With exams and final paper dates barreling down on everyone, it's cramming season again, at UNBC. Cramming season during the fall semester walks hand in hand with the cold snap of winter, which leads many to stay indoors, studying or doing whatever you people do when you're not studying or working. Me, I like sleep.

     Every time November comes by, I'm shocked at people doing the same thing they do every single year; forget how to drive in the snow. Making my way out of the UNBC parking lot, I was almost hit by two separate people. During winter, the objective is to drive slower than you usually would during the summer, because ice, surprisingly, is slippery. Another note about the parking lots; those ticket machines suck. I swear, if that sucker spits out another coin I put into it, I'm smashing the hell out of it with a sledge hammer.

     With the end of each semester comes students skipping classes in order to cram, and write last minute essays. I personally try to not do this, even for my pointless "why did I go to class today?" - classes. I have this paranoid thing wherein I constantly think that the one day I skip class is they day the professor says something particularly important that will drastically affect my grade. I continue to think this, even while I nearly fall asleep during class, wondering once again, "why the hell am I here?" So I try my best to not skip class.

     What's really started to annoy me this semester is one professor who is increasingly skipping more and more classes. I won't name the professor, as my final grade is still in her hands. If you're curious though, ask me and I'll gladly tell.

     It started off with one day, and a valid excuse; migraines. Then it happened again, with no excuse. It was only the second time, so I just chocked it up to a bad morning on the professor's behalf. Then it was a full week [3 classes]. The professor was sick, or something, I'm not quire sure what the prof's excuse was, as this is one of those classes where I spend much of the time wondering why the hell I am there, so I end up paying less attention to the professor than I normally would have. This professor has been repeating the same basic concepts since the second week of classes.

     What really angered me, to the point of writing this column, was what happened today. No excuse, no note, no person coming into the class to warn us that class would be canceled, nothing. One of the students even saw the professor before class, drinking coffee. And yet, the professor didn't show up. We waited for 15 minutes before giving up and leaving. 15 minutes of a 50 minute class is enough leeway. The real kicker is that this is an 8:30 class. I woke up 2 hours earlier than I normally would have, to go to this class. Further kicking to the groin is that I stayed up late-late working on essays. Needless to say, I've been grumpy all day.

     Professors should be good role models, and be professional in the way the conduct themselves. This was not the case today, nor has it been the case all semester, during the other 7 or 8 classes she's not shown up for. If she's genuinely sick, why is she still teaching, and why are we paying the full price of tuition? Sick or not, that's not right. Get a grad student to fill in, anything. I'm sure there is a rule somewhere that allows students to get off free for courses where the professor doesn’t show up for a certain number of classes. To be fair, I've stuck it out for so long it would no longer be worth it to me to do so.

     If it happens again, I will bring it up with said professor, but so far it just seems like an amusing topic for this column. Has a similar thing ever happened to you? I'm curious how common such a thing is.

     Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the professor evaluation at the end of this course.