It’s the week before finals and the pressure to ace all of your tests is weighing down on you. Naturally, you head to the library to find a study room for seclusion. But wait, there’s a catch: You can only stay in the study room for six hours and if you go over that time limit you will be fined for every additional half hour you linger. Don’t panic. That rule is not in effect at Seton Hall, yet. But University officials are debating whether to include such fines in its library study room policy, which could lead to a lot of unhappy students. According to a survey conducted when you log on to the Seton Hall Library Database website, many complaints have been filed from students about Group Study Room usage. This has resulted in the consideration of changing the policy to place time limits. The survey said that this could start as soon as this semester or next fall. Meltem Colak, a senior biology major, said she was very upset when she heard about the potential changes. “As a science major, six hours isn’t even enough to study for one final, let alone five,” said Colak. She said on average she will spend up to 12 hours in the library before a final during finals week, which is not uncommon for many other science majors. “If I have two finals on the same day, then I am there 24 hours,” said Colak. Colak is also a commuter so if the library does plan on instigating this policy she will have no choice but to continue going there, without the guarantee of a study room for however long she needs it. Ricardo Laguerre, a senior biology major, also spends around 12 hours in the library per day. He said that as a commuter, study rooms offer the perfect place for him and his classmates to get work done while also helping each other. “If the library fines do go in effect I would still use the library but, ultimately I would try to find somewhere else to study,” he said. “It is much easier to learn something when you discuss them out loud with your colleagues and the study rooms provide that opportunity for me.” Some on-campus students do not feel as strongly about it. Emily Hoff, a junior journalism major, said she likes the idea of having study rooms only available for six hours because that gives other students a chance to get a room, when there usually would not be any rooms available. Nick Durant, a sophomore communications studies major, said he thinks the six hour limit is a good way to make students more productive, however he disagrees with the idea of fining students. “There has to be a better way to enforce this policy,” said Durant. Mackenzie Scibetta can be reached at mackenzie.scibetta@student.shu. edu.
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