Keith Davis, 10/27/2008
ITHACA, NY — “Europeans work, on average, nine fewer weeks than Americans,” said Linda Heyne, associate professor of recreation and leisure services at Ithaca College. “If we were living in Europe, our work year would now be over.”
To address what many see as an epidemic of overwork in this country, the students in Heyne’s Leisure Education class will hold a teach-in on the issue on Thursday, Oct. 30, in the Taughannock Falls Room on the third floor of the campus center. Free and open to the public, the event will run from 12:10 to 1 p.m.
“We call the event a teach-in because it’s an attempt to show people the costs that being overworked and overscheduled take on our health, our communities, and our personal relationships,” Heyne said. “The students will be presenting skits and small group discussions on how time poverty affects us and what we can do to find solutions that will increase the quality of our lives.”
The students will base their presentation on the Take Back Your Time movement, an initiative that advocates a federal law guaranteeing Americans three weeks of annual paid vacation. According to the organization, only 14 percent of American workers get a vacation of two weeks or more a year while many Europeans enjoy four or five weeks of annual legislated time off.
To interview Heyne and her students, and to arrange to cover the event, contact Heyne at (607) 274-3050 or lheyne@ithaca.edu.
For more information on the Take Back Your Time initiative, visit www.timeday.org.
Originally published in News Releases: Ithaca College Students Invite The Campus And Community To Take A Break, Already.
