Students break for holiday

Even though IU administration policy requires professors to have classes the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving break, that doesn't mean students are attending. While reasons vary from student to student, many skip class to go home early.\nSophomore Brandon Harper said he is going to be skipping one of his classes in order to go home early. Like Harper, many out-of-state students are departing early for home because of the long car or plane ride required. In addition, some said they have no choice but to leave early.\n"I'm skipping French on Tuesday because it's my last class, and my ride is going home," freshman Ben Sukys said. \nCampus might seem empty today and Tuesday, but there are students who are not skipping any class before break. \n"I'm not skipping any classes because my ballet major wouldn't allow me to go home early," sophomore Katie Wood said. "You get in trouble if you skip class." \nTo curb the lack of attendance, many professors have created incentives, such as extra credit, to convince students to stay. Other professors chose to take a harsher line, scheduling exams or quizzes so students are forced to go to class. \nHutton Honors College professor Jack Rollins said he schedules mandatory student conferences to ensure attendance.\n"I believe that makes the best use of my class time," he said. "Indeed, it gives me 100 percent attendance." \nOther students said they will be attending classes because they are working toward getting a solid grade in the class. \n"I'm not skipping any classes because I get participation grades in two of them," said junior Ray Vanlanot. "I'm a good student." \nA recurring issue brought up when talking about the lack of attendance is IU's absence of a fall break that other colleges, such as Purdue or Ohio State, have. Without having much time off during the fall semester, more students seemed inclined to use Thanksgiving as their fall break and take some extra time off. \n"I think students would be less likely to skip class (before Thanksgiving) if we had a fall break because they wouldn't want to go home so badly," sophomore Haley Thompson said .\nSome students and even faculty members suggested that if IU is unwilling to have a fall break, another solution may be to just give the entire week off for Thanksgiving break. \n"I think we should just not have class that week," said English clinical associate professor Kathy Smith. "It's hard to blame a student for going home early if he or she has one class." \nBut there doesn't seem to be a fall break in IU's future. \n"Changing the schedule on this campus is harder than getting an A parking pass," Smith said.