An Unhealthy Rule

October is as far from examination periods as any time in the year. But it is not too far away for noting a fault in the University's examination procedure which unfairly--and sometimes severely--penalizes a few individuals each year.

At present a student can obtain a medical excuse from a final examination only if he is physically incapacitated while the test is being given. The student who has been too sick to study during the days immediately preceding the exam, but who has the misfortune to recover by the time the exam is given, must take the test.

Thus every year some students receive course grades considerably lower than those they could have gained if they had had the same opportunity to study as everyone else. In such case, a student made a C in a course in his field of concentration, and as a result lost a lucrative summer job and may not receive the departmental honors he would otherwise have earned.

What is most intolerable about this situation is the case with which it could be changed. The Administration should simply give the Senior Tutors and the Dean of Freshmen the discretionary authority to excuse a student from an examination for which he was unable to prepare adequately because of illness. A physician's signature would be required, and the Senior Tutor would simply countersign the excuse if convinced that the period of illness was crucial to preparation for the exam. Putting the burden of proof on the student would minimize abuse of the rule.

Opponents of such a reform might argue that a student should somehow stand ready to be examined in a course at any time, at least after the end of reading period. But even if people studied more regularly than they do now, they should still be able to count on the last few days before an exam for review. If they are too sick to study then, they have not had a fair chance to prepare and they should not be forced to take the examination.