Powell is a study space, not a sauna
Like most students, the library is one of the first places that comes to mind when I am looking for a quiet place to study.
However, every time I sit down to start studying, my first move is never to take out my books, but rather it’s to take off my sweatshirt because it is so hot.
Within a few minutes the temporary relief from removing my sweatshirt is no longer alleviating me from the heat. Next comes the long sleeve shirt I’m wearing. Within another few minutes this too is not enough from keeping my head from boiling, but I’m now down to my last piece of clothing, a small white T-shirt. Now I am forced to tough it out.
I am tired of doing this striptease routine every time I try to go study at Powell. Although I have never brought a thermometer with me, I would venture a guess that the temperature in the reading room is kept somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 degrees. This is substantially higher than the typical 68 to 70-degree room temperature most everyone lives with. I find it rather hard to study when I am perspiring profusely. This is coming from someone who is rather skinny. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable the 62 percent of overweight American classmates around me must feel.
If not for the sake of the sweaty students trying to study, at least for the sake of cutting costs and helping the environment, lower the temperature of the reading room in Powell.
Jeff Stern
Second-year, economics