Financial Aid foils student

By Dave Flomberg
The Metropolitan

There is something less than comforting to know that our whole educational bureaucratic system is being controlled by the lowest bidder.

This is especially apparent when dealing with Financial Aid and the Cashierâs Office.

I tried to avoid any problems, having had to wait until late November during the fall semester to get my student loan disbursement. It seems that Financial Aid had two different social security numbers on file for me. I was told that this was all my fault because I must have incorrectly entered it on a form somewhere.

As a side note, I must add that my social security number is the only thing I have learned in college that I am 100 percent sure of. The chances of that happening were about as great as the Cubs winning the pennant.

So I called my lender to see when I would be getting my money for spring semester.

ãIt was mailed out to your school on the 4th of January,ä I was told.
At that time, it was the 15th, and I had seen nothing in the mail.

So I called Metro.

ãYour check will be waiting for you on the first day of classes in the Cashierâs office,ä said the man on the phone.

ãWhy canât I pick it up now?ä

ãBecause you registered for your classes yesterday, and 1998 is an even year.ä

ãWhat the hell does that have to do with anything?!ä

ãNothing at all. Have a nice day.ä

After spending the mandatory three hours standing in line with 30 or 40 other really unhappy people on the first day of classes, the clerk in the Cashierâs Office looked me in the eye and said, ãFinancial Aid ainât paid your account yet, so you got no check here.ä

Oh boy, Daisy Duke says I get to go wait in the Financial Aid line, I thought. I wonder if I could just go slam my head in a car door a few times instead.

Here, I must apologize to the students standing in line at Financial Aid. I walked past all of them and demanded to see a counselor, post haste. Iâm sorry, but if I had been forced to wait for another hour, someone would have been throttled.

Some young woman informed me that a counselor would see me, and then lectured me on the etiquette of waiting in line. Thankfully, I still had enough self-control left to refrain from hitting her with the nearest cubicle.

The only part of the encounter that was even remotely pleasant was Beth Harris, the counselor. She maintained her composure ÷ after I informed her how angry I was ÷ and calmly explained the problem to me. I must commend her professional manner and demeanor.

Unfortunately, itâs not enough.

The problem is Financial Aid and the Cashierâs Office use two completely different computer systems. This meant I was going to have to wait another 24 hours before my money would be available.

ãWe dispersed the money from here, but the other system hasnât picked it up yet,ä Harris explained.

Hereâs a thought. If I absolutely have to pick up the check from the Cashierâs office, then how about cutting a check in the Financial Aid office and having one of the student hourly gophers walk their asses the 50 feet to the Cashierâs office and hand it to them.

Better yet, Metro could contract a few Auraria parking employees to do the job and keep them out of the student bodyâs hair.

But thatâs a whole other column.

Dave Flomberg is a Metro student and a copy
editor/columnist for The Metropolitan