PAGE 14
GREENSBORO, NC
Have you hugged an IT&S worker today?
Eamon Barker
Staff Writer
So, IT&S has been a pain
recently. With Hobbs
issues, network problems,
and the worm incident at the
beginning of the school year,
this has been quite a trip for
the IT&S staff.
Like everyone else, I've
been feeling the repercus
sions of our technology prob
lems - my Lotus Notes hasn't
worked all year, I've been cut
off from the Internet more
times than I care to count, pro
jectors don't work in my class
The hard truth about Early College
Meredith Veto
Guest Writer
We are among you.
We've infiltrated
your classes, study groups,
the cafeteria, and even the
dorms. We are (gasp) Early
College students.
I am an Early College stu
dent in denial. Unless you
ask me directly, I will skirt
your questions for hours. My
responses are well
rehearsed. Where are you
from? I'm a Greensboro
native. What dorm are you
in? I live off-campus.
Ask any Early College stu
dent who's taking college
classes: our worst fear of all
is being "found out." I'm not
sure why I'm so afraid to
reveal the truth. Perhaps it's
because I haven't been at
Guilford a single day without
overhearing an attack on
Early College.
Will people cry out in dis
gust and treat me like a leper
if I say I'm an Early College
student? Probably not.
v But my insecurities certain
ly say something about the
way Guilford students treat
us, setting us apart like
es ... the list goes on.
Yeah, I got sick of Leah
Kraus's voicemails last
semester too.
I gripe about not being able
to check my email or open up
AIM. It ticks me off that I can't
print anything on any printer
except my roommate's
because of our network prob
lems.
Still, there's something I try
to keep in mind before I start
blaming IT&S for all the prob
lems with campus computers:
a good portion of the staff are
students, just like me. I hap
pen to talk to a couple of them
another species. So, I'd like
to set some things straight.
Let's start with the basics.
There are not ten thousand of
us swarming the school. The
maximum number of students
that would ever be in either
level of the school, high
school or college, is 100 stu
dents. This semester 60 stu
dents are taking college
courses.
Ninth and tenth graders
take high school courses on
campus, and eleventh and
twelfth graders, have a
course schedule identical to
that of a traditional or CCE
student, usually 16 credits.
We're not raiding and sys
tematically destroying the
facilities at the college. The
gameroom in Founders, from
what I've heard, wasn't being
used much before we were
here. Now that we use it, the
room has become more prof
itable.
Contrary to popular belief,
we do pay the full price for
meals at the Caf. Oh, and
Early College students love
the food.
A statement from a Jan. 30
Letter to the Editor reads:
"Frank, as it is, has turned
FORUM
on a regular basis, and their
job isn't any easier than any
one else's.
Matter of fact, their job is a
lot harder. Last semester, my
suitemate had to quit IT&S
because he was working so
many hours that his school
work suffered.
Most IT&S people work
longer hours than anyone else
on campus, between 10 and
20 hours per week on aver
age, and all they get for all that
work is complaints.
If any other work-study stu
dent slacks off at his job, it
doesn't make an enormous
into a playground for high
school students to the point
where they have begun to
receive priority over tradition
al college students, support
ed by the frequent unavail
ability of Bryan Jr. Auditorium
and other spaces in Frank."
Not true. The only time that
Bryan Jr. is reserved for the
Early College is in the morn
ings from 9:00 to 10:00,
which typically isn't a time
that Guilford students want to
be up and attending classes
anyway.
"We try to be mindful of
when the college has to use
(Bryan Jr.), and on more than
one occasion we have bowed
out of using the space," said
Tony Lamair Burks 11, princi
pal of the Early College.
Early College students reg
ister for classes at the same
time, and in many cases
after, traditional students.
"We're not first in line!" said
Burks, with a big belly laugh.
Here's a confusing rumor:
Early College students are
not allowed in dorms. Fact:
only Early College seniors
are allowed in dorms. A good
rule of thumb is if someone
looks like an Early College
WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
difference on campus. Things
go on as usual; nobody's real
ly affected.
If an IT&S work-study stu
dent slacks off at his job, the
whole campus could be
affected. IT&S staff are work
ing with incredibly sensitive
and complicated machinery; if
it screws up, campus e-mail
goes out, or we stop being
able to access the network
altogether.
IT&S staffers aren't comput
er programmers - they didn't
write the software that makes
all these things go wrong on
campus. Except for the super
student, he probably should
n't be in the dorms. Most
seniors have mastered the art
of passing as Guilford stu
dents.
"If seniors are in dormito
ries, they ought to be there
for educational purposes
only," said Burks. "If your
study mate is in there with a
bong and the room gets raid
ed, you're going down, too.
And also, to put it bluntly, we
don't want an Early College
baby."
Which brings me to my next
point: Early College students
are responsible for their
actions. If there's an honor
code violation, for instance,
students have to deal with all
of the procedures that any
Guilford student would.
Burks said that most of the
people who are negative
about Early College have had
one experience with a stu
dent that shaped their opinion
about the school, but have
not had an opportunity to get
to know others.
"If I defined my experience
at Guilford based solely on
the few negative experiences
I've had, it would not be fair to
Guilford," said Burks. "The
FEB 20, 2004
visors, most of them are just
college kids who have to
worry about writing papers
and doing homework in addi
tion to trying to get your com
puter fixed. They're people,
like you, like me, who make
mistakes and can't devote
every second of their lives to
fixing the campus computer
problems.
I want to make a request of
you: when your computer
starts blinking error messages
at you and you call IT&S to
come and fix it, just remember
that they're people, too. Cut
'em some slack, will ya?
first four or five days that our
office opened, SIO,OOO plus
worth of computers were
stolen from the George White
House. Should that cause
me to have negative feelings
about the Guilford College
experience? Well, for some
people it would. But I can't let
that be the sole determinant."
"We have more people say
ing 'this is the best thing since
sliced bread' than we have
people saying 'get them off
campus,'" said Burks.
So, instead of gossiping
about how immature and dis
ruptive the Early College stu
dents are, consider contact
ing the appropriate authority,
or even telling us.
Better yet, hold up a mirror.
Guilford students are by no
means models for perfect
behavior.
"What mother would call her
baby ugly?" Burks asks.
"This school is the baby of
Guilford County Schools and
Guilford College. So instead
of pointing at us and saying
we're ugly, what people ought
to be doing is pointing at us
and helping us improve,
pointing at us and finding
solutions for problems."