A Good Idea

Today's Sun editorial suggests that the administration should consider moving Spring Break a week earlier:

One change that could decompress the current campus climate is to make a change to the academic calendar. The eight-week period between the end of Winter Break and the beginning of Spring Break is the longest stretch of uninterrupted classes at any Ivy except Columbia — the others get vacations on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day or President’s Day, or they start Spring Break earlier.

There is also precedent for such a change. In the fall of 1977, after a string of three suicides, students gathered on West Campus and collectively yelled the catchphrase, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” In response, the University declared a mental state of emergency and began emphasizing suicide prevention — a process that included a mid-October respite from classes, or as it is known today, Fall Break. The intensity of the grueling eight-week stretch at the beginning of spring semester can be remedied by a similar change to our current academic calendar.

Such a change would only be part of the ultimate solution, but it might ease the stress levels of students who look to spring break as an oasis in the middle of a busy spring semester.

The Sun's editorial from Wednesday about discrepancies in granting honors also deserves the attention of someone in the administration.