Let’s face it. Studying for finals is probably the most stressful part of any student’s semester. It is especially hard to study when you have to attend other classes or go to work. Laurie Domangue, senator of the student government association, came up with the idea to resurrect “dead days.”
In the past, Nicholls had dead days where no classes would take place two to three days before the beginning of finals. Since regularly scheduled classes interfere with study time, this gave students ample time to study.
“I have tried to speak to several administrators but got no response from them; however, I did speak to a faculty member who said that the academic calendar must end at a certain date in order for students to appeal grades,” Domangue said.
“After that there are only so many days left, and with the Saints Training Camp some of those days are lost. Other universities have these days and it would be helpful for Nicholls’ students to have extra days to study for finals,” she said.
“We wrote a letter to Dr. Ayo explaining the proposal,” Alcie Maxwell, SGA president, said. “After that it will go to the University Council to incorporate those days into the University’s academic calendar.”
The SGA is trying to have dead days in effect for the fall semester of 2003. However, it would probably take a couple of years to implement because next year’s academic calendar has already been planned.
“Fitting those days into the calendar is the only thing that could prevent us from having dead days,” Maxwell said.
“Other than that, it is a great idea because students will have more time to study and grade point averages will improve,” he said.
SGA Senator Jana Stewart also agreed that Nicholls should have dead days.
“I do not know anyone who could not use more time to study. This would be something to boost school spirit and moral,” Stewart said.
So what do students think of the idea to reinstate dead day?
“That would be nice,” Winchell Derbiney, mass communication sophomore from Jeanerette, said. “Maybe you do not process the information the day before the exam; those extra days would help, especially in math. However, I would not be surprised if the University turned it down.”
Terilyn Williams, freshman from Jeanerette, expressed her views on the situation.
“If the University did not approve dead days I would feel like they did not care about our academic success,” Williams said.
It seems that students are excited about possibly having dead days, but there are students who feel it is an accident waiting to happen.
“No, I do not think it is that much stress for a person to study during finals,” Fattema Barber, freshman from New Orleans, said.
“Students should be able to manage classes and study time, unless they are carrying over 15 hours.”