From: jacobs@cerritos.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.college
Subject: Re: Computer Lab Operator Geeks
Date: 12 Oct 92 18:19:19 PST
Distribution: world
Organization: Cerritos College, Norwalk CA

In article <1992Oct9.132415.15312@vax5.cit.cornell.edu>, h2m@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (JA) writes:
> Speaking of computer lab operator geeks.....
> I find that as a user, ther are a lot of the operators don't know squat....
> I frequently ask questions and get the response "Gee, I don't know, you'd have
> to call the Service Help Desk" ... then when I ask if they have the number...
> "ummm...No, but it's in the phone book"
> 
> The worst however was an experience in a lab in the Industrial and Labor 
> Relations school.... I was with a friend who was working on a project, and I 
> just wanted to check my mail while I was there.  So I ask the operator for a
> networked machine so I can log on to the mainframe, so  she points me to a 
> room, gives me a system disk (Mac SE's two floppy drives, no hard drive, on an 
> ethernet LAN with an internet gateway) and a mouse pad inreturn for my ID. 
> fine.... The machine boots up, and I get the system disk and a file server ont 
> he desktop, with the communications software buried in the server.  It doesn't
> work.  Why? because the TCP drivers were not installed in the System, nor was
> there room on the system disk to copy the driver so I could reboot.....
> 
> I went back to the operator:
> Me:do you have any system disks with the MacTCP drivers on them?
> op:pardon me?
> me:MacTCP is not installed in the system, so NCSATelnet doesn't work.
> op:I have no idea what you are talking about.
> me:ummm...Are these the only system disks you have? (thinking they might have 
> some special ones for people doing mundae things like reading mail)
> op:no, we have about 30 copies of the system disk
> me:but they're all the same....
> op: yes
> me:do you know anything about Comet (Cornell's standard terminal emulator and 
> communications package.... most everybody uses it)?
> op: comet? what's that...
> me: never mind....
> 
> (in this same lab, where there is an operator working, all the components 
> of the machine are chained to the desk through a lock in the back, leaving you
> with an effective 6 inches of mouse cord to work with..)
> 
> 
> So..... the point is: not all students are annoying idiots and there are some 
> operators out there that are dumb as a brick....
> 
> btw: if you people hate your jobs so much, why don't you quit and let somebody 
> take your place that  actually enjoys helping people?
> 
Well, lets address that issue. First of all I will admit that there are some
ignorant lab workers out there. At the lab that I manage, these are the
work-study employies that the school sends us (Read FREE LABOR). With current
budget situations, that will be the norm. 
	True, not all students are annoying idiots, but there are way too many
out there that won,t even write down simple istructions so they ask you how to
do something agian and again and again.....
	We used to enjoy helping people a lot until we got asked the same
stupid questions 300 times a day by students who can't even take the time to
figure out which program they are supposed to be using!

Karl
 
________________________________________________________________________________Karl Jacobs - Jacobs@cerritos.edu