> netslackers <

-- Tuesday, March 04, 2003 --

We did it. It's over. The applicants are chosen. It took three cancellations, but now we're done.

Silver Chips Online will be about twice the size it is this year. We ended up taking more people than we probably should have and yet there's still one applicant I feel bad about not taking. Luckily, I personally only had to make one rejection call. That's the toughest part -- telling people that have been waiting for weeks to hear from us and who worked pretty much all semester to get to this point that we just couldn't find enough space to squeeze them in. I obviously can't talk specifics, but I know some people had to deal with applicants breaking down over the phone while others dealt with students who were obviously less-than-thrilled about the positions they were offered.

It was an interesting and, on some level, fun experience, but not something I ever want to do again. I'm not sure I like having the power to decide how another student's life will look next year. It's hard listening to kids in interviews talk about how much they want to be on staff and then telling them, in a horribly blunt phone call, "We're sorry, but we don't have any positions to offer you. Good night."

At any rate, I did get to pass on the good news to Chris that he got the sysops position for online. It was a tough choice, let me tell you. Chris was in an intensely competitive pool of applicants that consisted of . . . himself. In honor of his achievement, I bestow upon him this "Best of Chips" award. Print it out, Chris, you earned it.

> KC 9:06 PM [90148373]
>