Binghamton University is on a mission to be one of America’s premier public universities. The University is bringing classrooms to the 21st century, building state-of-the-art facilities and has invested millions of dollars into the student gym. University President Harvey Stenger and BU’s administration are seemingly prepared to throw everything but the kitchen sink into the efforts to make Binghamton a household name. But while students have been given a lot, there is one thing that has been mysteriously taken away: a reading period before finals.

The fall 2015 semester schedule has left some of us puzzled. Classes ends on Tuesday, Dec. 15 and finals begin on Wednesday, Dec. 16. Yes, you read that right. There isn’t even a weekend between your last class and your first final.

This is a bad move, and not just for the slackers who rely on the two-day weekend before finals to cram. During orientation, the importance of time management is stressed for incoming students. Time management is not the ability to perform on zero night’s sleep because your university decided finals begin on a Wednesday morning and your classes end on Tuesday night.

Even the most diligent students require at least 24 hours to mentally prepare for finals. Most students spend the entire semester preparing for their final examinations, projects and papers. Usually, we at least have the weekend. Two days to review this massive amount of information wanes in comparison to UC Berkeley’s two-week period, but at least it’s common courtesy.

The elimination of the reading period isn’t only unfair, it’s unnecessary. The fall 2015 semester is two days longer than the fall 2014 semester (67 days in 2014 and 69 days in 2015). Attentive readers may be thinking, “Wait a minute! Didn’t we have an extra Monday and Tuesday on the fall 2015 calendar, right before finals start on Wednesday?” By our calculations, that’s correct. Without any explanation for the slightly extended semester from the University, we can suggest an easy fix to this pesky problem. If classes ended on Friday, Dec. 11 rather than on Tuesday, Dec. 15, finals could begin on Monday, Dec. 14, and students would still attend the same number of class days as they did in the fall 2014 semester. Such a simple change could save students stress and anxiety.

It isn’t practical to schedule two class days immediately before finals week. Students skip class because it’s sunny outside. Most students will skip classes if important assignments are due in less than 24 hours. Those special few who attend class probably won’t be focused enough to absorb information.

Fall 2015 finals week is a little more than 10 months away. Ten months is ample time for the administration to make a simple adjustment to its schedule so that students and faculty plan accordingly. If not, 10 months is enough time for the administration to explain its rationale for eliminating our reading period.