Sleepy Students

One result of the building being at such a high temperature is that students are falling asleep.

Salient has had numerous reports of students falling asleep in the building.

In an economics class in B102, at which a temperature of 82 degrees was recorded, male students took off their ties and jackets, and eight students fell asleep at the lecture.

The room is unventilated but for the small portable fan which circulates stale air, but does not introduce fresh air.

The room is small, square, and dark. There are no windows.

The carpet on the floor deadens the tread, only a harsh electric light glares down from the concrete ceiling.

The ventilation fan whirrs monotonously—a long low-pitched moan. Girls find it hard to talk over it, yet without it the air quickly becomes stale and the persons in the room inert and sleepy.

The mechanical hum in the stillness destroys thought, attacks calmness of mind.

This is not the death cell at Sing Sing. It is a lecture room in Rankine Brown building.

In one terms exam earlier this year the power failed when the area substation was overloaded.

The examination was abandoned in the darkness and students groped outside.

In the fullness of time the problem will no longer exist because the building will not be used for lectures.

The partitions that have been erected to make the rooms are temporary, and will be removed when more library space is needed and other lecture rooms become available.

However it is not known how long it will be before these rooms are abandoned for teaching in. In all probability they will continue to be used as lecture rooms for some years.

Even though it has been possible to avoid using the building for examinations this year, it is unlikely that this can happen next year. The student roll will be higher next year, and no new classroom facilities are scheduled to come into operation in 1966.

"The provision of a more adequate ventilation system is an urgent need," one student said when interviewed by Salient.

He was one of a number of students whose complaints about the nature of the lecture rooms had prompted Salient's inquiries.

Another student who complained had said that the Students' Association should protest at the use of the rooms. He felt that the strains of examination were high enough already.

On the other hand, a third student, asked by Salient to comment, said that he felt that the Rankine Brown rooms, despite their deficiencies, were more comfortable than some of the old rooms in Hunter Building.