Editorial: Finals Fortnight

For undergraduate students, it’s not technically Finals Week, but it feels like it. Some… For undergraduate students, it’s not technically Finals Week, but it feels like it. Some classes have already ended, even though final exams supposedly don’t start until next week.

The term “Finals Week” is a misnomer, because final exams are a de facto two-week endeavor for many students. Some professors simply call their finals a “test” and administer it early. Pitt should officially recognize this and institute “Finals Fortnight.”

This would allot two weeks to final examinations, thereby giving students an extra week without classes to study and take finals. Before you go saying, “Hey, Pitt News, your idea is fanciful malarkey,” consider that this concept has precedent. Pitt’s School of Law already administers finals Dec. 7-18 — a whole two-week period.

This bears the consequence of classes starting on Aug. 24, instead of Aug. 30, but the benefits outweigh such detriments.

During this last week of classes, stress levels skyrocket. Students stay up all night studying, consuming coffee by the trough and then, as a consequence, accidentally sleep through the next day’s review lecture. Cramming like this gave rise to the FINALS acronym: “F*ck, I Never Actually Learned this Sh*t.”

Admittedly, some of the stress that comes with finals is because of poor planning on the students’ parts. If Pitt were to institute Finals Fortnight, what’s to stop lethargic students from merely procrastinating another week?

Nothing really. But the University can’t plan around those who aren’t trying. Pitt should plan around the elbow-greasing students who study and work but don’t have enough time for their toils.

Sleep deprivation lowers the ability to concentrate, thus skewing test results, and it weakens the immune system. Illnesses like respiratory infection and mononucleosis spike toward the end of each semester, according to KentNewsNet of Kent State University. There’s also that porcine flu bug lurking in unwashed study areas.

The lengthy stress can initiate depression, stomach ulcers and acne outbreaks, as well as encourage substance abuse.

Smokers become one-man smog factories, inviting Al Gore to intervene on their carbon output. Worse yet, The Orion reported that many California State University students rely on Adderall, a prescription amphetamine, to get through finals.

The hectic schedule of finals doesn’t excuse these behaviors — they’re just a reality. If Pitt can intervene and alleviate that, even with a modest change, it could help a lot of students who are freaking out.

There is a certain camaraderie and sense of accomplishment that comes with collectively surviving this trauma. Even some braggadocio enters when students compare their schedules and shop in the one-upmanship aisle: “Oh you have three exams tomorrow? How pedestrian. I have seven, plus a 40-page paper and a presentation in Sanskrit!”

While this seems like Hell Week, it’s far from the ninth circle. Yet Finals Fortnight could remove this entire process from the infernal spectrum.

The University of Alabama announced yesterday it will cancel Jan. 6-8 classes so students can watch their football team in the BCS National Championship. Surely Pitt could cancel some extra classes to let students concentrate on studying.