Despite being canceled last week due to flooding in the city, classes resumed Monday. No extra days are being tacked on, neither during fall break nor at the end of the semester.
Canceling fall break would have probably provoked a backlash among students over the need to scuttle plans and tank losses on tickets with little notice. Indeed, had the university made that decision, our editorial board would have a very different tone.
Adding on classes at the end of the semester probably would have been preferable to professors who could just push the syllabus back a week. However, that would also interfere with some students' plans and plane tickets. In the end, it would have also been an unpopular option.
One lost week can be absorbed by most class schedules. But another missed one would almost certainly lead to additional days. As such, the university’s decision to resume classes Monday was justified.
To be clear, running classes this week carries certain costs and inconveniences with it, such as the need to import portable toilets and thousands of water bottles for students that ultimately costs the university. Thousands more students descending on an already-strained water system and infrastructure is also perhaps bad for the city.
The university itself, though, was largely undamaged because — this is the one time we’ll ever say this — thankfully USC is located on a hill. The boil water advisory and closed bathrooms might be inconvenient, but in the end it’s more convenient for most people than additional days.