URBANA — Gamers can breathe a sigh of relief. Video game classes will be allowed during Agora Days '09, although there will be a few changes affecting those classes and movie courses as well.

That was some of the news that came out of Agora sponsor John Garvey's announcement today that course proposals are now being taken for this year's edition of Agora Days, which will be held Feb. 17 to 20.

Agora Days is Uni High's annual four-day break from regular classes. During that time, students, faculty, parents, alums, and community members teach mini-courses on just about anything that interests them. Last year, 113 classes were offered.

According to Garvey, the goal this year is to have 100 course proposals by Jan. 9, the end of the first week back from winter break.

To propose a course, go to this link, click "Propose," and follow the sequence of tabs. Uni students and staff must log in with their user name and password in order to propose classes.

Individuals from outside the school may also propose classes but do not have to worry about user names and passwords.

So what are the main changes this year?

Movie classes will now require group discussion and interaction, and video game classes will be split between upperclassmen and underclassmen.

In addition, there can be only one video game class scheduled per period.

According to Garvey, the reason for these changes is that video game classes and movie classes have provided little to no learning benefits in the past.

"What we're trying to avoid is the clusters of people gathering around televisions," Garvey told the Gargoyle. "There's been a lot of lackadaisical preparation. What people do is just basically bring in a video and watch it until it's done. The original idea of having a movie class or TV class was that there should be some mix of discussion."

Earlier this fall, a faculty committee consisting of Garvey, computer science executive teacher Greg Smith, and physical education executive teacher Sally Walker studied possible changes to Agora Days.

In its original proposal, the committee recommended that video game classes be eliminated but that students be allowed to play video games during their free periods.

Both the Student-Faculty Advisory Committee and Student Council discussed the recommendations, with StudCo proposing that video game classes be allowed but limited in number and that upperclassmen and underclassmen be separated due to complaints about juniors and seniors dominating those classes.

Director Steve Epperson made the final decision today after hearing from the Curriculum Committee as well.

According to Garvey, the purpose of the changes is to bring Agora Days back to its original idea of emphasizing student exploration and learning.

"We're not trying to punish anybody," he said. "Agora Days is supposed to have a balance between serious and fun classes, but even the fun ones should have some substance."