Back to school with lengthy queues at OCC

Amy R. Spurgeon

COSTA MESA -- As OCC’s spring semester got underway Wednesday,

last-minute registrants proved that despite living in the information

age, waiting in line for two hours to enroll in Math 100 is still very

much a reality.

“They should have those Disneyland signs telling you how much longer the

wait is,” said Lacette Allen, 39, of Huntington Beach. A schedule change

at her job forced the full-time worker to rearrange her academic schedule

at the last minute. “It’s not fun, but it’s something you have to do.”

Administrators delayed spring registration by a week because of

Y2K-related fears, but no computer quirks ever surfaced. As a result,

registration lines have snaked around buildings all week as students

trying to register in the 11th hour add and drop classes. More than half

of OCC’s classes were full Tuesday, said administrative dean Nancy L.

Kidder.

“It’s been like two Mondays in one day,” she said.

But compared to registration lines of the 1960s and 1970s, two hours is a

breeze, said OCC public relations director James A. Carnett.

Carnett said before the advent of the computerized registration system,

students waited in line up to six hours.

“In today’s society, with the Nordstrom customer service mentality,

people just don’t stand for delays,” Carnett said.

But most students accepted their fate and amused themselves in line by

looking for classes in the course catalog or listening to music on

portable stereos.

In one of the larger lecture halls on campus, Dr. Ann Wynne introduced

more than 100 students to History 100.

“I’ll be here for you every step of the way,” Wynne said. “But you’ve got

to put in the time.”

Meanwhile, just feet away in the bookstore, people stood in more lines to

purchase some necessary (books, pencils, filler paper) and

not-so-necessary (candy, posters, stickers) items.

Bookstore cashier Dorothy Keel, who had been processing transactions

since 7:30 a.m., went through the routine: “I can help the next person in

line,” she said cheerfully. “And how will you be paying for this?”

Further down the aisle, students selected required texts from the

thousands of books piled categorically on the shelves.

Student Lori Goldberg of Costa Mesa, 20, grumbled out loud over the fact

that the bookstore did not have her English book in stock.

“I’ll have to go to class and explain it to my teacher, who will then

have to submit a request to the bookstore. I probably won’t get my book

until the third week of school,” she said.”It’s a disadvantage because

other students who already have the book can be reading ahead.”

Outside the bookstore, students gathered together -- some for a quick

cigarette, others just a cup of coffee -- before class started.

“We are off and running,” Carnett said.