Help Me!

Posted Aug 28, 2006 by Adam Emerson

Updated Aug 28, 2006 at 11:26 AM

10:11 a.m.
Edgardo Valentin sits at a foldout desk in the middle of a busy courtyard. To his left is the financial aid office. To his right, the admissions office. On his desk is a bowl filled with SweeTarts candy.
A sign pinned to a wooden stake advertises that his is the Help Desk. Wayward students come to Valentin, who works for the admissions office, and ask where to find their classrooms or the registrar’s office, or where they can buy a parking permit.
The SweeTarts are going fast.
“This is going to be like this for at least the first three days,” Valentin says.