Revamping "Reading Period"

REMEMBER those two weeks between winter break and exams? Harvard calls it reading period. But those of you who were writing history papers or attending economics lectures probably can't recall doing much reading.

Just surviving reading period is hard enough, so at the time you may have been too busy to question this long-time Harvard tradition. But now, with reading period safely behind us, it's time to look back and reflect on those two weeks of stress and agony that Harvard inflicts upon its students twice every year.

Originally, believe it or not, reading period was (gasp!) a period for reading--for catching up on texts not read during the term or for reading new books which would provide fresh insights on materials presented within the scope of a given course. It was a time to reexamine some of the ideas discussed early in the semester and to prepare for exams.

Today, if truth-in-packaging laws applied to a college education, you'd find Ralph Nader breathing down President Bok's neck. Reading is only a small part of the work students do during these two weeks.

Some professors choose to ignore the reading period entirely and schedule regular class meetings throughout this period. Some professors assign new papers, while others expect students to continue working on their regular labs and problem sets during these two weeks. The average student spends most of his time completing these tasks, instead of getting ready for upcoming exams.

BECAUSE reading period has been perverted in this way, it has become a period of academic anarchy. While a small minority of students are left with two long weeks and nothing to do but study, most students are burdened with enormous piles of new work and face large demands on their time. It's no surprise that students grow extremely tense and irritable at this time.

As reading period drags on, the tension gets thicker. If you have only one exam, you get stressed out rereading the material for the fourth time. If you have four exams and three papers, you worry about being able to read everything once.

Either way, you should be outraged that Harvard is using a full month out of its academic calendar in such an inefficient way. With the cost of attending Harvard now close to $19,000 a year, students are paying nearly $2,000 to be here during the semi-annual reading periods. That's quite a price to pay for a time during which nobody knows exactly what they're supposed to be doing or why they are doing it.

TO remedy this situation, Harvard ought to make some changes. Reading period should be shortened, and it should be made clear that no papers are to be assigned and no classes are to meet during this time. Students would benefit much more from one week devoted purely to reading and studying than they do from two weeks filled with papers and classes.

Harvard could use the extra week for more classes during the semester. Professors who now use reading period for lectures and last minute papers would then have no excuse for not being able to finish their courses in the alloted time.

With the price of tuition as high as it is, we should make sure we get the most for our educational dollar. A shorter and more clearly defined reading period would certainly help make a Harvard education more worth its hefty price.