TheEnd

rh e dormshadaneerie silence. Desklampswerelitnotforhours, butdays. Clockstickedawaythe time,constantlybeingwatched.

In oneroom, one studied Romans one more timewhilearoommate struggled to getallofthebankruptcyproceduresunder control Inanotherroom,a studentread another page of the required 300. Yet another prepared for thetwo-hour longessay that he would write the following morning

Inoneroom,twostudents sat in thesilence, exchanging whispered storiesof mom's cookingand grandma's cheesecake. Another room foundfoursleepingroommates,visionsof sugarbread dancing intheirheads. Anotherstudentcarefullypackedhisbelongingsintohis suitcase

Examsbroughtpressure,reliefanddiversity. Forsome,exam week wasfinallya chance torelax While for others,itwasa cumulationofpressureand longhoursofwork For the majority, itwas a combinationofboth A varietyofprofessors bring avarietyofmethods ofassessing student knowledge. Each professoris individualandeachclassreflects the fact

Someprofessorsgavetwoexams.Amidterm and afinal Forbalance,they may have offered a paper. The methodwas easierontheprofessor, givinghimlessto grade. However, he had the additional timewiththestudent.

Some professors gave no exams,but a series of tests,usually four tosix None of the tests was cumulative oratleast appeared to be. However, this method was incorporated by classes with continually buildsupon its self Math orientatedclassesoften were structured in this manner

Then there professors who gave both testsandexams. The classeswere usually ones in which the information learned wasextremely vital Professors, knew the more a student reviews the information, the more likely the information will be learned

In between,there was a variety ofother methods professors used The methods coalesced intheend foreach student and dictated what final's week would be like: A lotofpressure, agrade riding on theoutcome ofasingleexam;nopressure,asolid grade regardless ofthe exam Four, five classes all with difficult exams Five, solidgrades. A few ofeach.

Students concentrate on their exams, the culmination ofthe effortofan entire semester. A Ithough, tradittionally exams cover the entire semester ofstudy, exams in I988/89weredifferent,nol neccessarily being cumulative.

Dr. Georrge Ogum, 1988 Professor of the Year, corrects the exams for his insurance modular using the scantron system, an academic method that was used widely used in universities across America forobjectivetesting.

"I had two exams Ihad todo wellon," said Bain Bunting, a sophomore from Delaware "Ihad oneIneeded topassand two more Ididn't have to take." He explained thetwo he had todo wellon were during thefirstpartofexam week forthe fallsemester

"When I finished the firsttwo, thepressurewasoff Overall,itwasn'ttoobad."

"My exams weretough,"said sophomore ScottGedicks "Most ofmy gradesrelied on theexam orlasttest. When your GPA will fluctuate a whole point on just four tests, you come toterms with thingslike pressure and stress."

"My biology exam was especiallydifficult," said senior Kim DeMerchant. "I struggled with the class allsemester and then my grade hinged on one cumulative test."

Studentshad avarietyofmethods todeal with the pressure An evening modular thatran the firsthalfofthe semester was one way toreduce the end-of-the-semesterload.

"Italk to friends and see how different professors have their tests,"said ChristianNicolos."Itrytostrikeabalance. Not toomany cumulativeexams,nottoo main classesrequiring work all semester."