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Show ar ARY COMME THE THUNDERBIRD• SOlJfHERN UTAH UNIVERS1TY ·MONDAY, FEBRUARY L, L993 • PAGE .. STUDY DAYS - A WASTE OF TIME? S UU is often hailed as a unique and excellent university, often as Utah's best kept secret, by university recruiters. It is also frequently a nonconformist where academics are concerned. Finals week is no exception to this. Questions are occasionally raised concerning SUU's non· traditionalist finals week-usually defined as a week reserved only for taking finals on other campuses, but here finals start the day after classes end. The answers to these questions are simple, and are in accordance to the wishes of the Deans' Council to provide an education to those students seeking one. When scheduling the academic calendar, the Dean ' Council tries to schedule 50 days of classes plus final exam days each quarter. Many factors influence cheduling: beginning and ending dates of each quarter and holidays. For example, January l fell on a Friday this year. Sterling Church, vice president of student services, said it would be impractical to expect students to return at the end-of a week in order to take finals. Church also brought up the question of the purpose of final week. He said chat a reliable way to test a student's mastery on a certain ubject wa to h Id an exam immedmtely after classes ended. After all, most students recognize that little knowledge i gamed in the famou final cramming sessions held late the night before final begin. Provo c Terry Alger said that one of his responsibilities was to con ider the best mean of student evaluation. Concerning this year's schedule, Alger said "We tried to do it as best we could," and he added that if a majority of students felt trongly about having a finals week during which no classes would be held, that the Council would consider making a change. He warned however, that the possibility of holidays being shortened and school beginning early and ending Late would be great if a finals week were implemented. At SUU, there has never been a finals week re erved for taking final exams, and nor should there be. Most likely, little studying would be completed on the Monday and Tuesday reserved for that purpo e. Of course the old argument may be brought up that SUU students are all responsible adults, and would use the extra rim~ to tudy. One important fact is forgotten in u ing this argument-even responsible adult love to play. For many stude nts, their middles names might as well be procrastination, and for the majority of all college students, cramming for finals the night before they are to begin have become a tradition as strong as the wall in Robert Fro t's roem "Mending Wall." · THE THUNDERBIRD SOLJTHERN lITAH UNIVERSITY • CEDAR C!TY, lJTAH E.dito, h<ns Tucl<ct A..ocia« Editor Jennifer Morley Op;njon o;,,x1.,.. )a>on 0 . Nord, Op;njon Aooi,u,,1 H<><h<r Grttn Photo [);r<C(Ot' Eric Rc,,;krick Sporn E.diu>< Jay Hinmn Almanac Editor Bill GaJv. n Adnnisinr "Rq, T nvi, Newm•n FKDlty Advuer !.any Balrcr Aooocwe AdviRr Lynn S. 0.nndl Th, n.ndnb.,.d l, publ..h<d ead, Mond.y ,nd Thu..,Jay of th< K><km,c )'"'-' i., •nd for the ,<udeni body of Uruwnuy and not affiliattd with lht Unt\.~n1:tyr1 deparm1,~m of romIDunQl)(ln. ~ YV"W"i ~ ~ ,nd optnlUnf rxp,..,ed m Th, Tli• ..J.,1,mJ '"' !hoe< of indMJ0>I writH> and do r.o, n....,.,il,- r<fl«t d,e .,.,... of the onsruw:lol"I, fxuhy. so.ft' 0< ,D.kknr body ,n Th< un>lgn<d rdiroriol d,..afy ,!KM, is the optnl()ll of Th, 1,,,d ... ,Jnp mtlly. l.dt<rt "'the «lttO< mu\l be typed anJ mclud< th< n>mc ,nd phoM number. Only me n,me will be rnnrod. Noma ,.;11 no< be .... thh<kl unckr ,ny nmnru1>n«• anJ dw cdu,.,, """'""" odmna pnYliqi.s. lztttr> rnwt be ,ubm,ru-d ll)' noon Frid,y, lot Mondoy edition,, 5 p.m. T .,.,d.,t~ &>, Thu.-.day od,tion.l. n ..... ..,ntt.a1. Gri<vanca, Anf ,ndovidual w,d, • pi<wna aptMt Th, Th•nder~,,d ,hould du..:, w-.h probl<m fin< IO rh, od,.,,,. If un....,lw,d. that i"""'ntt ,houkl lh<n be dircatd ro th< advi,u If wU unreoolvcd, th< p;.vana, Jhould be dir<C11«1 ro the SUU Publianon• Cound~ 586-1710. n. Thw.Jr,b,,d officN ,n SUU T«hnology Bulkling 003. Matl at SUU Bo,, 938'1, Ccdor City, VT 84720. Phone (801) 586-7757, 586-7158 • .166-7750, 586-S488. FAX 586-~7. LETTERS 'Nerdfest' fits and doesn't get out of hand TO THE EDITOR: Doesn't it just strike you d1at all this egg and seed business has gotten out of hand! We just don't think of men as primarily breeders, so "seminar" has lost its reproductive meaning. "Ovular" is another story. I prefer the term "presentation." Or how about "nerdfest"! It seems· to flt. Colleen Freeman Opinion Director examines anonymity Formica and heat: subjects of unsigned complaint and on-the-record response Usually, The Thunderbird'l policy concerning unsigned letters to the editor i , A) The letter is not published and trashed; or B) The letter is not published, just posted o n the wall for a good laugh. But even an unsigned letter can bring up some good points, so we sought a few on-the-record answers to some anonymously asked questions. Fir c, the letter TO THE EDITOR: We over at the notorious college dom1s so quaintly called Manzanita Court, thought you might find this editorial a bit more interesting and featherruffling than die pronoun wars. On Jan. 19 we received this memo from Chuck Mollenkopf [director of resident living] basically stating as follows: "This memo is to inform all residents that the wardrobe doors and bottom drawers in all Manzanita apartments will be refinished as part of our regular and renovations repairs procedures. This procedure will starr on the 27th, with section F and will take about two weeks for each preceding section. Thank you fo r your cooperation with this project. We are sure you will be pleased wid1 die results." After seeing mis, we ask: Where is Truth? Where is Justice? Where is our money going? Here, in our version of the memo you'll find our condusions: AlTE TIO RESIDENTS, In keering with our policy of wasting money, preceded by the already enormou heating bill for the cost o f keeping every apartment at more than 90 degrees day a~d night, Housing and Resident Llfe in trod uces its latest project •to make you feel mat the money you pend on this pseudo-aparrmentdump-actually goes somewhere. We're having all wardrobe doors and bottom drawers refinished. Not char they need it of course, bur we think this to be a wonderful way of creating the illusion that something can be done to upgrade what many of the SUU freshman class is forced to call ~home." Also, we aren't intelligent enough to think of a more economical use for the funds (such as a new computer printer for the computer lab), that's why we waste a.s much on heat as possible. Despite all this, we want you ro know we do care. Following this procedure, we will begin immediately with our next project, painting all the kitchen appliances bright orange to coordinate with the new carpet to be put in sometime next winter. (Awful neat that your contract lasts all year, isn't it?lMA AGEMENT. Concerned Residents ot particularly nitric sniff, but Truth and Ju ti.ce should have a name. Even Superman eventually told us who the heck. he was (even if he's dead now.) Chuck Mollenkopf responds in a Thunderbird interview: (CONTINUED O PAGE 5) |