"Harvard [students] sat quietly in [their] dorms and studied," says Young. "There was never so much as a whimper, but we could hear them running in the Quad."

Similarly, in Harvard's early days students would do almost anything to avoid finals. As early as 1791, students were engaging in pranks such as secretly mixing emetic into the communal breakfast pot in order to stave off exams.

"We would relieve tension through pranks," says A. Thomas Conlin '42, who will return for his 55th reunion this year. Conlin, who currently resides in Whittier, CA. recalls painting a sundial like a barber shop post and corralling bikes in spring 1940 atop Kirkland House.

"Back then everyone rode a bike," Conlin recalls. "Then one morning they woke up to find them all hidden on top of the House."

Recent Frustrations

Students and Faculty expressed frustration at the use of reading period last month. Saying the week has become a time to complete multiple term papers simultaneously while still attending sections, they have asked for a re-evaluation of reading period.

In a letter to Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals Peter J. Gomes decried the growing practice of section meetings and assignments extending into reading period.

"Nibbling at the edges of the periods and transforming them into extra instructional days seems to me a violation of a useful and long accepted custom in our faculty," Gomes writes.

He notes that, "Arguing for our old fashioned calendar, out of harmony with nearly every other peer institution in the country, we have used the benefits of the reading period as arguments for the status quo."

And other Faculty seem to agree with Gomes, favoring reform or reconsideration of reading period as an academic structure over a continuation of the status quo.

"I wouldn't object to [its] being eliminated," says Steven K. Vogel, assistant professor of government. Vogel says he would restructure his course work in order to accommodate a new academic schedule, offering two 10-page papers rather than a term paper.

"There are definitely things to be gained from eliminating [reading period] such as exams before Christmas," Vogel says, noting that at present he and fellow professors often structure course assignments to prevent students from putting off work until reading period.

"Part of the problem at Harvard is that students tend to think they can get everything together in one week," Vogel says.

"The Faculty most definitely need to take reading period under consideration," he says.

Defending Reading Period