Ah, Duke University, such a caring environment:
Duke University is eliminating 8 a.m. classes and trying to come up with other ways help its sleep-deprived students, who too often are struggling to survive on a mix of caffeine, adrenaline and ambition.
The school is also considering new orientation programs this fall that would help freshmen understand the importance of sleep.
I have an idea - stop admitting students who don't know that sleep is essential for regular functioning. Oh, you say Duke's students are smart? Then why is Duke assuming that incoming freshmen just don't know that they're supposed to, you know, sleep every once in a while?
James Clack, Duke's director of counseling and psychological services, said the latest research shows that college-age people should be getting nine hours of sleep a night...
Duke wants students to consider adequate sleep a part of overall wellness. One idea is to do individual health assessments for each student and set goals for good nutrition, exercise and plenty of shuteye.
"Individual health assessments" for each student. Mm-hmm. Because, as we all know, college students are known for being willing and eager to follow a stodgy, goal-oriented plan presented to them by their elders. And if James Clack doesn't believe that college students will consider a daily plan that includes nine hours of sleep to be "stodgy" (or boring, or ridiculous, or impossible), he needs to take a few refresher psychology courses.
And speaking of ridiculous:
...Students have shunned 8 a.m. classes to the point that many departments stopped offering them. When campus planners looked over the schedule, they realized that, over the years, most classes had been squeezed into the hours between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m...
Duke was running out of classroom space, and students were beginning to complain about the availability of courses. So administrators worked out a new schedule for the fall, spreading classes more evenly throughout the day and week. The result: no more 8 a.m. classes, but plenty starting at 8:30 a.m. That will still be a shock to some students who have never had classes before 9.
What's wrong with this plan? Where to begin? Students are complaining about classes not being available, but they don't show up for classes if they're available too early. Sounds like Duke isn't so much concerned for student health than tired of all the whining.
Now, there are classes at 8:30, but if they're hour-long classes, the next available time slot is 10 am, not 9. The whole day is essentially shifted back one hour, so students who were going to bed at 1 am before will be going to bed at 2 am now. Methinks that forcing bars to close a half-hour earlier would do more to get students into snoozeland than scheduling classes a half-hour later.
Vice Provost Judith Ruderman makes the most sensible statements:
"We're going to have a lot of grumbling next fall when the reality sets in [and students are forced to go to classes at 8:30]," Ruderman said. "But you know what? They're resourceful and they'll manage."
Ruderman's advice to her sleepwalking students? Take an afternoon nap.
Sounds like Ruderman is VERY tired of all the whining, as I would be. Bear in mind here that I am very sympathetic to people who need lots of sleep; during graduate school I was poked, prodded, monitored, psychoanalyzed, and hospitalized due to insomnia and sleep deprivation. It's not a bad idea to encourage students to beware of bizarre sleeping schedules and offer treatment for those who have really screwed-up sleeping habits. But for students to refuse 8:00 am classes and then bitch about availability is ridiculous. What are they going to do when they have to be at work at 8 am in the real world?
Best comments on Fark:
Learn to drink coffee, it's what college is for.
I've only taken one class before 10 am and that was my first semester my freshman year. Any earlier would be brutal.
Whiners. My entire freshmen year in college I took M/W/F classes at 8:00, 9:15, 10:30 and 11:45. Four core classes in a row with no breaks. I also did not have the luxury of living on campus so I had to leave at least an hour before classes started so that I could fight the really fun Bay Area commuters. Get over it. When you get into the real world of work you have to adjust.
I'm a professor (Univ. of Wyoming) and teaching at 9AM is usually bad enough for me. I hate it. Professors don't necessarily control their own schedule. I'm a natural born astronomer who loves to stay up late. Only theorists seem to like 8AM classes in my field.
Went to a community college - took classes from 4 to 11 at night. Went to Purdue - took classes from 7:30AM to 4:30 - very few classes at Purdue past that - almost forces you to take 7:30AM classes at some point. Either way you mix coffee and alcohol in the right combination to get through the day and you sleep while rendering. If your project involves coding, not rendering, then you're screwed. Nothing has changed now that I'm in the real world. No difference.
Posted by kswygert at April 19, 2004 11:25 AM