8/3/2019 Sputnik Issue 5 - Page 4

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The Sputnik // Thursday October 134

Kristen Curtis // studentlife@thesputnik.ca

STUDENT LIFE

(Waterloo) - Next year, students may seethe addition of a new fall study break, how-ever, this may bring considerable changesto the structure of O-Week. A proposal of

a two-day fall reading break, which wouldbe placed at the third weekend of October,would potentially affect the placement and

possibly the length of WLUs traditionalweeklong O-Week.

It came up at senate last fall, when I

was presenting the academic dates, saidRay Darling, registrar and commissioner ofoaths at WLU. That day, people had ques-

tions. They were questioning the length ofthe orientation period, as well as the pos-sibility of a fall study break.

After the senate meeting, a committee

was formed that included David McMur-ray, vice president of student affairs, and

former Wilfrid Laurier Students Unionpresident and CEO Kyle Walker.

We drafted a proposal that would have

people start class on the Thursday insteadof the following Monday after LabourDay, said Darling. What wed have to do

is start classes a little bit earlier.The proposal was then discussed again

last week by the committee and was also

sent out over the summer to all the divi-sion councils. Darling aims to present the

nished proposal to the WLU senate inNovember, should it pass at the senate aca-demic meeting next Monday.

The reason why were doing this is to

benet the students, he said. The big con-cern is the impact on orientation week.

Orientation week could shorten by up

to two days with classes taking place onthe Thursday and Friday in order for twodays to free up later in the term. The other

option was to use the two study days in be-tween classes and nals.

Youre going to run into issues when

you push it back, said Emily Butcher, ahead icebreaker during this years O-Week.Dons would also need to be trained earli-

er, and prepared earlier, and would have to

be on duty longer, because theyd have thatextra weekend to have to watch students.

Although this is one issue that mayarise, Butcher claimed there would be moreto the logistical issues than residence life

and programming challenges.Nobody really likes the idea of having

to change O-Week, and this year we made

a lot of changes. There were a lot of issuesbut there were also a lot of positives that

happened with it, she reected. Chang-

ing so much at once, there have been a lotof questions as to what is the value of O-

Week, and cutting it down to four days isa possibility.Butcher was concerned that, even

though with WLUSU out to represent stu-

dents interests in this proposal, O-Weekwould be cut down regardless.

In defense of a weeklong O-Week,

Butcher stated that she, along with othericebreakers and volunteers, would be en-raged should orientation week be cut.

The programming is really important.Laurier is supposed to be the number oneorientation program in the country. Its

like that for a reason. Thats why we havea week. Its called O-Week, she explained.Its not just about pushing O-Week back

two days when you really think about it.

Nick Gibson, WLUSU president andCEO, was also concerned about the pro-

posal.As long as were not overly compro-

mising our ability to deliver great program-

ming for Orientation Week, Ill be okay withit, he said. I know there are many merits,its pretty well known that there is over-

whelming support from students to havethat break. How it is actually done, thats

where some conict tends to come up.

Gibson sees the opportunity to createsynergy between orientation week and

academics.Id envision there would be program-ming going on the Thursday and Fridaynights, with classes going on during the

day, he explained. Essentially, the ideathere, my fear is that people will see this ascutting up O-Week, but I see it as sort of an

integrated thing.It is Gibsons expectation that allowing

students a break in the fall semester would

benet everyone with their academics. Ifyoure in a spot where there seems like noend, theres no room to breathe, by any

stretch of the imagination that is a hugemental health strain.

He claimed that at the end of the day it

is important that students get a break, even

just to relax for a few days whether or notthey have work to catch up on.

Whatever they decide to do thats theirprerogative. Giving them that opportunity,ultimately if we want to be a university that

supports academic success, we need to beopen to what most of the universities do,and thats giving some sort of a break.

Shortened O-Week likelyMarcie FosterThe Cord

Have your say! Like The Sputnik on Facebook

(Art by Bridget Parker)

We asked you to give us feedback on what you think of a two-day reading week which would cut short part of Orientation Week on Facebook. This was

what some students had to say

Whats the point in a two-dayreading week? I personally like itthe way it is, just because it givesme time to prep things for class,and really in my mind two-daysare not going to make a differ-ence in the fall like a full weekwould.

-Amy Curtin

O-week dragged on for sooolong and the idea of two days tocatch up would denitely makea difference because its like anextra weekend that you get toprepare for midterms and getorganized.

-Jaay Blake

O-Week was a great time to meet people andmake connections (although the events them-selves were not necessarily very well planed inmy year). After rst year O-Week is a great op-portunity to make some extra money with thesummer job, catch up with friends you haventseen all summer and settle into school mode.I never felt the need for a Fall reading weekthrough all 5 years of my undergrad.

-Kyle Degabriele