Give us a break

Students would benefit from a fall vacation

As the taste of turkey lingers on the tongue, students trudge back to Ann Arbor from the fall semester's first and last four-day weekend. With only two weeks left until the beginning of final exams and the start of a healthy binge of study, the recently completed vacation may be students' last time for intensive rest and relaxation before celebrating the holidays. The Thanksgiving vacation is far too short and late in the semester to count as a significant break from rigorous study. The University needs to institute an earlier, more substantial holiday to combat college stress.

Thanksgiving is criticized for being the first break of the school year because it falls after most of the academic semester has passed. Often it is the only time students who live far from Ann Arbor receive enough vacation time to excuse a trip home.

Two and a half months are a long time spent away from family and hometown friends and many take advantage of the shortened week in November to travel home. The Thanksgiving break is too late to be the only vacation from school, especially since most will once again go home between semesters.

Too often, schoolwork consumes every aspect of students' lives. The University is far from a commuter school, and students frequently immerse themselves in the culture of college life. Yet, a great irony of life in Ann Arbor is that although the city is brimming with cultural and educational opportunities, students have neither the time nor the energy to participate in them.

A midterm fall semester break gives students choosing to stay in Ann Arbor the ability to explore the depths of the city, not to mention time to relax, sleep or work without the interruption of classes.

The University is often a leader in higher education innovation, but this time it must take the lead of other colleges and create a true fall break. Many schools - including Princeton, Notre Dame and New York University - have breaks earlier than Thanksgiving and failed to experience any visible decrease in academic standards. Though other colleges' actions alone should not dictate the University's conduct, the fact that other prestigious institutions value a midterm break in the fall gives validity to any argument for such a holiday.

Creating a fall semester break necessitates compensation for days lost. Starting the semester earlier can make up for vacation time spent away from classes. For example, this year classes started after the Labor Day weekend on Sept. 8. Departments like the Medical School and the School of Dentistry start classes in the middle of August. A break in the middle of a semester is more substantial than a few days lost in the large gap between winter and fall semester.

Breaks reinvigorate students. They give hope in an academic system that sometimes seems bleak and never-ending, while making a college semester much easier to stomach. It is difficult to find a person willing to turn down a sanctioned vacation. The benefits of a midterm fall semester holiday outweigh the slight inconvenience of starting school a few days earlier. These arguments all pose the question: Why does the University need a break in March and not in October?

11-30-99