S A8 OPINIONS
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Head to Head vs.
ARGUING
FOR
Karthicka S.
THE MOTION
AGAINST
Andrea Tang
Junior VP Internal MacDebate Club
Karthicka: It’s that time of year when emotions are running high, stress levels even higher and sleep is nowhere in sight. There’s midterms, there’s papers, there’s presentations - aren’t you glad it’s almost reading week? After six months of school, students, professors and TAs are all likely to be stressed and demoralized. To top it off, morale runs characteristically low during those dark, cold winter months. Thus, unlike in first semester, when school has only been in session for two months, a February reading week proves quite essential to reducing the emotional and academic stress that is prominent. Then there is the added bonus of strategically being placed so that students can catch up on work, and hopefully reduce their workload by getting a head start on the midterm studying and paper writing that will be waiting to great them when they get back. Essentially, I’d say that reading week serves these purposes
ARGUING
THE MOTION
VP External MacDebate Club
Andrea: I think we have to really be honest about reading week and whether students actually work during this week. Yes, it might be a nice break for some, but for many professors, it’s a good excuse to make lots of assignments due and midterms scheduled the week right before and the week right after reading week. This simply means students’ stress levels are at the complete maximum, while they cram their five midterms and three assignments in during the week before and the week after, instead of possibly having them spread out over three weeks. I think professors’ requirement to accommodate for reading week simply causes tighter and more stressful schedules for students around
quite well, and it doesn’t have much hindrance on the rest of academic calendar, except for pushing ever so slightly into the summer. But really, that’s four months anyways! Today’s society is too fast paced - people find themselves burnt out in their jobs and now in school. Reading week is just a small way to get people to stop and smell the roses, take a breath and relax - a little something that we all benefit from.
Q.
Is reading week necessary?
that time. As well, since students know they have a week off from school in February, they tend to procrastinate more than usual in the couple weeks before because hey, they have a whole week off to catch up on all their courses and do all their assignments that are due right when they get back! The reality is that most students find they don’t end up doing as much work as planned over the reading week and when they get back, they have more work built up than they can reasonably handle. The “I’m just going to take a break because I deserve one and that’s what reading week is designed for” attitude disrupts students’ normal school schedules and changes their mentality towards school in the weeks prior, leading to an increased stress level upon return. I think overall, reading week just disrupts students’ normal school cycles and routines and doesn’t relieve stress the way it’s supposed to.
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