CALENDAR REFORM

To the Editors of the Crimson:

I am writing to express my feelings about the present academic calendar here at Harvard. I was upset by Dean Pipkin's statement that the schedule may not be changed to pre-Christmas exams, etc. because "only" 60% of the students polled reacted negatively to the present calendar.

A vast majority of my friends and associates at Harvard are in favor of a calendar change to pre-Christmas exams but none of these people received a questionaire. Had everyone been given a survey, I'm sure that the figure would have been much higher than 60%. And, even if this percentage is correct, it clearly represents a majority and warrants a change in the academic calendar.

Nearly every school in the New England area has a calendar of pre-Christmas exams and an early May closing exam date. Is Harvard that far behind the rest of the other colleges that we cannot also have a similar schedule? Under the present calendar, Harvard students are at a severe disadvantage in securing summer jobs. Also, I know from personal experience that the Christmas break does nothing to help students prepare for exams. In fact, having the exams after Christmas accomplishes little other than ruin the vacation over worrying about the exams.

I, therefore, urge Harvard administrators to change the present schedule to a pre-Christmas exam calendar because this is what the stucdents want. Robert B. MacIntosh '79