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Banner postpones week-long
Thanksgiving Break
By Tom Cronin
Following years of low attendance rates in classes meeting on
the Monday, Tuesday, and especially the Wednesday before
Thanksgiving, Campus Senate approved an academic calendar last
year that includes a weeklong Thanksgiving break.
The senate originally planned for the calendar to be put into
effect this academic year, but they postponed the implementation
until next year after learning that this year’s existing
academic calendar had already been programmed into Banner, the
software for the university’s $186 million integrated technology
system.
Doug Woken, interim director and clinical instructor at the
Center for Teaching and Learning, said that it would have
required changing approximately 46,000 different screens in
Banner to replace the existing academic calendar with the new
one.
According to Pat Langley, chairwoman of Campus Senate and
professor of women’s studies and legal studies, the members of
the senate wanted the new calendar to be implemented this
academic year. However, the senate members did not think it
would be reasonable to require a university clerical worker to
put in countless hours reprogramming Banner after already having
spent an incredible amount of time programming the existing
calendar, she said.
Jason Stuebe, last year’s SGA president, said that he respects
the decision to postpone the implementation, adding that it
would have taken too much work in too little of time to program
the new calendar into Banner for this year.
“What I am just absolutely astounded and angered by is the
computer system itself,” Stuebe said. “It’s just another example
of – like I’ve said many times – this entire university being
held at gunpoint by a computer program.”
SGA
did not play a formal role in the process of approving the new
calendar, Stuebe said, but SGA members were not pleased when
they learned that the calendar’s implementation would be
postponed.
Woken, a member of the subcommittee that prepared the academic
calendar, said that the subcommittee proposed a weeklong
Thanksgiving break in part so students could have a “study week”
that would allow them to complete any papers due during the last
regular week of class and prepare for finals.
“Part of what [Campus Senate] thought, even though it’s towards
the end of the semester, is it gives people a breather to sort
of catch up right before the end,” Langley said. “It’s the
flurry of the end, the chaos, the madness. And so, that week off
for everybody gives everybody just a little bit of time to catch
their breath for the final stretch.”
A
weeklong break would also give students and faculty members time
to travel across long distances without having to miss any
classes, Langley said.
According to Stuebe, a lot of college students like to return to
their hometowns and work on the week of Thanksgiving and the
holiday weekend so they can earn some money to pay for Christmas
expenses. To do this, students often end up skipping classes
under the current calendar, he said.
Woken said that it was obvious to the subcommittee that showing
up to class on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was “becoming
kind of a joke.” Since UIS began holding classes on these
Wednesdays, faculty members have complained that the class
sessions have become “worthless” because of extremely low
attendance rates, according to Langley.
Past academic calendars at UIS have included Labor Day, the
Tuesday after Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and the Wednesday before
Thanksgiving as the days off for the fall semester, according to
Woken.
Stuebe said he thinks a weeklong Thanksgiving break is more
student-friendly and more logical than the two shorter breaks
for Labor Day and Thanksgiving that have been offered in the
past.
“[The weeklong break] gives everybody a nice breather and a
chance to catch up right before finals,” he said. “It really is
just a perfect situation.”
The
academic calendars for the 2006-‘07 and 2007-‘08 academic years
have already been approved. Both include a weeklong Thanksgiving
break and follow all of the other patterns of next year’s
academic calendar.
UIS Celebrates Many Holidays This
Season
By Janeé Mitchell
Many people spend all year
planning for Christmas. Some purchase gifts in advance, while
others prefer last minute shopping at the late night sales. The
gifts are hidden in clever spots until Christmas morning, when
they are anxiously opened. Trees are nicely trimmed and large
dinners are served on this day.
 UIS
is a university rich in cultural diversity and with such
diversity comes many traditions. Here are a few celebrations UIS
students will be a part of this holiday season:
Ramadan
is a month of fasting, which
occurs during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. According
to sources, Ramadan begins in a different month each year
because it is calculated by a lunar calendar. This year, Ramadan
was held on Oct. 15, making its debut before Christmas and
Hanukkah. Ramadan is a holiday dedicated to fasting and worship.
Fasting is done in the daytime followed by light meals at night.
Hanukkah
will be held on Dec. 7 this year
and is calculated according to the Jewish calendar. This holiday
is also know as the “Festival of Lights.” Sources say the
holiday is celebrated to recognize the military and religious
accomplishments and journeys of the Jewish heroes. Some of the
meals prepared during the celebration include latkes (potato
pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly-filled doughnuts). During this
holiday, candles are placed in a menorah and a candle is lit for
each of the eight days that the holiday lasts.
Kwanzaa
will be celebrated from Dec. 26
to Jan. 1. According to sources, this holiday was created by Dr.
Maulana Ron Karenga to celebrate African culture. Kwanzaa is
based on seven principles, or Nguzo Saba, that are a part of
African culture. Sources say Kwanzaa is celebrated by Africans
and African-Americans and does not replace Christmas. It is
during this holiday that Africans embrace their culture and
remember the seven principles that have sustained them. |
