Starting the holidays with Winterfaire has been a Lowell tradition since 1985, and clubs depend on the profits of the food festival in order to pay for their expenses. However, the new finals schedule may hinder profits for clubs due to a lack of attendance for Winterfaire. Change may be good in some cases, but the school has undergone so many changes this past year (i.e. the mod schedule) that the student body wants to preserve some traditions that serve both practical and nostalgic purposes.

Winterfaire combines performances and food to celebrate the beginning of the winter holidays, and serves as a way for students to relax after a stressful semester. However, this year might not be as festive as previous Winterfaires.

The new schedule for finals starts on Dec. 14, a Tuesday, and ends on a Thursday, leaving Winterfaire on a Friday. Normally, finals would be after winter break, but because of the 2010-2011 schedule beginning earlier in August, finals are before. Clubs are worried that this change will result in less Winterfaire attendance than usual because attendance on the last Friday of the semester is often sparse, with grades already submitted.

In order to restore the Lowell tradition of Winterfaire and to satisfy the financial needs of clubs, Winterfaire should be moved earlier in the week to Dec. 10, the second-to-last Friday before winter break. That way, the attendance for Winterfaire will not have a dramatic change and clubs can still profit from the event. Clubs do not have many opportunities to fundraise, so taking away one of the main events that benefits the clubs’ fiscal health will seriously change the economic norm of previous years.

Losing the schedule that provided longer swing mods was a hard blow to students returning this fall, and losing more traditions will pile on even more stress than the usual overload the students carry. Just as 20-minute swing mods allowed students to take a break from classes, Winterfaire gives students a festive gathering to enjoy performances by classmates, definitely lowering stress and raising the holiday spirit. When changes such as the finals schedule proposal are enacted without recognizing the domino effect on other events, the school will no longer retain its unique ways.

Placing an event that traditionally draws enthusiastic participation on the semester date of lowest attendance will create a Scrooge mood. How many changes will be mandated until Lowell is no longer the school that students praise for its free-spirited atmosphere that sets it apart from the other SFUSD schools?

A version of this article first appeared in the Dec. 10, 2010 issue of The Lowell.