Somehow, I doubt that institutionalized cramming-time was what the administration had in mind. Clearly, however, students often treat it as such. And when undergraduates choose not to spend their reading periods cramming, they use it to visit friends at other schools. To clarify matters here are the words of Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Jeffrey Wolcowitz, (taken from an e-mail message), associate dean of undergraduate education: "Reading period is meant to be an integral part of the term, [it is not] not meant as a time to catch up after ignoring work during the term. Perhaps we should give it a different name."

So, in case you've forgotten, reading period is a time for work. If you feel it's the most relaxed time at college, congratulations and keep it quiet; they might revoke it.

However, if you're a student whose classes meet through reading period, who has four finals and four final papers, two of which are due right after winter break, and dreams of a week-long Thanksgiving break and a fall semester that ends in December, you might want to switch concentrations (or schools) and take note of Dean Lewis' words, from a recent e-mail message: "I wonder why we would want to compete to be number one in number of vacation days. Having no classes at all would guarantee victory in that competition. At the prices we charge, I would have thought that teaching less would be regarded as a bad thing."

And in case you weren't aware, our rival's 10-day Thanksgiving break is marred by the fact that its finals come almost immediately afterwards. Many went back to school early in order to work. We, on the other hand, were able to spend America's best secular holiday largely work-free. We can always give thanks for that.

Christina S. Lewis '02 is a history and literature concentrator in Leverett House. Her column appears on alternate Mondays.