Solar storm of disapproval

Last week, two major magnetic solar storms hit earth. The first blast was among the strongest in the last 11 years, followed up by another massive storm Thursday. According to one astronomer, the likelihood of two huge flares directed toward Earth coming so close together was "unprecedented" (Reuters, Oct. 30). \n"It's like the Earth is looking right down the barrel of a giant gun pointed at us by the sun ... and it's taken two big shots at us," said John Kohl of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts. \nWhat could we possibly have done to incur the wrath of the heavens? Obviously, the sun must be displeased that most IU students are not getting a fall break.\nMaybe the academic calendar doesn't include a fall break because administrators fear that, if given a few days off, students would only indulge in bacchanalian excesses. Um, I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but if students want to miss some classes and behave irresponsibly, they're already doing so, regardless of the University's official position. Building a fall break into the calendar would be a way to reward the more serious students and to give them a rest from IU's famously rigorous workload. I'm confident that IU's learning-crazed students would seize the opportunity of a few days' respite to enhance their academic developments, perhaps by learning more about solar storms or looking up the word "bacchanalian" in the dictionary. \nIt's not much to ask, after all. A mere two or three days would be enough. Multiple students (read: about three) have told me that they would be willing to start school earlier in the fall in exchange for getting a few days off in the middle of the semester. Even if it weren't feasible to alter the first day of class, we could just make do with two or three fewer days of class in the semester. \nWe would survive. Honest. \nThis course of action might actually have advantages for IU, too. If students paid the same amount of tuition, but faculty and facilities were used for fewer days, wouldn't the University be able to make its money with less effort? A diminished return for the same investment -- when you express it in these terms it's surprising the administration hasn't acted sooner.\nJust to make sure adding a fall break won't have negative educational consequences, let's examine the relationship between academic holidays and academic respect. When I was in public elementary and secondary schools, I noticed that my counterparts in well-regarded private schools seemed to have more plentiful vacations. IU's own Law and Medical Schools have fall breaks. A friend of mine at Yale once confessed that she and her peers "never go to school." I checked Yale's academic calendar and found that, indeed, Yale students have about 10 fewer days of official fall semester classes than IU students, and the same holds for students at Harvard and Princeton. \nThe pattern is clear and undeniable: the more days off, the more prestige. When IU adds a fall break to its academic calendar and promptly rockets skyward in the rankings -- and don't worry, I'm not talking about the party school rankings -- you'll have me to thank. \nAdding a fall break, then, would certainly be good for the students and good for the University. And let's hope it would also succeed in appeasing that ticked-off sun god of ours.