A revision in weekend quiet hours will permit residence hall students to burn the midnight oil an extra two hours without fear of disturbing the peace.

A pilot program which shortens quiet hours on both Friday and Saturday nights will be conducted for the duration of Spring Semester, said Connie Weidler, secretary of the Association of Residence Hall Students.

Weekend quiet hours started two hours later last Friday.

Residents are asked to keep noise to a minimum from 2 a.m. until 10 a.m. Quiet hours ended at the same time during previous semesters.

The proposal was submitted by ARHS last semester and, after careful review by numerous campus organizations, accepted on a trial basis, according to a letter distributed to residence hall students by the Office of Residence Hall Programs.

A meeting in mid-April will determine the fate of the proposed changes, Weidler said.

"Hopefully, some students will have given a lot of feedback to ARHS," said Gail Hurley, director of the University's Residence Hall Programs.

"This (past) year is the first year we've ever had a system-wide quiet hours policy," Hurley added.

If the shortened quiet hours are adopted in April, they will be the first change made to the campus-wide quiet hours policy established last fall, she said.

In previous years, individual houses -- composed of one or more floors in a residence hall -- were given the opportunity to determine their own quiet hours. Problems arose, however, when noise on one floor was audible on another floor that had implemented quiet hours during the same time-span, she said.

"It's on a trial period, but I don't see any problem with it," said Dominic Mattioni, president of ARHS.

Both Mattioni and Hurley expressed concern for the increased responsibility placed on resident assistants.

"The (resident assistants) are having a hard time," said Mattioni. "They're going to have to be more strict."

Immediate student reaction to the change in quiet hours was mixed, but most students appeared to be approaching the proposal with an open mind.

"I personally would rather have it at 12, just because people really don't party in the dorms anyhow," said Neda Mahboubi, a Curtin Hall resident.

Mahboubi, who describes herself as a workaholic, said she did not think that the new proposal would alter her study habits.

"I have a really mellow floor, but that's because my RA is really on top of things," she said.

Some students said the new policy would have virtually no effect on their living habits.

"On my floor we just do our own thing, despite the fact," said Andrianna Todd, a Beaver Hall resident.

Generally noise is not a problem and students are particularly courteous during finals week, Todd said.