .line out to meet with him alter
(duikshank exploded at the
front tlesk personnel
"That’s the point, (iruik
shank said Why t an I the per
son a! the desk give you good
servite right oil ' Why must w
go to the director lor servit e-’
Vignoul said die staff Is tin
tier a lot 11I pressure most of the
time it is perhaps the busiest
offu e on t ampus. m he- estuna
lion anti, thus, ottasiomilly
i frustrated student t ar: re tie a
frustrated st.ill moinbei
Hut he pointed out that slu
• py . '»un t m la
Darrell Sissom, a University accountant, helps senior l in la Mocharia
with her ImancuiJ aid forms at Oregon Hall
dents art;, often to blame for
wli.tt they I't'rt rivt! .is poor ser
vice Simply put, they vv.inl lfit
niont-v .is ipiu klv .is possible,
and often aren't patient enough
to learn the pnx esses involved
in getting It I hey don't bring
all the information they need
and then heroine frustrated
when the proi ess is slowed
()ne wav to l>\ pass problems
m ltn.irui.il aid is lor students
!.i learn the sy stem Most of the
guidelines the office works tin
der are federally mandated
They i an I he changed from
within Therefore, the more the
.indents know, the more they
rail tell the staff, and the better
they i an fie helped
( ookmg tor a good deaP
Check the t merald APS
*******
•AAAAAAAAA AAAA A#
[ hi Bar At I hi
\V;\/.>/"/,
•i .-Hii.x tal>ir \i
.Jnnk» t .irji lit mi>liiifthi
\lu I Ml < i .ill ( i i»ti*r
I’m--.* lie. » \X < ifKsh*»p m
< I KI MONIAI.
DRUM MAKING
Insiiut i»- r K i f f \ II o I (11 -i n
*******
May
II • : SO
s"S s‘)((
■ ii- iifu’ • *n
. !n a111 <>ni(iii(l II<m»r,
; - I ,?:f. , - I . V 1 I M l
Where’s the best place to buy a Macintosh?
The best place to buy an Apple*
Macintosh * computer is your authorized Apple
campus reseller. We have the expertise in Apple
products to help you select the right computer
for your needs Plus, we offer special pricing to
eligible U of 0 students, faculty and stall
We had to pass stringent
guidelines in order to sell Apple
products. This ensures you’ll get
the best service and support
available for your new Macintosh.
Stop by and try a Macintosh for yourself,
and we ll throw in a little something as
well. Just bring in the coupon enclosed in
tins ad. and we ll give you a IRLH Apple
water bottle! And while supplies last, we II
include a i Hid: Apple t-shirt with every
Macintosh purchase'
So come m today, and while you're in,
be sure to ask us for details about the
Apple (iomputer Loan It'll be time
well spent
I
This coupon entitles i
you to a friendly demo i
of the Macintosh |
computer, AND upon *
completion, a FREE i
WATER BOTTLE! i
I
I
I
L
Only IK) ittalents, faculty and
staff may participate
Good while supplies last
Microcomputer
Support Center
202 Computing center
Monday - Friday 9AM - 5PM
546-4402
Find us here.
*.)
coMmw.
i ES'TU
S
*X)U7»JtI
UWCIKTU