The Grad Voice

B.U.R.G.E.R.S. will speed grad students to the top of the VC

New York, NY, May 1, 2009 --- After six years of planning and assessment, Baruch President Kathleen M. Waldron announced today that the Baruch Ultra-Rapid Graduate Elevator Reservation System (B.U.R.G.E.R.S.) will launch in the summer of 2009. "On behalf of the entire Baruch administration, I am delighted to announce that B.U.R.G.E.R.S. is on track to begin operation in June, 2009. We are currently completing final testing with incoming freshmen and expect to work out all the bugs during final exams this month."

Waldron went on to explain that B.U.R.G.E.R.S. will represent a huge time savings for graduate students. The new automated system will allow graduate students to make an online reservation for a spot in a scheduled elevator. Elevators will run on a strict schedule at peak times, departing the 2nd floor at 15, 23, 49 and 55 minutes past the hour, and arriving on the 11th floor at 18, 26, 52 and 58 minutes past the hour.

It will also represent a cost savings, said Waldron, as it will permit the furloughing of six security guards whose sole function is to apprehend scofflaws who enter the elevators via the back door. "We are looking forward to the implementation of this state-of-the-art system,  the first of its kind in the United States," said Waldron.

Some Baruch students were less than pleased by the announcement, however. One sixth-year MBA student, who asked to remain anonymous, remarked, "B.U.R.G.E.R.S. is going to make everyone fat! If the elevators actually run on time, then students won't have to take the stairs any more, and they're going to gain weight!" CUNY Health Science Professor Joe Schlabotnik commented, "The jury is still out on the public health effects of the B.U.R.G.E.R.S system. The data are not convincing on either side of the story."

Graduate students will gain entry to the elevator area by swiping their ID cards at newly installed turnstiles in front of the elevator bank. Undergraduate students, as well as graduate students who have not made a reservation, may register for "standby" status upon arrival at the elevator area. Standby passengers will be given a spot in the elevator if students with a reservation miss their scheduled departure time.

Students in Abu Kamruzzaman's CIS9771 class were the key to the B.U.R.G.E.R.S. system, as they programmed the elevator reservation system in Java. "Write once, run anywhere," said Prof. Kamruzzaman, "even in the elevator!"

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