Hey Day date under fire

The styrofoam hats and wooden canes are back - but not on the usual Friday afternoon.

Next Tuesday, the class of 2009 will officially make its passage into seniordom as part of the 93-year-old tradition of Hey Day.

Hey Day is traditionally held on the last day of classes, a Friday. But due to changes in the academic calendar this year, the last day will fall on a Tuesday afternoon.

And juniors are not happy.

"If Hey Day were on a Friday afternoon like it usually is, I wouldn't miss it at all," said Wharton junior Carol Baniqued, who has class Tuesday afternoon during the events and will probably miss the festivities.

Hey Day being on a Tuesday especially interferes with whatever plans Engineering juniors had in mind to commemorate the occasion.

Nearly all Bioengineering juniors take BE 490 and are required to present their work as part of their final projects beginning on the first reading day as early as 8:30 a.m.

"It sucks that you don't have the weekend right after Hey Day to celebrate," said Engineering junior Joan Jose Martinez. "Instead, we have to go straight into reading days."

College junior and class president Brett Perlmutter still has high hopes for the day of festivities, however.

"We understand that there's bound to be conflict," he said. "But it was out of the hands of the Class Board."

Aside from the fact that Hey Day is traditionally on the last day of classes, all other dates had time conflicts.

Penn Relays are taking place the Friday before Hey Day and no official non-academic event could be held during reading days, Perlmutter said.

College junior Kristin Brinkley said she is lucky enough to have had her class cancelled on Hey Day, but "a lot of my friends are missing what's supposed to be the height of our junior year."

"And I think that's just poor planning on the part of whoever's in charge of things like this," she added.

Seniors have expressed empathy about the change in schedule.

"I think that it's unfortunate for this junior class because Hey Day was one of my favorite experiences as a Penn student," said College senior Kevin Rurak.

While juniors are celebrating the beginning of their last year, seniors will also be celebrating the end of the year with Hey Deja Vu, the new annual barbeque intended to promote a responsible Hey Day.

"It's going to be a great event that gives seniors a fun, but safe, way to participate in Hey Day as well," said senior class president Puneet Singh.

Despite the negative feedback from his peers, "I have no doubt that it's going to be great day for the class," said Perlmutter.

So for now, juniors are doing their best to balance their time.

"I'm trying to figure out how to celebrate Hey Day but finish the semester strongly at the same time," said Nursing junior Nina Panaligan, who has a paper due the day after Hey Day.

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