BY RANDY GOLDSTEIN

In print | Published December 4, 2003

The end of the semester can make life at Swarthmore seem pretty awful. Between writing last-minute papers and cramming for finals, Swatties are more stressed out for these two weeks than they are at any other time in the semester. Given this reality in tandem with the difficult nature of Swarthmore courses in general, one would think that the college would do everything within reason to make this time as pleasant and convenient for students as possible. Unfortunately, there are still a number of potential changes whose implementation could result in a significant quality-of-life improvement during this demanding time.

Swarthmore’s finals policies do not afford students every possible advantage in achieving academic success. The problem begins with reading period, the time between the end of classes and the beginning of final exams. Our reading period is only two days long, compared with Amherst’s three days and Williams’ four days. A student whose finals all fall within the first few days of finals period would be hard pressed to find the time to adequately prepare for all of them.

If the college is hesitant to extend reading period for fear of ending the semester later than necessary, there is at least one fairly easy solution. Why are there no exams scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 14? Assuming that this is not for religious reasons, perhaps the college intends this as an implicit time for students to study. This would be acceptable if it were the case that all students’ exams straddled this day in fairly equal proportions. Since that is not the case, the college is providing a study subsidy to those students whose finals are scheduled toward the end of finals period. This is in addition to the benefit they receive by having more free days to study during the beginning portion of finals period during which they happen to have no exams.

This evokes the issue of finals’ scheduling in general. While students with later finals receive more time to study, students with earlier finals may derive utility from being able to leave campus earlier. Because students value these benefits differently, it seems that there should be some degree of flexibility in scheduling finals. My own finals are scheduled for two p.m. on Dec. 17, 18 and 19 and I would sure like to have them pushed forward. While there is a legitimately large amount of planning and organization that goes into finals preparation, it would be nice if the college could at least consider student input to some degree.

Aside from the problems associated with the scheduling of finals, there are issues that could be addressed concerning access to and quality of other campus resources. For instance, it is an extremely difficult task to find an open public area computer in McCabe or Beardsley during exam period. Many students rely on these computers to finish assignments that, for a variety of reasons, cannot be finished in their dorm rooms. It is extremely frustrating to be unable to find a computer with the knowledge that there are locked classrooms full of computers in Trotter, Kohlberg and other buildings. Why not open some of these classrooms as temporary public computing areas? This would be a relatively easy way to provide a resource that, during finals, is highly in demand.

Lastly, the college should extend the hours of availability of services that are especially necessary to students during finals. First, McCabe should be open significantly later. One extra hour is marginal at best. The eccentricities of Swatties are varied and many of us prefer to study late into the night. Having an available venue in which a student is able to do his or her best work is especially important when an upcoming exam determines half of a final grade. Second, the coffee bar should also extend its hours. Caffeine fuels students whose workloads force them to forgo sleep for studying. Longer Kohlberg Coffee Bar hours would be a welcome benefit to these tired souls.

The potential changes suggested in this column are not whimsical or impractical. They are simple adaptations to a stressful time that would demonstrate to students that the college is genuinely concerned with maximizing the quality of life on campus. If these changes could help even a few students avoid the stress and anxiety that can accompany the end the semester, then they would surely be worthwhile.

Randy Goldstein is a junior. You can contact him at rgoldst1@swarthmore.edu.

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