When the university implemented the idea of the Task Force, students cringed at the suggestions looming on the horizon.
How is it humanly possible to complete dozens of hours of homework each night when you already have long-term projects, tests, extra curricular activities and a social life competing for your time?
Think of it this way: in an extreme situation, a student spends eight hours a day in class. That equals 16 hours of homework. Do the math and that equals a full day.
So far, most students have managed to find a balance. However, it hasn’t come without several bumps, bruises and complaints along the way.
Part of going to college is about going out. It’s pretty difficult to expand your circle of friends when you’re chained to a table in Fondren on a nightly basis.
It’s next to impossible to grow a third arm to accommodate the juggling act between homework, sports, extra curriculars, joining a fraternity or sorority, finding a job and hanging out with your friends. Yet the school seems to think nothing of adding more homework to our already jam-packed schedules, throwing a few campus events on our calendars and then expecting us to hang out on campus on now a nightly basis.
It’s great the university has extended the hours of the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports and Hughes Trigg, but why do some on-campus libraries still shut down at midnight? We can consume all the coffee and Red Bull we desire and wear ourselves out on the treadmill, but forget going to the library for a late night cram session.
Another issue with the task force is sending grades home to parents. College is a time for freedom and growth. Yes, mom and dad are paying for the tuition, but whether they want to admit it or not, their son or daughter is going to miss a class or two or forget to study that additional two hours.
On a different note, the university shot down the idea of installing a pub on campus grounds. While it’s unclear why students were so against this suggestion, it is obvious that many felt drinking with their professors while discussing their last exam would top their list of awkward moments.
Why would frequent visitors of Barley House and Home Bar and Greenville and McKinney sacrifice a night out with their friends to suffer through a beer or two with a professor?
If SMU wants to boast late night hours at Java City, touting different drink specials for coffee flavors and snacks wouldn’t be a bad idea. Students flock to the cheapest offers, and with the availability of on campus cash, this could be just what it takes to see the student center reach capacity after hours. Starbucks’ lines back up in the hours leading up to evening study hours so why not make it more convenient for those who live on campus and offer them a great deal?
At the bottom of all this, what the university does not realize is that the added stress students are being weighed down with is the leading cause to their late night free-for-alls, unruly behavior both on and off campus and their reason for rebellion in skipping out of their Friday 8 a.m. classes. Nothing makes for crazier nights out with your friends than letting yourself unwind after a week full of classes and reading assignments.
Giving students more work than they can handle is not the solution to curbing the drinking problem running rampant across the Hilltop. And as for emphasizing the attendance policy, first years through graduating seniors are quick to figure out what days attendance is taken, when quizzes will be given and just who to call when last night’s trip down “black out alley” is still ringing in one’s ears the next morning.
As we get deeper into the semester students are finding more ways to jump around these recommendations. It starts with not signing up for early classes, and learning which teachers have relaxed attendance policies. The university cannot force us to change based on these recommendations. They can offer suggestions each step of the way to us helps get out of here with a diploma, but unless we want to end our nights out with friends, no amount of homework and on campus activities are going to quiet our desires.
