For students who live uphill or for those who want a break from Tisch Library, Carmichael dining hall will be available for late-night studying again during the finals period. Hoping to use the popularity of the late-night snacks and study space at Carmichael, Tufts Union Community (TCU) senators are working to create a 24-hour year-round study space on campus.
The dining hall will give students a quiet place to study and snack from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. starting on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Senators are unsure how late into the week Carmichael will be available. Last year, use dwindled during the second half of finals.
But senators, pointing to the popularity of Carmichael's late hours, say students need better studying accommodations and plan to lobby the administration to open a permanent 24-hour study space.
Last year, Carmichael late-night study was packed, sometimes with more than 200 students in attendance. Although Senate Parliamentarian Andrew Potts said it would be unlikely to see 200 people "in a 24-hour study space on a random Wednesday... [it's] possible to have 50 to 75 people use the study room in the library. It would be nice to offer another space for [studying] for students."
Recently elected sophomore Senator Shaunik Panse will meet with Dean of Students Bruce Reitman next week to lobby for the creation of a study space by the end of next semester. Panse said he has researched the added security and hopes to submit a proposal over winter break. "I think there's a very [large] demand for a 24-hour study space," he said. "I've heard from a number of students for it. By March or April or at the latest, the end of the academic year, we hope to have some sort of facility ready."
Freshman Senator Adam Koeppel said that other schools, such as MIT, have similar study spaces available for students. "You can't study in your dorm - that's why kids go to the library," he said.
Potts tried to convince Tufts to leave open a reading room in Tisch all night during his freshman year on the Senate. But Tisch officials said that funding concerns rendered the plan unfeasible. Tisch's costs "increase much more than their budget does every year, due to publishing fees," Potts said.
The reading room in the library remains open 24 hours a day during finals, but Potts said that students need such a space throughout the year. "I just think it'd be nice to have a place to study all hours, everyday," he said.
Eaton would be a good choice for a potential 24-hour study space, according to Potts, who said students could then take full advantage of the computer lab. "I'd love to see it happen somewhere around or in Eaton - a 24-hour computer lab [and] study space... would be spectacular."
And unlike the library, students could potentially munch while they study in another space, as they can during Carmichael late-night study. Last year, the demand for food during the study period far outweighed the supply and Dining Services and Potts have planned for more snacks this time around. "I didn't think that that many people would show up, nor did Patti Lee Klos," the director of Dining Services, Potts said.
"We didn't know there was going to be 200 people," he said. "This year, we have some doughnuts and pizza."
