Study Session

It’s Sunday night at 9 PM and of course I have a massive amount of work to complete before Monday. First stop during crunch time, Stucchi’s for a milkshake. Second stop, the library. I figure the Grad is going to be the best place to find a procrastination-free environment. I make the trek over with my astonishingly heavy backpack, ready for a long night of work.

I have been to the Grad before but I usually sit in the computer room where the librarian’s desk is. Since I need to get down to business, I decide that it’s time to give the ref room a try. All of my overly studious friends practically live there so I figure it must be a good working environment. I walk in and the only source of light in the massive high ceilinged room is coming from lamps over the long study tables. The huge, dark room seems to be glowing from the bottom up and it is completely packed without an open space in sight. You can literally feel the misery emanating from the overworked students. I am overcome with the urge to run away to less intimidating surroundings, so I head back out to my usual room to study where I don’t have to worry that if I cough someone will punch me.

Most of the other rooms at the Grad or at the UGLi are a little too loud. I am always up for socializing but when I am cramming and stressed a quick hello is all I can handle without breaking my focus. So where can I go if I need a quiet study place without the absurd intimidation and lack of lighting? I have yet to try the upper levels of the UGLi or the Law library. I have also heard that there are some decent lounges in the Palmer Commons and in Angell Hall. Has anyone found the perfect place and is willing to share their secret?

Key Catastrophe

Does anyone else find it incredibly annoying that the dorm bathrooms require a key and a combination to get in?! Seriously, I cannot stand it. Let me explain my hatred through a brief history lesson ...

Flashback a few weeks ago. I wake up around 10 am and my room is spinning. Like seriously, I am so nauseous I feel like my bed is on a tilt-a-whirl. After dragging myself out of bed and searching my messy dresser for my key, I realize I am going to vomit, and its going to happen SOON. As I am located towards the end of the hall, I start SPRINTING to the bathroom. Well, as I am annoyingly swiping my keycard and typing in my 4-digit passcode, my first round of puke comes up and bam, there it is on the bathroom door. Lovely. Not only am I sick to my stomach, now I have to clean up the door before any of my hallmates need to use the toilet.

Flashback two. I was sleeping in another building in my male friend's room (JUST a friend, I SWEAR). Well, its the middle of the night and I wake up and realize I REALLY have to pee. I poke my friend a few times but to no success .. he sleeps like a freakin rock. Anyway, being the genius that I am, I realize I can walk to the lobby of the dorm and pee in the public bathroom. But seriously, if the bathroom door was just a normal door, I could have just walked out of the room and peed with no trek up 3 flights of stairs and no brainstorming necessary.

Seriously, JUST LET ME USE THE BATHROOM!

-Anonymous

Flu Shots

I think it is safe to say everyone on campus is sick.  In my 500-person lecture it is nearly impossible to hear the professor because everyone is coughing, sneezing and/or blowing their nose in a fifteen second cycle.  I know my roommate probably hates me because I am up until well past four in the morning coughing and preventing her from sleeping.  And while I feel bad for all of you who have colds like me, I feel even worse for those of you who have the flu.  Universities and dorm buildings are breeding grounds for spreading illness.  Virtually every time I get sick, my friends get sick within the next two days.  I am just waiting for the day someone on my floor gets the swine because it is certain that we will all follow suit shortly after.  

In an attempt to not be one of these dreaded carries of the swine, I have tried getting a flu vaccination.  Simple idea—horribly complicated procedure.  You would think that at a school with approximately 26,200 undergraduate students and about 15,400 graduates, UHS would be equipped with an adequate supply of flu vaccinations.  However, I was shocked to receive an e-mail explaining that UHS received 400 doses of the H1N1 flu vaccination and that would be available on November 11^th.  Yes, 400 doses.  That would cover about .96% of the student body. 

So, who got to be in this lucky .96%?  Well, actually, nobody did.  If you check the University Health Services website and rummage around for the flu vaccination page, you will see a little note informing us that, “The Nov 11 clinic has been cancelled because we didn't receive vaccine”.  Interesting.  Any information stating when they will be receiving the vaccine is not provided.  To top it all off, I get an angry phone call from my parents every other day asking when I am going to be vaccinated.  So what are we all supposed to do while flu season is in its prime and our friends are getting sick left and right?  If someone has a plan please, let me know . . .