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In March, a petition to eliminate 8 a.m. final exams was created
In March, a petition to eliminate 8 a.m. final exams was created
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Ryerson students petition against 8 a.m. exams

By Jackie Hong

Three students running for positions on Ryerson’s Senate have started a petition to eliminate 8 a.m. exams at the school.

Husain Mulla, Azeem Shah, and Obaid Babar, who are among 13 candidates running for four at-large student positions in the 2015-2016 Senate elections, started a petition on change.org three days ago calling on Ryerson to eliminate 8 a.m. exams and for the earliest exam starting time to be pushed to 10 a.m. The petition said that, if elected, the three will “bring this pressing issue forward to the senate committee and do whatever is within our powers to make it happen.”

The Senate is responsible for creating and updating academic policies at Ryerson. It consists of 51 elected community members, including faculty, students and librarians, as well as members of Ryerson administration including the chancellor and president. Voting in the elections can be done via Blackboard from March 2 to 5.

“Students spend countless hours putting in hard work in order to achieve a grade which can eventually help them bag a good job once they graduate. Having to write an exam at 8 a.m. can kill this dream,” the petition said. It noted that a large percentage of Ryerson’s student body is made up of commuters who have to wake up at “eerie hours” to make 8 a.m. exams.

“Im [sic] signing because I am one of the fellow commuter’s [sic] that goes to Ryerson University. And I feel that it is absolutely unreasonable to ask for students who live 2-3 hours away to make it on time for an 8 a.m. exam.,” a user called Vanessa Lee wrote in the comments.

Others were more blunt with their reasons for signing the petition.

“I don’t like morning exams,” wrote Arian Alaghbandrad.

“8 am [sic] exams suck, period,” said Sheldon Elliott.

The petition had garnered 662 signatures.

Last semester, students voted to pass a motion at the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) semi-annual general meeting asking for the RSU to petition the school to end 8 a.m. classes.

Change.org is online platform that allows users to start petitions that anyone can view and sign. Recipients of the petitions are under no obligation to do what the petitions ask for.

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