<p>Friday goes back onto the calendar
Some colleges try to curb Thursday binge drinking</p>
<p>By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | August 31, 2007</p>
<p>
[quote]
Forget about "Thirsty Thursdays" kicking off three days of partying on some college campuses this school year. Some colleges are wresting Fridays back from the weekend's clutches.</p>
<p>Framingham State and other colleges are considering whether to schedule more Friday classes, warning students that skipping Friday classes will hurt their grades, and encouraging faculty members to schedule tests and have assignments due that day. The growing effort is trying to curb student drinking and free up classrooms by more evenly distributing courses.</p>
<p>Students and some faculty are grumbling about the take-back-Friday campaign.</p>
<p>"Let's be realistic, kids party on Thursdays," said Mike Webb, a Framingham State junior. "That's not going to stop with more Friday classes. Students will just skip or show up hungover."
<p>I was relieved to hear that my son's Friday schedule starts at 9 am and ends with a 3 pm class, with a couple of others in between. </p>
<p>I think it is a good idea to return to Friday classes, but be warned that there is another group that may oppose it. I know more than a few professors who also seem to think it is their right to have Fridays free. (Although I don't think they are binging on Thursday nights.)</p>
<p>I should expand on the post previous to this one. The professors I was referring to like having Fridays free of CLASSES, not of work. They like the long day to research, have meetings, proctor research assistants and leave for weekend professional meetings.</p>
<p>I still think classes should be held on Fridays, though.</p>
<p>I just checked my daughter's school schedule of classes. All but 2 freshman classes are finished by 1:50 PM on Fridays. The 2 later ones are taught by the same instructor so I am assuming he requested the time slots.</p>
<p>I thought being finished with classes by 2:00PM was pretty good. I do not know of any schools in MD that do not hold any Friday classes.</p>
<p>When I worked in the Chemical Engineering Department, Friday was "consulting day"--the day when the professors could take outside consulting jobs. Strangely, the humanities department didn't require a special consulting day and went ahead and scheduled classes for Friday, as did the biology and chemistry departments....</p>
<p>LOL, mine have classes on Friday until something like 5:00.
Although that's not typical- it just ended up that way with the courses they wanted to take. Alternatives involved evening classes or early morning classes. My kids would rather have their "school day" start at 11 or 12 and go until 5 or 6.</p>
<p>None of my 3Ds who are attending or have graduated from college have ever had Fridays off. And since when did having class the next morning ever stop college kids from partying?!</p>
<p>Try the pre-med biology class weed-out at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, and they took attendance. (and I wasn't even pre-med).</p>
<p>Worked, too. 70 would-be doctors (who would have been perfectly good docs) left, with some of them becoming drunken sots and bemoaning their lack of doctordom for eternity, while the college maintained its 90% med. school admit rate (while having rid itself of 70 perfectly good pre-docs who would have made it had they gone to state schoos.)</p>
<p>My S has 8:00's every day and finishes at 2:20 on Fridays. I don't think that's too bad and he's not complaining!</p>
<p>As a college professor, my H has had his share of Fridays and 8:00's as well. Now as a senior faculty member, one of his perks is being able to create his schedule somewhat as he wants. Therefore, no Friday classes this semester (or the past few semesters) and I think his earliest class is 9:00. He paid his dues when he was a junior faculty member.</p>
<p>My daughter has five straight hours of classes on Fridays (from 10 to 3), the one day of the week when she was not able to create a schedule with a lunch break.</p>
<p>My son, at a different university, has two Friday classes.</p>
<p>I had Fridays off a few semesters as an undergraduate. I really liked it -- I wasn't much for the Thirsty Thursdays, but I loved the All-Day-in-the-Lab Fridays. :)</p>
<p>Both my kids have always had classes on Fridays. One of my kids has had classes from 9-6 every Friday every year of college, plus required meetings every other Friday night from 6-8 PM, often followed by required rehearsals until 10 or 11 PM. I know that on Thursday nights, she has rehearsals until 11:30 PM. </p>
<p>The other kid has always had some classes on Friday and the times change each semester. Her schedule for this year is not yet set. I recall one year with a late Friday AM class and another five hour afternoon class. I also think certain mornings she has workouts very early in the morning that are required as well. During certain months of the year, she must be in a van to leave for the weekend for sports competitions every Friday by 4 PM as well. Otherwise, she has sports practice in the latter afternoon after classes.</p>
<p>Barnard/Columbia have very few Friday classes. The only one my D ever had was her language because they are mandated three-day-a-week classes. She sometimes takes the train home Thursday night for an occasional weekend home.</p>
<p>S now has Friday classes.</p>
<p>I teach at community college. We have a county legislative mandatory four day schedule. We can choose our day off. I often fought for Friday classes because that's the only day we can actually find parking on our campus! and when the kids were little I liked having Wed. off to regroup. It's so difficult to get Fri. classes because so few students take them, that I have taught a M-Th schedule for quite some time. Don't even go in on Fridays. Hooray!</p>
<p>I have had Fridays off every semester, but I don't drink on Thursdays (or really very much at all). I work all day on Fridays and it works out best for me. I enjoy the long weekends, with more classes crammed on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I just function better that way.</p>
<p>At American, they have Wednesdays off because it is assumed that students can pursue internships on that day. At Earlham, students have most of Wednesdays off for weekly all-campus convocations. Both school basically require Friday classes as a result.</p>
<p>I didn't read the article. (Too lazy today.:)) I wonder if it mentioned that binge drinking sometimes occurs on Thursdays among athletes because they need to be physically ready on Saturday and thus cannot binge Friday p.m.</p>