I think I need some space

As you visit Duke for the first time, you decide to check out Perkins Library. “Why not?” you think; you’ll probably be spending lots of time there if you decide to come to the school. As you enter the Link, you’re impressed by the dynamic digital displays and streamlined surfaces which compose the technologically advanced space. The staff appears friendly and the atmosphere is calm and professional.

As you turn the corner toward the study rooms, you are met with a very different visual. A series of whiteboards reading “CS 260,” “CS 201” and “CS 310” line the hallway. Looking down, you find yourself wading through downtrodden disciples of computer science who cluster around the whiteboards, feeding from a trough of undergraduate TA knowledge. “Wow,” you think, “this is incredibly depressing.” We agree.

So why is it that an entire department of undergraduates is relegated to a hallway when most other major universities have dedicated computer science help rooms? We believe it is symptomatic of inefficient space allocation by the University’s administration.

In addition to the haphazard splay of computer science students that occupies the Link on a nightly basis, we note a myriad of other areas of improvement for study space provisioning at Duke. We first point out that Perkins Library closes at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. While this might be the administration telling us books should be closed over the weekend, the reality of our coursework tells us otherwise. Unfortunately, students who prefer not to study in their rooms are effectively left without options on Friday and Saturday nights. Given that Perkins is typically operated by a skeleton crew most weeknights, we ask how much it would really cost the administration to keep the library open for those extra 19 hours every week.

We realize that the renovations to Perkins and Rubenstein will help to solve the study space conundrum for future generations of Duke students. While we appreciate that an effort is being directed toward improving study areas on campus, we believe that current students deserve special accommodation throughout the construction process. For example, why is it that we are we not allowed to swipe into classrooms over the weekends when they are not in use? More than just study space, classrooms allow groups of students to collaborate and work together on projects. Why are classrooms in the Link locked at midnight? Why are the hundreds of students on Central Campus limited to the use of two small study rooms, which can seat roughly fifteen people?

Without evident answers to these questions, we believe there are clear limitations to both the amount of, and the access to, study spaces at Duke. We urge the administration to consider measures such as expanding classroom swipe access and providing 24-7 library access in order to aid current students living with the restrictions of construction.