For the first time in years, Binghamton classes will be recessing at 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday Nov. 23 for Thanksgiving break, as opposed to the usual 1:00 p.m. recess time of past years.
BU may call this a generous four-and-a-half-day vacation, but when the remaining half of Wednesday is spent traveling home, and Sunday is reserved for the journey back to school, many students feel the holiday has become a skimpy three-day break.
“I think it’s really unfair,” said sophomore Dani Finkel, an accounting major. “All of my friends from other colleges will already be home, and I’ll still be traveling into the night, not to mention Thanksgiving is the very next day.”
Junior environmental economics major Josh Rasin agreed.
“I think it’s really ridiculous,” he said. “Now I’m going to get home late at night, and it’s dangerous to drive home in the dark.”
Many students travel by Escape, a student bus charter service provided by the University. These buses leave at various times to accommodate the needs of students, with the last bus scheduled to leave campus at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Escape buses will also leave Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., both departures before the time that classes recess.
“Students have the right to be upset because although I don’t live on Long Island and I don’t have to take a four hour bus ride home, I can just imagine how annoying it is to have to wait until the late afternoon to do so simply because of later class times,” said sophomore Lindsay Karchawer, a theater major. “BU gave students no reason for the change in recess times and we should not be penalized for not going to classes on Wednesday after 1 p.m.”
Although most students are not aware, the BU administration does in fact have a reason behind this time change.
“The state education guidelines require a certain distribution of days over the course of the semester and year,” said Wayne Jones, executive assistant to President Lois B. DeFleur. “Because of the way the holiday pattern fell out this semester, we needed an extra half a day to meet the requirement, and by moving the recess time from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., we were able to meet that half day.”
Despite the heated reaction and dismay of many of their peers, some students are apathetic about the matter.
“I really don’t care,” said junior Eugene Wang, an English major. “It’s really not that big of a deal, it’s only two extra hours out of my life.”
The 3:20 p.m. Wednesday recess time will remain this semester, however in fall 2007 and fall 2008, classes will resume recessing for Thanksgiving break at 1 p.m.