The Echo

Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Kate Bissinger "Achoo": Tissues and nasal decongestants are a neccessity for many during the winter.

As the end of winter fast approaches students are still plagued by winter-time illnesses combined with spring allergies.

Despite preventative measures like washing hands and stocking up on antihistamines, illness is an unfortunate fact of life.

College students are especially susceptible because many come into close contact with other people, either in classes, hallways, dorm rooms or shared apartments.

The common sense course of action when illness strikes is to simply stay home. This not only allows for rest to aid in recuperation, but it helps prevent the spread of germs and bacteria.

Some students, however, attend class while sick, sniffling and coughing through lectures, tests, seminars and quizzes.

Many classes have strict attendance policies and missing more than a couple classes can harm a student's grade.

Furthermore some professors state in their syllabi that students are not allowed to make up missed quizzes or tests except in extreme emergencies or with advanced notice of the absence.

Some academic departments on campus mandate these policies while others leave them to the individual professor's discretion.

The university urged professors and departments to exercise leniency when enforcing these policies when H1N1 posed a threat during the flu season.

We at The Echo encourage professors to extend this same judicious leniency throughout the year with regard to illness.

It is understandable that some classes contain lab, discussion or practice components that cannot be made up by copying a friend's notes. Also, it does take extra effort for professors to offer make-up tests and quizzes to students who miss class.

Admittedly some students lie and already try to take advantage of any good faith professors are already willing to offer.

However, a little extra understanding would greatly benefit ill students wanting the make the responsible decision to stay home but trying to decide if their grade can survive a sick day.

Interestingly, the problem of showing up to class while sick is not exclusively the domain of students. It is not unheard of for professors to brave illness instead of sacrificing valuable class time.

The wealth of technology available to teachers and students presents a potential solution to this problem. Substitute assignments can be sent out over e-mail with the announcement that class will be canceled.

UTC Online offers a discussion board feature which, although it does not replicate the classroom atmosphere or allow for the same quality of professor-student interaction, allows for limited conversation between professor and student.

Illness is an unfortunate part of life and it is frequently tempting to try to carry on normally when sick to avoid the hassle of catching up once recovered.

However, this only proves to be detrimental to the recovery process of the student and to the health of others who are in the vicinity.

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