While some doctors might find this distressing, professors and students say the load is integral to the learning process.

"If it's good reading, it's worth doing," says Currier resident Benjamin F. Stapleton '00.

And professors say it is important to have a cross section of reading that illustrates the themes of the course. "If possible I will assign the best possible writing," says Warren Professor of History Ernest R. May who teaches History 1650a: Foreign Relations of the United States I. "It ought to be fun to study history."

While professors say they do not let the amount of material deter them from choosing the best authors, they do try to take the amount of pages assigned each week into account.

"I try to make it roughly equal from week to week," says Professor of History James Hankins, who teaches History 10a: Western Societies, Politics and cultures From Antiquity to 1650, and assigns about 160 pages of reading per week.

If all four classes have that much--or more--it could be too much. In that case, students say that the relevance of the reading determines whether or not to read it.

"The amount of reading would be appropriate if all reading we had to do was more well-connected to the course," says literature concentrator Sarah E. Kerman '02. "In my experience, 75 percent of reading is useful and relevant."

Professors say things have improved since they were in school.