While most students are counting up the eight days of Hanukkah or the 12 days of Christmas, about 700 students will be counting up the 13 days of Winter Session.

Students will be completing their fall semester by Dec. 20 and some will be starting another semester the same day. About 21 courses will be offered over the three-week winter break to give students the opportunity to catch up on courses to graduate on time, or get required classes out of the way. The courses offered range from second semester Spanish to modern political theory.

The Evening and Weekend Office understands the session conflicts with finals, but said most instructors are lenient when students have to miss class for finals. The classes available were up to the various departments on campus.

"We looked at past enrollment to decide what courses we should offer," said Helen Nader, History Department head.

"(Winter Session) is one of the best ways for students to learn," Nader said. "It's a long day, and everyday, which is very intensive, but total immersion is the best way to learn."

Most of the courses are three hours long except Spanish courses, which are four hours. Students will have a few days to celebrate Christmas and ring in 1996, but classes start at 8 or 9 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Students are only allowed to take one course, said Judith Stanfield, administration associate for the Management and Policy Department. "That's good because they don't have to worry about other classes. When I talk to students about Winter Session, they say they really got a lot out of it."

There will be a new addition to the list of courses this year. The Finance Department offered a course over Pre-session and decided to experiment with Winter Session.

About 60 people took the course in Pre-session, said Gay Thompson, finance administrative associate. "Finance 311 (corporate finance) is a required course and since we had a good response during Pre-session, we decided to offer it during the winter."

Registration started Dec. 4 and continues until Dec 20, the first day of class. Each unit costs $99 and Financial Aid or Fee Waivers are not accepted. For class availability, students can contact the department offering the course.

"I'm a little worried about how I'm going to keep the students awake," said Cindy Jorgensen, Finance Department teaching assistant.

Jorgensen will be instructing part of the corporate finance class with James Neilson.

"I've thought about having the students bring in their rugs and blankets so we can take a little nap. Three hours is a long time to sit, let alone learn something, but I'll be able to tell within the first few days of class.

"This will be a good opportunity for students to get into classes that may otherwise be harder to get into."