Photos from the past depict long lines of Appalachian State University students flowing out Varsity Gym after waiting for hours on end, beating the masses to register for college classes.
    With the creation of a new and improved AppalNET, registration is now paperless, and student services are more easily accessible.
    Welcome to the 21st century, students of Appalachian State University.
    It seems like only yesterday the university began using one computer to reduce time and energy spent in the hassle of class registration.
    Say good-bye to the dreaded file cabinet icon, an icon that was a welcome sight only a few years back.
    Technology is rapidly increasing and Appalachian is not only keeping up with other UNC system schools, but surpassing them.
    As said by Registrar and Director of Student Information Systems Don R. Rankins, this new system is intended to give students more access to and control over their own education.
    How refreshing.
    We congratulate the Information Technology Services, the Office of the Registrar and the Student Information System offices for their work in bringing the Web technology of Appalachian to a new level.
    The true test begins now with more students granted access to the registration system and online schedule of classes. Server integrity will be challenged to allow technicians to pinpoint problems and make the transition to paperless registration as smooth as possible.
    Electronic class registration brings with it the reliability of frequent updates and more cost efficiency.
    The printed schedule of classes always contained out-of-date information that would many times force students online for the current schedules.
    Without the book of classes, the price of printing along with costly confusion will be down for future generations of Appalachian students.
    With a bit of nostalgia we give a fond farewell to wrinkled and torn schedule books marked up in our respective majors. Also missed will be the schedule planners inserted into the middle of the book, filled with back-up plan after back-up plan.
    This new way of registration seems to streamline the class selection process, efficiently bringing all the information a student could need into one place.
    Additionally, a 24-hour system certainly accommodates the around-the-clock lifestyle of many college students.
    Student opinion is divided, with some enjoying the physicality of schedule books while others confess they have always done everything online anyway.
    Just as students have forgotten the long lines streaming from Varsity Gym, the days of paper schedules will fade from memory in a few short years.
    We look forward to the future of efficient class scheduling and support the endeavors of the same in the future.