Temple U. feels extra exam crunch

Final exams will be unusually stressful for the thousands of Temple University students who are struggling to cram in course material they missed during the 29-day faculty walkout this fall. The walkout, which began on the first day of classes, left over 23,000 students without at least one class and 6000 students with none at all. Now professors are trying to squeeze in the coursework missed at the beginning of the semester in preperation for finals this month. "They are cramming in the work," said Randi Barron, a journalism major. "We all have tons of papers and exams." Last month, Temple's administration extended the fall semester to January 15 to allow teachers who walked the picket lines more time to finish their courses. The spring semester, originally scheduled to begin on January 15, is now slated to begin on January 21. Most finals will be administered during class time this semester. Since there is no official final examination week, some students will have only one week of winter break and spend the rest of the time in class. "I hate missing vacation," said junior Tiffany Foust, who will have to go to her Human Resource Administration class over winter break. "I am feeling the crunch," said freshman Chris Cotton. Junior Victoria Thierry, a Finance and Risk Management Insurance major, said that she will have to wade through six exams in one week, and three in one day to avoid having to miss any of her winter recess. Temple faculty went on strike on September 4, the first day of classes, to protest a contract proposal. Classes resumed October 3 after Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Samuel Lehrer issued an injunction ordering the striking faculty members back to the classrooms. Throughout the semester, faculty who had participated in the walkout have tried to make up classes by holding more hours of class per week and meeting on the weekends.

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