<p>It depends, Tatin. Have they had issues before when they had class on Lunar New Year? If zero students requested special arrangements for lunar new year, and 100 students requested arrangements for RH, causing a logistical headache, why would they treat the two the same way? When you get more police presence for the average professional baseball game than the average professional tennis match, it isn’t evidence of an official state preference for baseball, but a recognition that there have traditionally been more crowd-control issues in baseball stadiums than at tennis courts.</p>
<p>Also recall that the school isn’t saying that it will never hold classes on the Jewish High Holidays again. They are saying that they will not schedule the FIRST classes of the year to conflict with those days. If the holiday had been on the Monday and Tuesday after the Thursday that classes started, it is my understanding Jewish students would be out of luck, which with only 3 % Jewish enrollment, probably makes sense. If Greek Orthodox Christmas falls out on the first day of winter semester, I might agree that that, too, should be taken into account, although it would depend on the relative populations of the two minority groups.</p>
<p>Judging from the comments, they may now get a petition to accommodate more holidays including the Lunar New Year. </p>
<p>They could have avoided the whole controversy by having a completely neutral school calendar that says “Class will begin on the third Thursday in September every year”. But it seems they’ve changed move-in day in the past at Berkeley to accommodate Ramadan and now changing the calendar to accommodate the Jewish holidays, they open themselves up to having to accommodate everyone to avoid charges of discrimination. Legally, the numbers of those who are being discriminated against makes no difference. </p>
<p>To open the school earlier to avoid the holidays would mean opening the dorms and cafeterias earlier, with more worker hours and consequent pay issues.</p>
<p>UC has allowed exemption from class work for religious reasons for more than 20 years. Professors are given a list of major days of observance for a long list of religions and cultures at the beginning of the school year, and the policy is to excuse kids from tests/class on days where the religious/cultural requirement conflicts with class time. Kids just need to notify the professor in advance. Semester kids are always in school during the HHD period, yet no one complains about their schedules. What is so special about the first day of class? As pointed out in many of the student comments, this is the BEST time to miss class if needed. </p>
<p>I can’t imagine how the Registrar and UCOP thought they could slip this by without opposition. But then again, it is UC.</p>
<p>They may, but the only day they current policy addresses is move-in day–when there actually are no classes. There are no accomodations for any Jewish holiday on any other days. So cancelling classes for Lunar New Year is a different kettle of fish.</p>
<p>I support this. This really only affects lazy students who want a longer break between fall and winter quarter. (after 3 weeks, you start slacking off) </p>
<p>The argument that this will affect international students is invalid, as they are either
The majority of exchange students who won’t go home anyway (most go home during the summer)
Rich international students who can already afford out of state tuition, so they can afford the slightly higher air fares (fares get more expensive near Christmas). </p>
<p>For most international students, 2 weeks is actually better. Thats 1 less week spent alone while their local housemates go back to their families. </p>
<p>Sure, you can argue that in some special, rare case, an international student might suffer from this policy, but in the end, the number of international students is insignificant compared to the overall group of students, who won’t really be affected by this policy. </p>
<p>In the end, the benefits outweigh the costs. In-state students will benefit from a longer work period in the summer and shorter slacking time during the school year. Most don’t really care about the change. The few, rich, international students who want to go back home while studying abroad might be affected, but too bad, American citizens must come first.</p>
<p>ucdddad, you should read the comments from affected students on some of the links posted above. Not all kids sit around and do nothing over winter break. What a cynical generalization, especially with the rising cost of college. My kid does not attend a UC but he relies on his winter break job to help support him through spring semester. So do thousands of other kids. And two weeks is not much time for international students to travel home. The UC system benefits from these full-pay kids (in addition to the diversity they offer).</p>
<p>Maybe in California there is less seasonality in the kind of work college kids can get. Where I live, summer jobs dry up after Labor Day (because so many are based around tourism). By contrast, a lot of local businesses and internet retailers hire temp workers over the holidays, so there are many good jobs for students during this time. In any case, I haven’t seen any comments from UC kids saying they want a longer summer break to keep working.</p>
<p>Two weeks is more than enough for “support.” Also a longer summer would benefit international students, who are more likely to return during summer vacation. Your argument about jobs in the winter is flawed in that there are much more jobs over the summer. </p>
<p>To sum it up- to some students it will be a welcome benefit, to others a minor inconvenience. Most won’t really care.</p>
<p>finally, as much as the international students are important for “diversity”, uc shouldn’t be obligated to make sure they are able to return during the school year.</p>
<p>I don’t think my son will care for the most part. He does have a job to come home to in the summer so will be able to work longer. The UC’s already start late and I know this fall he was pretty antsy to get back to school because all of his friends had already left. October is a late start, but it’s not that big a deal.</p>
<p>“They may, but the only day they current policy addresses is move-in day–when there actually are no classes. There are no accomodations for any Jewish holiday on any other days. So cancelling classes for Lunar New Year is a different kettle of fish.”</p>
<p>So why can’t there be 2 consecutive move-in days? That’s what my kid’s school does. Most everyone moves in on day 1, but it’s not a crisis if you don’t get there til day 2.
Or, let kids who would be affected move in early along with RAs or athletes or the “welcome wagon” kids who get there for new student week. I’m used to late starts but pushing to October really seemed dumb.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, other students like the idea of extra summer time to earn money in their summer jobs.</p>
<p>I don’t know about that. The UC’s get out quite late in June so these kids are missing out on earnings at the beginning of summer.</p>
<p>I’ve never understood why the UC’s start late/end late…except for the fact that most are on the quarter system and they want the first quarter to end for Christmas. If they started fall when nearly everyone else does (late Aug/Early Sept), then they’d be ending around T’giving and then 2nd qtr would have an odd Winter Break after a few weeks. </p>
<p>Maybe the answer is for the UC’s to follow Berkeley’s lead and be on the semester system. When does Cal start fall?</p>
<p>ahh…just looked it up:
FALL SEMESTER BEGINS
Thursday, August 21 2014</p>
<p>My son loves the quarter system and would be very upset if UCSD went to semesters. The timing of the quarters just isn’t a big factor to him or to his friends. I was on quarters in college also and absolutely loved it!</p>
<p>I’m used to quarters, too. I like how winter and spring breaks are true breaks in between classes. It’s been a bummer when on spring break one of my kids is worry free and the other is still reading and working.</p>
<p>I liked quarters for the ability to have more classes (and shorter duration for the ones I didn’t enjoy). But getting out last of all my peers made it more challenging to find summer jobs, since I got home six or seven weeks after the first semester kids came home. Also, September at home can be boring when all your friends and even your younger siblings still in school have already gone back. I always felt as though I was waiting around those last few weeks.</p>
<p>D has a job and a boyfriend at school so doesn’t come home anyway except for brief visits. S has a job that’s there if he wants it every summer. It would be very hard (possibly impossible) for either of them to come home and successfully find a short-term summer job.</p>