Word: calendar
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...shift in the timing of fall semester exams from January to December, which is primarily made possible by beginning the year earlier in September. With the exception of our equally foolish friends at Princeton, the other American universities with whom we are regularly classed follow this kind of calendar, and we can follow their lead. The calendar proposed by the committee places the first day of classes immediately after Labor Day and includes a reading and an exam period that concludes a few days prior to Christmas...
...this shift does not necessitate a drastic change in the structure of our reading and exam period. One of our great privileges as students at Harvard is our reading period, a luxury enjoyed at few other schools. Currently there are 12 reading days in the Fall semester; the new calendar guarantees between eight and 11 days depending upon the date of Labor Day each year. Every few years we will face the worst-case scenario of only eight reading days—but with the semester presumably fresher in our minds during that period, requiring less relearning, we should still...
While Dec. 22 may seem pretty late for the end of the semester, consider the situation that we will face next year under our current calendar. In the 2004-2005 academic year, the last day of class in the fall semester will be Dec. 21, and after only 13 days of Winter vacation, reading period will begin on Jan. 4, 2005. Compare this to the situation that would exist under the newly proposed calendar: instead of fall classes, it would be fall semester exams that would be ending right around Dec. 21, after which we would head home...
Granted, the proposed calendar does raise some questions in terms of the traditional year-opening exercises. Freshman Week, preceding the start of classes for first-years, provides a great chance to get somewhat acclimatized to Harvard; under the proposed calendar it would have to be pushed back into late August. The introductory first-year programs in the arts, urban service and the great outdoors, which began many of our careers at Harvard on happy notes, would also have to be moved back farther into the summer. These programs can still be accommodated, however, and given that towards...
While finishing the Fall semester before a longer and stress-free Winter vacation is the greatest improvement of the proposed calendar, there are additional benefits. The committee has also recommended that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving be included as a holiday and noted the possibility of taking the entire Thanksgiving week off from school, which the University administration should definitely explore when reviewing the committee’s report. The proposed calendar also includes an earlier start and a much earlier finish to the Spring semester, with exams finishing at least a week sooner in May. This extra time...