More Requests Denied

1. Wednesday afternoon a student in my calculus class emailed me asking for more time on the exam. It was a 50-minute exam. The first papers came in at about the 25-minute mark, and then it was a pretty steady rate of papers being turned in until over 90% of the class was finished by the end of the 50 minutes. But! Wait! Wait! Stu then self-identifies with ADD! Isn't that worth some extra time? Only if I have the paperwork a week before the exam.


2. A student who I have never met before came to my office looking to enroll in Calculus Lite. This semester. Yes, this very semester that is roughly half over. Stu is currently taking Real Calculus and not doing all that well. Stu is enrolled in one of the more competitive programs in the university, and any grade below a C is grounds for dismissal from the progam. This program requires Calculus Lite. Stu chose to take Real Calculus because Stu was thinking about changing majors to something even more competitive. Stu could drop Real Calculus and pick up a one-credit-hour freshman seminar and stay full-time, putting absolutely nothing in jeopardy. But then Stu would be a semester behind in math.


3. Today a student in my calculus class emailed me a long and involved story about a very serious car accident and not being at the calculus exam yesterday. My decision is pending as I wait to get any sort of legitimate-seeming bit of paperwork documenting the existence of this serious car accident. Something from the ER? Something from the police? Something from the tow truck or the junk yard? Something from the insurance company? I'm not fussy.