Although UD has done away with Saturday exams, finals time still isn't quite on the right track. UD has also done away with study days, helping UD students on their way to losing their minds.

UD's assistant vice-president and registrar Thomas Westendorf said there were only two options when facing this dilemma: either have a Friday study day or go without fall break. Surely the registrar had other options when considering the entire year's academic schedule.

Take, for example, when UD started first term classes this year as opposed to when they did in previous years. Classes for the 2009-2010 academic school year started on Wednesday, Aug. 26, according to the registrar's Web site. Last year, though, classes began on Wednesday, Aug. 20. Why couldn't classes start one week earlier this year as in past years? Or did the registrar consider starting classes on Monday, Aug. 24 this year? Those two extra days would have allowed for one study day at the end of each semester.

It seems as though the provost's office is playing trial-and-error with UD's schedule. Last year we had Saturday exams, this year we don't have any study days and next year school is in session a week longer into May. What will the 2011-2012 calendar look like at this point?

If the university is going to refuse to give us study days, professors need to realize their students are without this extra time off. After Thanksgiving, classes are in session for two more weeks; during this time, students are overwhelmed with group projects, term papers and final projects in all of their classes. How can we be expected to give our best on all of this?

We are paying to go here and get an education. What is the point of attending all of these classes if the capstone test is one for which we have no time to study?

Futhermore, in most classes the final tends to make up a large percentage of our final grade. Shouldn't we be given adequate time in which to study for them?

It's true that some students don't use study days for "studying." But after two weeks of pure hell, a break is necessary. Whether students are able to take a more relaxed approach to studying or take a night off to go out or catch a movie, more than two days is necessary to study for a semester's worth of work.