To this, our professors might respond, "we don't expect students to do all of the reading. Our goal is to provide students with a wide array of sources relevant to the subject matter we are teaching. It is the task of students to identify what they are passionate about. It is their task to differentiate between the relevant and irrelevant material and to separate it from the insignificant and irrelevant. We want our students to be well-rounded and to prepare them for the real world, a world that is characterized by overwhelming amounts of information."

This, I admit, is a valid argument and there is no doubt that our professors have good intentions. Obviously, there is no conspiracy to make students suffer.

The problem, however, resides in the inconsistency between intention and action. If we are encouraged to identify our passions, if we are expected to isolate the important and the relevant and to focus our energy primarily in that direction, then why are we so often tested on the irrelevant and unimportant? Why is it that in order to do well on a test we must familiarize ourselves with minor facts and extraneous knowledge? How can the memorization of titles and dates of 200 paintings in an art class be considered important? How does an entire section of ID's on a history test allow students the liberty of focusing on their passions? Is this what constitutes a well-rounded education?

Some might say that in my support for less reading, I am endorsing the easy, short route. This is not my intention. I am merely suggesting the application of Occam's Razor to our reading list--assign as much as necessary and as little as possible. It is time our teachers start favoring quality over quantity.

Only after our teachers begin to expect reasonable amounts of work from us will passion replace indifference, mindful reflection replace mindless memorization and creative expression replace mechanical regurgitation. Then, perhaps, the beginning of the semester will no longer be a time for fear and trepidation but for eager anticipation.

Zeev Ben Shachar '01 is a psychology concentrator in Kirkland House.