UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, April 7,1994
5
I am against canceling Stop Day. But if that's the case, I would rather have Plan B. That's ending Friday classes and then starting finals the next Monday.
I don't think we should do away with Stop Day, but if we're going to, I think we should go with Plan B. That way, students won't skip their last day of classes to have last-minute cram sessions, and they can study and relax over the weekend.
There are about six of us sitting around here, so I hope that you take our opinions into consideration.
You can't eliminate Stop Day. Stop Day is a great day. It gives us a break between the end of classes and before finals begin. I think it's very beneficial to students.
We like Stop Day, but we think that if it should end, you should put Plan B into effect.
I would say go with Plan B because often you have projects due clear up to the last day of class, and you would need the weekend to begin studying for finals.
I think that it is ridiculous to end Stop Day. The University of Nebraska at Lincoln has Dead Week, where they go to classes every day of the week but they don't learn anything new; they just study for their finals. I think that would be much better than eliminating Stop Day.
And if people need to work more days, they can work during Stop Day. They don't necessarily need the day off, just let the students off so they can begin finals.
And I also agree with Plan B if we do have to eliminate Stop Day, which I think is ridiculous. But if we do, I'd like Plan B because then we have the weekend as a Stop Day.
I don't think that they should eliminate Stop Day, but if they do, and they had to choose Plan A or Plan B. I would choose Plan B. That would give us the weekend to prepare for finals.
Last Thursday, the Kansan asked what readers think of the proposal to eliminate of Stop Day.
I'd like to vote for Plan B. Classes would begin Jan. 13. Classes would end May 5 on a Friday. And finals would begin Monday, May 8, which would put graduation off until May 21.
Here are the responses we received.
Please register my vote for Plan B.
Thank you.
I think Stop Day is a very big necessity. It gives you time to recuperate from the grunt and the grind of the final bout of tests that have to do with classes, especially with Spring Semester and seniors. (Stop Day) gives you time to rebound and prepare yourself for finals (and) to kick back.
I think it would be a mistake to eliminate Stop Day. That gives a chance for students to relax and unwind or if they choose to, to study before the weekend. I would like Plan B instituted, though, if they do eliminate Stop Day.
I think when Stop Day falls on a Friday, we ought to eliminate it.
I think (eliminating) the Stop Day is a stupid idea. We need Stop Day to handle the load of all of our finals for an extra day.
I don't like either plan. I think both plans are bad because I would rather have us start on Thursday and have an extra day if possible because then I could at least skip
that day and study rather than having no class, or having a class and then having a final after the class because that's impossible to study for.
I'm a senior here at the University of Kansas and frankly, this bothers me — it bothers me a lot. Moving from two weeks of finals to one week is ridiculous. There's no way possible we can sizably study the material in that amount of time.
On the other hand, Plan B is not as bad as long as that weekend is there, but I really think that without Stop Day, this university is ridiculous. The bureaucracy is just the same, and they kick people around.
Eliminating Stop Day, especially Plan A, is ridiculous. There's no way that somebody who has a final on, say, May 5, and finishes up his classes and has too much stuff to do on May 4 — there's no way he can study and possibly do well.
Frankly, I think I'll transfer to Washburn.
I'm a graduate student, and I would like to cast my vote in favor of Plan B. The last day of class would be Friday, and the first day of exams would be the following Monday. This is far, far better than Plan A.
I'm a law student, and I think eliminating Stop Day is not a good idea. Stop Day is valuable to be able to study for finals.
It would be very difficult to finish the semester and then turn right around the next day and take an exam.
I especially think that's relevant with law school. We just have one exam at the end of the semester for each class. Therefore, all the marbles are on that one exam.
It's very difficult to perhaps have an exam in a class the day after you finish classes. Otherwise you'd have to start studying intensely for finals way ahead of the end of the semester, which is sometimes difficult with a busy schedule.
Liberalism a state of mind
My best friend called me a moderate the other day. I was hurt.
I've always been proud to be a liberal. Raised in a hallowed progressive tradition by a proud liberal family, I've stuck by my beliefs through thick and thin, facing oodles of scorn and ridicule in that ampit of a decade that was the '80s. I was one of only two kids in my ninth grade social studies class to vote for Mondale in our 1984 presidential straw poll. (Turns out I was right, but I like to think I'm above gloating.)
The word "liberal" has fallen out of favor in the past few years, for reasons I cannot fathom, with true liberals frequently refusing to up to the entirely noble appellation. It doesn't help matters that right-wing Republicans use the word to describe anyone to the left of Pat Buchanan. President Clinton is not now, nor has he ever been, nor will he ever be a liberal, regardless of what Newt Gingrich says.
So when my friend told me I was a
I smiled as I checked the little box beside "Democrat" when I registered to vote in Kansas, and in all truth, I'd rather pluck my eyeballs out with an olive fork than vote for a conservative. Former Texas state agriculture commissioner Jim Hightower once said that the only things in the middle of the road are a yellow streak and a dead armadillo, which pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter.
moderate, my natural reaction was to splutter indignantly and question her sanity.
Unlike most other curmudgeons who like to talk about political labels, I don't feel labels are bad or irrelevant. It's part of human nature to categorize things, and it makes it possible to explain a person's general outlook without delving into minutia. It's easier to say Bob Dole is a moderate conservative than it is to list his voting record on every issue from gun control to national health care. (I have another label for Senator Dole, but this is a family newspaper.)
But being a liberal or a conservative does not mean that one must conform to a certain ideology all the time. When I say I am a liberal, I'm describing my state of mind. I believe that government, in the name of the people who elect it, needs the power to curb business excesses and ensure fairness for all.
I can maintain this state of mind
while at the same time holding opinions that one might consider moderate or conservative. I believe strongly that the family is the most important unit of society and that our families give us all our most basic values — not Dan Quayle's limited idea of what a family is, but any structure that will give children love, support and, above all, a strong moral center. I believe that the deficit is the most important issue facing our country and that we have to consider, at least, a balanced budget amendment.
These things can all fit nicely into the ideology of liberalism without it becoming necessary to invent corny terms like "New Democrat." I am who I am, and I choose to call myself a liberal. I'd like to see more people embracing the term instead of shirking from it while, at the same time, not letting the term confine them to any particular views. "Liberal" should be a starting point for an ideology, not an ending point.
I'm morally opposed to the death penalty, but that does not mean I don't want to see*crime punished. I deplore the culture of victimization that so often seems to justify heinous crimes because the defendant claims to have been physically or mentally abused. And I was speaking out against political correctness before Rush Limb laughed heard of the term.
Paul Henry is a Tacoma, Wash., graduate student in Journalism.
All shows in Union parking lot 81 • 8 pm • Free. For more info, call 884-SHOW.
OPEN HOUSE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
The University Daily Kansan business staff cordially invites students to an Open House. Come see what working for one of the best college newspapers in the nation is all about. We are currently accepting applications for the Summer and Fall. This is your chance to see what the Kansan advertising staff can do for you. Dress is casual. Refreshments will be served.
Monday, April 11, 7:30 pm Room 119 Stauffer-Flint