Student Council Backs New Plan to Change School Year

Petitions circulating at Radcliffe for a two day vacation between terms received a serious setback last night. The Student Council registered its approval of the administration's new academic calendar with only a one-day layoff, and at the same time quashed proposed support the Annex motion.

Robert S. Bolt '53, spokesman for the Council, last night stated that since only courses with small enrollments have exams in the last two days of the exam-period most students will probably enjoy the normal two-day vacation. Some students, he said, will probably have a longer stay between terms under the new schedule.

Short Shrift for Plea

With the revised calendar, the academic year will be shortened by one full week, although the total number of study hours remain unchanged. Commencement will fall one week earlier in the year, putting Harvard on approximately the same schedule as other universities and colleges.

The Radcliffe petition was scheduled for a Council hearing last night, but was automatically dismissed when the Council approved the administration's calendar. The petition stated that under the new schedule there would not be enough time for "recuperation from the strain of exams."

The petition reads, "We, the undersigned, wish to protest the proposed stiffened recess between terms. We feel that having only one day of recess is detrimental to morale and scholastic efficiency. As an alternative, we suggest at earlier opening if schools."