Computer Errors???

[AchtungBaby80]

I heard rumors of a computer mistake one year when a particular sorority on my campus had a bunch of girls show up to Pref that they hadn't exactly expected, because they had cut these girls before that round. I'm not quite sure on the specifics or what eventually happened, but I guess they worked it out because nothing was ever said about it after rush was over. I have often wondered about how much of this goes on...with all the activity during rush week, I can understand how it would be hard to know if that girl everybody thought would "shine brighter in another house" just sort of slipped through the cracks and got invited back or if there was some kind of computer glitch somewhere along the way.

[KSUViolet06]

With virtually ALL schools using a computer program for recruitment, mistakes can happen.

In 2004 recruitment, there was a girl who had a full schedule of parties for Day 3. But come Saturday, she got a call saying that she had been released from recruitment, the computer showed that she HAD NO invites to Pref.

She was really upset and she cried. The PX was upset a little too. This was a really nice PNM and there was nothing about that she thought would cause her to get COMPLETELY cut from everyone.

So Sunday morning, the morning of Prefs, the PX is browsing her PNMs on the computer and seeing who withdrew and who was going where. Well she gets to this girl's name, and a FULL schedule of Prefs pops up. She is puzzled, so she calls the chapter's listed and asks their advisors if Amy _____ had been dropped by them. They all said no and that she was indeed invited back.

It turns out that there was a problem with the computers and it had been randomly saying that girls had no invites when it froze. But the invites popped back up when the PXs would log in again!

So this is at 8:30 AM. Prefs start at 10. So after they found the invites, they realized that they had 2 options since Prefs were in an hour and a half. They could let it go since she already has been mistakenly told she's been released, or they could try to get in touch with her and get her to Pref before 10. The asked the PX and she decided to try and call her, since she couldn't bear the thought of knowing that she had invited but not telling her.

So they started calling her. But it was obviously early in the morning. This girl was in bed asleep, thinking she had nowhere to be. They called and called to tell her, but no one answered. So the PX looks up where she lives and goes to her dorm building. She had to BEG an RA to let her go up to her room (since people who don't live in that building can't go up the elevator without a key).

So around 9:30 the PX BANGS on her door. The PNM opens it (half asleep). The PX says "Amy I'm so sorry but there was a mistake and you're supposed to be at ABC, XYZ, and QQQ this morning! You don't have time to shower, just throw on something nice and meet me downstairs in 15 minutes!!" The girl was so happy to know that everything was a mistake that she had no problem getting ready in 15, and she had bought a dress for Pref before recruitment anyway.

The girls are supposed to take buses over to the houses, but by the time she got ready, it was like 9:45. So they RUN to the PNMs car that's parked in the downstairs lot. The PX did like 60 mph and got her to her first pref exactly on time!

She is now a happy member of an NPC sorority on campus!

This story is from my Pearl Pal who was the PX in this story! I am really glad that they didn't decide to just "let it go" and let her really think she was dropped since prefs were in like an hour.I also thought it was really funny because I couldn't imagine having to get ready for Pref in 15 minutes!

[alum]

Computers are only as good as the people who programmed them.