Dead Week

Thanksgiving break leads into "dead week." A greater misnomer I have rarely encountered. Every class has something due this week and most of them have big stuff due. How can this possibly be called dead week? And another thing, why can't we just start our term two weeks earlier so that when we get off for Thanksgiving, that's the end of the term? The semester system made little sense to me in high school, winter break (actually called Christmas break at my Catholic high school) followed by a mere three weeks of class to finish the term. But this quarter system blows my mind with stupidity. The term is only twelve weeks long. It makes no sense to have a long holiday weekend right before the end of the term, especially if the term is followed by a three week break until the next term. The geniuses at University of Oregon really outdid themselves on this scheduling thing.